More nuggets from the class ...

blogs. As I catch up with my reading I thought I would post some of the interesting entries from your fellow classmates.

Brandon is already exploring the societal impacts of the Toyota Prius, the group's fortuotous selection for their team product.

Junko shares her recent experience while being duped by an internet freebie offer. You really do have to wonder the value of the data that is gathered in this way ?

Clare discusses the 'partnership' between drugstore.com and Amazon, and the changing makeup of the partnership.

If you have idletime, head over to Annamarie's to take some business-related quizzes.

Lizzie asks us a question about a recent change at FlickR. Since this is the first I have heard about the change I have no answer, anyone else ?

Remember, your blog is your tool to communicate and share your ideas with your classmates. Use your bloglines account to keep up with the latest posts from your classmates (and other relevant sources).

Presentation Blog Entries for Wednesday, June 1

The following are the blog entries for the presentations for wednesday:

• Shiela Wilson: Target Marketing
  
• Tammy Gowans: Campbell Announces Soup Initiatives for Fiscal 2004
  
• Andre Grachev: Managing Global Brands: Consumer's Attitudes to Global Brands
  
• Lizzie Hepp: A look at Product and the U.S. Army
  
• Annamarie Horan: Got Water? 2005 Stockholm Industry Water Award Honours Procter & Gamble's Life Saving PUR
  
• Daniel Huang: IT Services Marketing
  
• Alex Husted: Flexplay - the 48 hour, no return DVD
  

Offline for a while

For my trip to england I may be offline for a couple of days. I am not entirely sure as of yet, but assume will have no access when I am at my mother's house.

For those of you who wish to explore more online tests (like the VALS test) you might try this personality test and tools resource.

I will look forward to catching up on all my blog reading when I return!

Before I disappear for a few days ...

I thought I would highlight a couple more of your blogs and a couple of individual postings. Curtis and Clare seem to have begun to develop excellent blogs, great starts for sure. Clare's blog includes an excellent post that links to an article on a book recently published by Wharton School Publishing. Curt not only wrote an entry that covered a new article from USA Today on blogging but also received a comment from the article's author!

Emil posted a couple of very interesting experiences on his blog. The first deals with his experience purchasing the book for this class Grey market goods on Amazon. When segmenting your audiences, you need to be careful one segment cannot simply purchase the product that is targeted for another segment! Emil's second deals with the importance of knowing who you are talking to when on a business trip. Maggie has a great set of guidelines from her experiences with trade shows (we highlighted her post on the Darth Vader Challenge in class last night).

I think the above posts highlight how much we can learn from each other, in the blog environment, outside of the classroom. The classroom is important, and we have a lot of ground to cover in a short period of time for sure. This means it is often difficult to draw all the relevant insights from each of you as we move through the material.

The blog medium should help each of us share our own experiences as they relate to marketing, and make it easy for each of us to learn from each other. We can share experiences when they occur to us to share, we are not limited to a certain moment in time (as we would be when covering the material in class).

While I require you to subscribe to your team members' blogs and the other topic experts in your area, I really think it may make sense for you to subscribe to all your classmates' blogs. Managing your reading of these wonderful resources, via bloglines should make it quite easy for you to catch up with what everyone is blogging, in one place. I hope this makes sense, and we can take advantage of the classes' collective insights and experiences. Let me know if there are any questions, and please, keep blogging your marketing experiences / insights!

webCafe updated for chapter 8 - 10: keys to presentation

The slides for next wednesday's class are now uploaded to webCafe. I hope getting them up early helps those of you preparing for your presentation. A quick reminder for the presentations:

• Presentation should be no longer than 10 minutes which includes allowing for questions.
  
• Presentation should include three powerpoint slides, to be posted to webCafe ahead of class time. Use the naming convention lastname:topic.PPT
  
• Topics for your power point slides are:
  
  
  
  • Article summary
    
  • Topic summary
    
  • How the article you selected is relevant for the selected topic etc.
    
  
  
• The blog posting, which should be approximately 2 - 300 words should include a link to the article you are highlighting, a summary of that article (which may include quotes) and how it relates to the selected topic. Highlight the topic and reference the chapter / page numbers from the text for reference.
  
• The blog posting should be posted 48 hours before class time (or earlier).
  

My bloglines subscriptions

For those who want to see what i am subscribed to, here are my bloglines subscriptions. Please check that I am subscribed to your blog. Some of the other resources may also be of interest to you.

