Introduction to Marketing

in the spirit of transparency: part 2

2005-06-26T16:04:00.000-07:00

here are the results of the second survey you completed in class, along with the earlier results from the wednesday June 1 survey and my quick comments. Feel free to add your thoughts / comments to the 'comments' section.

all questions were on the following scale:

Totally Agree (1) Totally Disagree (6)

1. I have found getting familiar with developing my blog surprisingly straightforward
mean score:
June 1: 2.04
June 22: 2.125
Shift: .085

My brief Interpretation:
Little change here. Once people get over the learning curve, setting the blog up is OK. Wrestling with HTML is tough for a few people. Its important to have good, clear, step-by-step instructions.

2. I think the blog (and project)improves my opportunity to learn the class material
mean score:
June 1: 2.92
June 22: 2.375
Shift: .545

My brief Interpretation:
A nice improvement here. Probably attributed to the greater use of the blog and completion of the project.

3. I have found getting familiar with using bloglines to keep uptodate with my classmates' blogs and other resources useful
mean score:
June 1: 2.66
June 22: 1.75
Shift: .91

My brief interpretation:
It strikes me that once people started using bloglines they really began to see its value to manage content generated by the class (and outside resources). Also worth noting that later in the course the blogs were generating more content therefore this process will be more effective to keep up.

4. I have found getting familiar with using bloglines suprisingly straightforward.
mean score:
June 1: 2.26
June 22: 2.125
Shift: .135

My brief Interpretation:
Small shift, likely attributed to those who only began using bloglines later in the course.

5. I understand the value of the blog and bloglines relationship and its value to sharing insights with my classmates for this class
mean score:
June 1: 2.11
June 22: 1.8125
Shift: .2975

My brief Interpretation:
A decent and important improvement. It seems once people are familiar with both blogging and subscribing via a news reader then they can see the value of the shared content for the class etc.

6. This class (thus far) has met my expectations in terms of what I am learning
mean score:
June 1: 2.21
June 22: 2.31
Shift: .1

My brief Interpretation:
Small shift, in the wrong direction! Some comments suggest the design of the course needs to be further adjusted to the six week format and better integration is needed between the content exchanged via the blog project and the inclass materials / tests (note the second survey came directly after the final).

7. I would consider myself very comfortable with using new technology
mean score:
June 1: 2.3
June 22: 2.22
Shift -.17

My brief Interpretation:
The additional three weeks has made the class a notch more comfortable with technology!

Final Study Guide

2005-06-22T07:37:00.000-07:00

thanks Brandon!

Team Posts for the Final Project

2005-06-22T02:00:00.000-07:00

As the team posts are published, I will list them here.

book deal!

2005-06-21T19:50:00.000-07:00

I have one copy of "Blink" provided to me by your classmate Rajiv (who recently received two copies). I will give this copy to someone tomorrow night after the final, if only I could figure out a fair means to determine who to give it to. Feel free to post to the comments section if you think there is a simple way to do this. Of course if you are interested in the book, you can post that in the comments too. (I referred to the book when discussing unintentional descrimination in the automobile industry 'sales system')

Example Questions for the Final

2005-06-21T16:09:00.000-07:00

I posted a few example questions for the final.

Team Post Clarifications

2005-06-21T07:06:00.000-07:00

A few things that I need to clarify for your final team post:

approximately 300 words (please try to stick close to this) for the entire entry (not for each part of the entry)
no need to reference the chapter / pages from the book etc.
due date is end of day thursday (i.e. friday 4:30 am I should be able to find the posts on one of your team member's blogs with posts from the other members referencing this post)

Wiki World

2005-06-20T19:48:00.000-07:00

I thought it was necessary to add some additional insight re: wikis as a follow up from last night. The editing we performed for the MBA section of the wikipedia is at Wiki: MBA. I will continue to edit this page as I think it makes sense to participate in turning this into a useful resource. If I put my clear admit 'hat' on it may make sense to sponsor a similar type of resource and open it up to the applicant community to contribute their experiences and insights. (The community clearly learns as it goes through the application process, the key is to capture that learning effectively so the community can help each other etc.)

Its important to note that there are many other types of wiki options (other than wikipedia). One I have been looking at is jotspot, which I found on Diva Marketing.

