The Holy Grail of modern online marketing is video content that "goes viral,"meaning that it captures an enormous number of views and leads audiences to share, comment or click that they "like"a video. Various experts have ventured theories about what kind of content makes for a hit. The advice varies widely and is even contradictory. Depending on the expert, success is thought more likely if a video is humorous, shocking, dramatic, topical, warm, arousing, angry, scary, socially beneficial, cute, violent, sexy, uplifting, intriguing, quirky, interesting, authoritative, tear-jerking, educational, controversial or baby- and animal-filled. One of the reasons for the various views is that researchers have often looked at only popular videos and did not compare the popular clips with the content almost no one saw. To see if they could clarify some of the contradictions, the authors examined a mix of popular and unpopular videos, then systematically coded and empirically tested the effect of each element on some relatively objective and observational measures of viewer engagement. The authors assigned a team of research assistants to watch 750 videos and to independently score each on a range of attributes. Did the video feature babies, attempt to be funny or use sexually suggestive content? How would watching the video make the typical viewer feel? They collected information on dozens of different video elements and correlated these with three measures of engagement: the number of times people left comments on the video, the overall "liking"index for each video (calculated by subtracting the number of "dislikes"from "likes") and the number of views. The authors' key finding? Emotionally surprising videos generated liking and views more than any kind of specific content element they studied. The authors also looked at novel and incongruous content and found that both were associated with feelings of surprise, which increased views and liking.
In December 2011, the co-founder of Unbounce, a Vancouver-based software services start-up, is considering expanding into the enterprise user space. Unbounce got its start providing turnkey landing pages — web pages specific to current advertising campaigns — to the small and medium-sized enterprise market. Within 18 months, the company has achieved thought leadership in this space, has a list of paying customers and has built its support team from six to 25 people. The challenge is that since the entire company is focused on its core market segment, entering the enterprise user space means that different capabilities will have to be developed. Will developing the enterprise user market prevent the competition from invading this space or will it mean alienating and perhaps losing its current customers? What is the best plan for going forward?
In December 2011, the co-founder of Unbounce, a Vancouver-based software services start-up, is considering expanding into the enterprise user space. Unbounce got its start providing turnkey landing pages - web pages specific to current advertising campaigns - to the small and medium-sized enterprise market. Within 18 months, the company has achieved thought leadership in this space, has a list of paying customers and has built its support team from six to 25 people. The challenge is that since the entire company is focused on its core market segment, entering the enterprise user space means that different capabilities will have to be developed. Will developing the enterprise user market prevent the competition from invading this space or will it mean alienating and perhaps losing its current customers? What is the best plan for going forward?
Social media behaviour and online consumer behaviour is different than much of what takes place offline. Though some legal concepts can be transferred, overall, managing human resources from a digital perspective is a new and complex field, and therefore requires additional skills and knowledge. Social media considerably blurs the line between the personal and the professional. It requires thoughtfulness and tact to navigate this new, murky aspect of human resources. The strongest and most effective social media human resource policy approaches will be those that focus above all on values, such as defining and adhering to a particular brand voice, rather than on details, such as exactly how to respond to a particular situation.
The founder of a bricks-and-mortar kitchen accessories retail store, Jill's Table, is considering the expansion of her existing information-based website to an e-commerce presence, but wonders whether the factors that have led to her current success can be replicated in the virtual world. Students are asked to make decisions related to translating brand values from the real world to the virtual world; overcoming technological hurdles; addressing design issues in terms of the user experience; developing a content marketing and digital promotions strategy, including social media and email marketing; determining a pricing strategy; planning for fulfillment and returns; handling customer service and measuring performance.
The founder of a bricks-and-mortar kitchen accessories retail store, Jill's Table, is considering the expansion of her existing information-based website to an e-commerce presence, but wonders whether the factors that have led to her current success can be replicated in the virtual world. Students are asked to make decisions related to translating brand values from the real world to the virtual world; overcoming technological hurdles; addressing design issues in terms of the user experience; developing a content marketing and digital promotions strategy, including social media and email marketing; determining a pricing strategy; planning for fulfillment and returns; handling customer service and measuring performance.
Inspired by software development boot camps in New York and San Francisco, Bitmaker Labs has just launched a similar offering but without considering the operational constraints unique to doing business in Canada. The result is governmental scrutiny just as the business is taking off with 42 students enrolled, each having paid $7,000 for a nine-week web development boot camp. Government investigators raid Bitmaker Labs, confiscating financial documents and threatening penalties and possible jail time for running an unregistered career college.
Inspired by software development boot camps in New York and San Francisco, Bitmaker Labs has just launched a similar offering but without considering the operational constraints unique to doing business in Canada. The result is governmental scrutiny just as the business is taking off with 42 students enrolled, each having paid $7,000 for a nine-week web development boot camp. Government investigators raid Bitmaker Labs, confiscating financial documents and threatening penalties and possible jail time for running an unregistered career college.