A couple of class blog examples.

As you are beginning your experience in the blogosphere I thought I would highlight a couple of the class blogs that seem to have started and are progressing well. The blog's belong to Emil and Maggie.

webCafe updated for Chapters 5 - 7

The slides for wednesday's class are now uploaded to webCafe.

And Additional links for the class:

• VALS Survey. I took this survey, and apparently am an 'Innovator; Achiever' ... it took less than five minutes to take the survey.
  
• Active Group: Internet broadcasting (video streaming) for Focus Groups, In-Depth Interviews, and Web Usability Testing.
  
• Greenfield Online: When you participate in Greenfield Online's surveys your input matters. You directly influence the way companies develop products, policies, and services. Sharing your opinions online is easy and always confidential.
  
• Survey Monkey
  
• Zoomerang: Zoomerang Basic allows users to easily create and send shorter, less complex surveys and view up to 100 survey responses per survey online for 10 days after the survey is launched free of charge.
  
• GXS
  

webCafe updated with slides for chapters 2 - 4

The slides for monday's class are now uploaded to webCafe.

Additions to the this blog.

I have added:

1. a link, from archive.org to each team company's early web-site. These sites are useful to review to get a good sense of their marketing strategy at that time (i.e. you should be able to explore the sites and learn about their strategy versus what you discover about the same today).
   
   
2. a link to sitemeter.com under the header, tracking traffic. This is useful to get a sense of not only the number of visitors you receive on your blog (or any website) but also where are they coming from (the referrer URL). To add the same to your blog, simply go to sitemeter, click on the 'signup' link, click 'next', 'next' again, include your site's URL, its name and a codename (does not matter what it is) then 'next', complete the 'bio' page and click 'next', 'next' again, 'next' again, click the 'Add' option, click 'Using a text editor (like Notepad)', highlight and copy the html code, paste it in your blogging template, under a new heading you create (I created the heading, Tracking Traffic).
   
   

webCafe for Class Ready

Here is our webCafe.

I will put the slides for classes on the webCafe. It currently includes the slides from last week and the syllabus.

HTML Tips

I realized (after class and looking at one of your new blogs) that I neglected to mention one more important snippet of HTML code which you will find useful when editing your template.

To shift content to a new line (create a line break between the links you include), use the code: <br>

This is also included in the HTML Tips, linked on the side bar.

Syllabus is now ready!

and online. We will be discussing the syllabus and this blog (and blog projects) extensively in the first class.

Welcome to the Class Blog

This blog is designed for Mktg 411/011, Introduction to Marketing. This site will serve as a resource, and to manage the student blog projects.

To subscribe to this blog you will need to:

a. sign up for an account on bloglines
b. subscribe to the feed: http://mktg411-011-s1.blogspot.com/atom.xml

This is a requirement for this course.

More on setting up your bloglines account.

Class Project

Project Logistics.

Each student is required to create a 'blog' around a specific topic in marketing (your topic assignment is listed on the left hand column). E-mail me your blog URL once it is set up. I will then link to your blog from this blog.More on how to set up your blog.

Each student is also required to set up an account on Bloglines (as noted in the welcome post), in order to manage blog and news subscriptions. The account needs to be made 'public'. Once public, e-mail me the URL. More on how to do this.

Project Scope.

You are required to accomplish the following throughout the course of the six weeks of the semester with your blog:

1. Set up your blog and your bloglines subscriptions (Monday May 23)

   
   

2. Create an introductory post, which includes a hyperlink to an outside resource (where you work for example). How to create a hyperlink (Wednesday May 25)

   
   

3. A second introductory post that explains the purpose of the blog, being a part of a course project and focused on a particular theme. This post should include a link to this blog. (Monday May 30)

   
   

4. Minimum of two posts referencing and commenting on posts from blogs and resources listed on this site to which you are subscribed (from the 'Marketing / Tech. Related Blogs' list preferred but not required). Your entries should also reference the appropriate concepts from the text (and cite the text page etc.) (Last day of class: Wednesday June 22)

   
   

5. Minimum of three posts that relate to your topic, at least one of which needs to be posted 48 hours before that topic will be discussed in class (your topic assignment is listed in the left hand column). You will also be responsible for discussing this topic in class. Each post should include at least one link to another resource from the internet that the post is covering. A typical entry may be a link to an article that discusses a topic one of chapter's covers. The entry should relate the article to the chapter and the particular concept(s) the chapter covers (page number of the text should be included). The entry may also include links to relevant corporate web-sites. (First post prior to appropriate class, subsequent posts Monday June 20).

   
   It is critical to read your chapters before planning to create these entries.

   
   

6. Two posts related to your team company. You have been assigned a company, which is listed by your name on the left hand column. You will bring your topic expertise to the team with your first post, your second post should draw from your team's initial team posts to summarize the company's marketing plan.
   
   The first post should reflect the company's approach / strategy for the topic of your focus, and your recommendations for its future focus. The second post should link to your team members first team posts and summarize the companies overall marketing strategy with recommendations. (first team post: Wedneday June 15; second team post: Wednesday June 22)

   
   

7. Your blog should include links, in the template, to each of your team members' blogs, other classmates blogs covering the same theme as you are and other related resource which you choose to link to. How to add links to your template.
   
   (use feedster or technorati (have a link to a search on these sites on the keyword of the company the team is following))

   
   

8. Each student is required to 'comment' 6 times throughout the semester on each team members' blog entries or topic-related blog entries. Comments are to be thoughtful responses to the entries posted by the blogger. Each blogger is also responsible for responding to the comments posted by classmates (and others who may comment). If you comment on blogs outside of this class I will ask you to provide me the URLs of the blogs at the end of the course so I can review your comments. Please keep a record of where you comment (specifically the permalinks of the specific entries will be useful). These outside comments can be used as part of the 6 comment requirement.

   
   

9. Each blog must contain at least one new entry per week (although you are not limited to only one entry of course). The minimum number of entries for each blog is 9 (two introductory entries, three theme-related entries, two team company entries and two entries from the 'Marketing / Tech. Related Blogs' list).

   
   

10. Extra credit 1: an extra 2% will be added to your grade for posts you create on your blog that reference other classmates posts and expand on these posts. These posts would include the ‘permalink’ of the post to which you are referencing. To receive full credit your post must be published within one week of the post to which you are referencing.

    
    

11. Extra credit 2: If you find your blog is in any of the following search engines (google, technorati or feedster), by the last day of class (June 22) e-mail me the URL and I will add another 2%.

    
    

Setting up your Bloglines Account and Required Subscriptions

Setting up Bloglines Subscription


Once you have set up your account on bloglines:

1. click on the 'my feeds' tab.
   
2. click on 'Add'
   
3. key in the URL of the blog to which you are subscribing, click subscribe
   
4. click ... again, you are now subscribed
   

Each team member is required to subscribe to each team members' blogs, this blog, and those blogs that share the same topic.

Thus each blog needs an RSS feed. Blogger blogs automatically have such a feed. The URL of the feed will be in the format:

http://yourname.blogspot.com/atom.xml (for example, this class' feed is http://mktg411-011-s1.blogspot.com/atom.xml).


To make your subscriptions public (required for this project and allows me, and others, to see your subscriptions):

1. click the 'share' tab
   
2. click the hyperlinked 'profile' (second sentence)
   
3. click 'blog settings' (horizontal nav.)
   
4. key in a username
   
5. click 'yes' for show my blog
   
6. save changes
   

your url for your public subscriptions will be:

http://www.bloglines.com/public/username

Creating Your Blog

Setting up the Blog

You are required to use http://www.blogger.com as your blog platform as it is free, easy and hosted. You should select 'dots dark', a template designed by Douglas Bowman, for your blog (this is the same template that is used for this blog).

How to set up your blog?

1. Sign up for an account on http://www.blogger.com
   
2. Create the URL and name for your blog (you can change the name later, the URL is permanent)
   
3. Select the template (dots dark)
   
4. Start posting (i.e. it really was that simple to create the blog).
   

How to edit the template

What is the 'template'
Your 'template' is essentially the code used to display your blog. While a blog is pretty simple to set up and add entries, to actually add links to the left column (for more permanence etc.) does require you to know a little bit about html and the code used in the template. To get you started a couple of quick tips that will make editing your template pretty straight forward.