MediaMath is a demand-side platform that provides a single interface from which online media buyers can buy display media advertising from multiple advertising exchanges. The company's chief executive officer is contemplating the strategic direction of his new business after its first full year of operation. Specifically, he needs to determine which clients he should most actively pursue and how that decision will affect the strategic direction of the business.
The vice-president of marketing and communications at Mountain Equipment Co-op, a retailer of outdoor sporting goods, is examining its marketing strategy following the decision to stop producing its physical catalogue. The 40-year-old retailer wants to broaden its reach beyond its hard-core group of customers. Although it currently has an online presence, it needs to further develop its online sales and outreach programs.
The vice-president of marketing and communications at Mountain Equipment Co-op, a retailer of outdoor sporting goods, is examining its marketing strategy following the decision to stop producing its physical catalogue. The 40-year-old retailer wants to broaden its reach beyond its hard-core group of customers. Although it currently has an online presence, it needs to further develop its online sales and outreach programs.
MediaMath is a demand-side platform that provides a single interface from which online media buyers can buy display media advertising from multiple advertising exchanges. The company’s chief executive officer is contemplating the strategic direction of his new business after its first full year of operation. Specifically, he needs to determine which clients he should most actively pursue and how that decision will affect the strategic direction of the business.
In 2012, small upscale bakery produces artisan-quality, hand-decorated cookies, generating $1 million in annual revenue. In the (A) case, the two co-owners investigate the role of pricing in driving growth for their business and allowing them to achieve several fundamental financial goals. In the (B) case 9B13A005, the partners explore the possibility of a website to drive direct-to-consumer sales on an e-commerce platform. <br><br>The multimedia elements of the case 7B13A004 will add to the richness of the conversation. (A higher price applies to this case due to color exhibits.)
A small upscale bakery produces artisan-quality, hand-decorated cookies, generating $1 million in annual revenue. In the (A) case 9B13A004, the two co-owners investigate the role of pricing in driving growth for their business and allowing them to achieve several fundamental financial goals. In the (B) case, the partners explore the possibility of a website to drive direct-to-consumer sales on an e-commerce platform. <br><br>The multimedia elements of the case 7B13A004 will add to the richness of the conversation.
A small upscale bakery produces artisan-quality, hand-decorated cookies, generating $1 million in annual revenue. In the (A) case 9B13A004, the two co-owners investigate the role of pricing in driving growth for their business and allowing them to achieve several fundamental financial goals. In the (B) case, the partners explore the possibility of a website to drive direct-to-consumer sales on an e-commerce platform. The multimedia elements of the case 7B13A004 will add to the richness of the conversation.
A small upscale bakery produces artisan-quality, hand-decorated cookies, generating $1 million in annual revenue. In the (A) case, the two co-owners investigate the role of pricing in driving growth for their business and allowing them to achieve several fundamental financial goals. In the (B) case 9B13A005, the partners explore the possibility of a website to drive direct-to-consumer sales on an e-commerce platform. The multimedia elements of the case 7B13A004 will add to the richness of the conversation. (A higher price applies to this case due to color exhibits.)
This case explores social media marketing as both business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C) strategies. In spite of a challenging real estate environment, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate (BHGRE) was launched in 2008 by Realogy Corporation, the largest franchisor of real estate brands in the world, to maintain and grow market share with a new type of real estate company centered around lifestyle. BHGRE has grown rapidly and has experienced tremendous success with its B2B social media efforts. Now, several years after the formation of the company, the president and chief executive officer must decide how to leverage what she has learned from the B2B effort to create a B2C social media program. Additional factors include a concurrent Canadian market entry.
HootSuite is one of the fastest growing SaaS (Software as a Service) social media dashboards on the market. The company’s vice-president of business development needs to determine the best strategy for segmenting and monetizing HootSuite users. He needs to introduce a tiered pricing plan that generates revenues without alienating users.
HootSuite is one of the fastest growing SaaS (Software as a Service) social media dashboards on the market. The company's vice-president of business development needs to determine the best strategy for segmenting and monetizing HootSuite users. He needs to introduce a tiered pricing plan that generates revenues without alienating users.
This case explores social media marketing as both business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C) strategies. In spite of a challenging real estate environment, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate (BHGRE) was launched in 2008 by Realogy Corporation, the largest franchisor of real estate brands in the world, to maintain and grow market share with a new type of real estate company centered around lifestyle. BHGRE has grown rapidly and has experienced tremendous success with its B2B social media efforts. Now, several years after the formation of the company, the president and chief executive officer must decide how to leverage what she has learned from the B2B effort to create a B2C social media program. Additional factors include a concurrent Canadian market entry.