1. Log into http://www.blogger.com
   
2. Access your class blog
   
3. Click on the 'Template' Link.
   
4. Scroll down (or use the search function) until you find the 'code'
   
   <h2 class="sidebar-title">Previous Posts</h2>
   
   
5. Copy and paste this line directly above the line so you now have:
   <h2 class="sidebar-title">Previous Posts</h2>
   
   <h2 class="sidebar-title">Previous Posts</h2>
   
   
6. Edit out 'Previous Posts' from the new instance, and replace it with 'Team Blogs'
   
   thus you now have:
   
   <h2 class="sidebar-title">Team Blogs</h2>
   
   <h2 class="sidebar-title">Previous Posts</h2>
   
   
7. On the next line below this new heading add in the appropriate link for each of your team members' blogs.
   
   For example:
   
   <A HREF="http://teammemberblog.blogspot.com">Team Members' Name: Price</A>
   
   
8. Note you can come back and do this multiple times (i.e. try it when you have your first team member blog to include, then return when you have the others etc.). You can also repeat this process and create another header (i.e. 'Topic Blogs' for your classmates' blogs on the same topic as yours, and then include those blogs etc.
   

How to create a hyperlink and other quick HTML tips

needs heavy edits

To be completed by monday, May 23 class (your introduction post that includes links to another sites, and links included in your template).

Your blog should also include links to your team members' blogs and to your classmates blogs who are blogging the same theme as you are. These links are included in the template (so they appear permanently in the left hand), as they do for this blog.

How do you hyperlink to another web resource ?

Easy!

To include a link to this Site from your blog, simply change this blog reference from:

Introduction to Marketing (My favourite Class)


to

<A HREF="http://mktg411-011-s1.blogspot.com">Introduction to Marketing (My favourite Class)</A>


Note: It is not important to know what <A HREF means, nor do you need to remember, whenever you need to create a hyperlink, you can simply view source on a document that contains a hyperlink ... and that is why writing html is not complex!

Note: when creating a 'post' for your blog select: edit HTML option (just above / right of the text box window).

Any questions ? Use the comments area.

Why are we Blogging?

Why are we blogging?

As I am sure you can see, this class relies pretty heavily on the successful use of blogging. It is important to realize we are using blogging not simply to introduce you to some of the more recent ‘innovations’ of the web, nor to teach you html (although these may be deemed a positive side effects of the blog projects). We are using blogs as an effective communications tool, that enables you to work well in groups, share information with fellow classmates and team members while also drawing from some of the latest information and insights coming from the internet.

Many recent articles on blogging do suggest that it is becoming a powerful marketing tool. Many of these articles are linked to our course blog (under the header ‘Articles on Blogging’). Articles include ‘Chief Humanising Officer’, which highlights Scobleizer blogging for Microsoft and ‘Blogs will Change Your Business’, the title being relatively self explanatory. It is clear this is a new medium that is changing the way we communicate with our customers and the way customers are able to communicate with each other. The book ‘Cluetrain Manifesto’ was the first book to explore this phenomena (pre-blogging) and blogging is now showing how true the cluetrain really can be!

Why a news aggregator, why bloglines and why make it public?

It is true you can read blogs and other sites by simply visiting those sites. We do this everyday as we browse the web. The advantage of using a news aggregator, such as bloglines, only manifests when you have multiple web-sites that you want to keep up with, sites that update their content regularly. Without a news aggregator it will be up to you to visit each site, individually, and determine if there is new content there for you to read. Many such visits may be simply a waste of your valuable time if the site has not been updated since your last visit. Subscribing to these sites, via your news aggregator, such as bloglines, allows you to easily determine when a site has been updated with new content, and thus you only need to make the visit when you determine it is appropriate.

Bloglines itself is the most popular web-based news aggregator, a site you can use from any PC as long as you have an internet connection (useful if traveling and using cybercafes for example). Other features of bloglines that are useful include the ability to mark an entry as ‘new’, it thus remains to be viewed at a later time. This is great for sites that update rapidly (think of Slashdot.org), a site you may want to check quickly, yet have little time to read important entries. You can return at a more convenient time to read the entry, continue to save it, or trash it at that point.

Bloglines also allows you to make your subscriptions public, for others to view. This is an important part of your class project (that I can see which resources you are subscribed) and thus required.

Be confident!

The hardest aspect of the blog project is getting started and the presumption of complexity. I assure you this project is wonderful for those new to web-site development (i.e. no HTML knowledge) so don’t be intimidated by the tasks, embrace the idea that this will be a great way to get your feet wet in developing your first web project!