Wikis have many potential applications. They can be useful to allow a community to build a knowledge base (again, customers are talking to each other now, this can help capture that conversation); companies may also be interested in using wikis to manage customer service (internally customer service reps. can add to a wiki as new issues arise and how these are resolved; externally the company could then choose to make this available directly to customers). Note wikis can be open to the public to contribute (like the wikipedia above) or closed to certain authors (company employees etc.) Wikis can reside on the web or behind a corporate firewall.

Someone asked last night about their potential for abuse. For sure there is a risk, and in certain instances those risks manifest in abuse. I have linked a couple of articles about wikis on the bottom left column of the blog. Clearly the LA Times had a decent idea for a wiki application, but it seems this was a little before its time ?

Do you have any ideas for a decent wiki application ?

More on Cluetrain

2005-06-19T06:29:00.000-07:00

As a follow up to our brief Cluetrain pitch in class on wednesday Raj blogs about Open Source Marketing. The manifesto is actually pretty interesting reading and marries the open source philosophy with transparency in marketing and all the new tools available to both customers (to engage in conversations) and marketers (to listen and learn etc.)

I think the combination of learning the traditional marketing rules and concepts (ala Kotler) and being exposed to the new tools available now on the internet (blogs / RSS / technorati / wikis etc.) should be solid preparation for the disruptive shifts that are occuring as a result of the internet. These shifts clearly impact how businesses can communicate with their customers, develop and nurture their brands etc. Its a very exciting time to be involved in the field of marketing.

Blog Presentations for Monday

2005-06-19T06:06:00.000-07:00

Here they are:

Identifying your blog in other search engines

2005-06-19T05:35:00.000-07:00

One of the options for extra credit was to identify your blog in a search engine. Some of you have e-mailed me this information (the search result URL). To make things a little easier (for me) could you instead post a blog entry that includes the search result URL (hyperlinking to the search result).

Make-Up for Test

2005-06-19T05:29:00.000-07:00

As I noted on wednesday evening, a few of you may prefer to do a 'make-up' assignment to replace either your mid-term or final exam grade (you can only replace one). In order for this make-up option to work you must score at least 50% on the exam (i.e. you cannot decide not to sit the final exam, this wednesday).

The make-up assignment is to take your team company's marketing strategy (as reported by your final group work assignment) and compare the strategy with two other team company strategies. You should highlight the key differences and the rationale for those differences. You should cite the text where appropriate, and link to both the appropriate team company blog entries you are contrasting and other relevant resources. This assignment should be approximately 300 words. Clearly the assignment cannot begin until thursday (although preliminary research may be appropriate) and needs to be completed by mid-day on sunday (so i can get the grades in for monday).

Blog Requirement Checklist

2005-06-17T07:27:00.000-07:00

The following should serve as a brief checklist of requirements as you begin to conclude (or begin) your (blog) work for this course.

Individual Blog Work

Intro post 1
Intro post 2
Topic post 1
Topic post 2
Topic post 3 (one of the 3 topic posts is also the presentation post)
Post 1 referencing and commenting on post from blogs listed on a site to which you are subscribed (from Marketing/Tech Related Blogs list) with permalinks to those blog entries.
Post 2 (same instructions as item 6 above)
Weekly blog post (minimum; can include the posts above)
6 comments (minimum) on team members' or fellow topic members' blog postings.
Respond regularly on your blog to comments posted by others

Team Blog Work

Topic post for assigned company (done individually by the team topic expert)
1. Should reflect company’s approach/strategy for your assigned topic
2. Can include your recommendations for the company’s future focus for that topic
Company's overall marketing strategy with recommendations
1. Should be posted to one team member's blog with permalinks to all other team members' blog postings relevant to their topics for that company (and other related resources that are relevant).
2. All other team members should then do a brief post directing the reader to the central blog posting on the company via that blog entry's permalink.

Your blog (template) must also include links to your team members' blogs, your fellow topic experts and other resources to which you have referenced in your blog posts etc. (how to add content to your template).

Your bloglines account should include subscriptions to all the resources which you link to from your blog (i.e. your team members' blogs, your topic expert blogs and other tech / marketing resources (which have RSS feeds).

Original link for the project work.

First Group Posts

2005-06-16T01:37:00.000-07:00

Amazon.com

Coca Cola

Dell

Procter and Gamble

Toyota (Prius)

Wal Mart

Cluetrain and Martha Stewart

2005-06-16T01:31:00.000-07:00

As discussed in last night's class, here is the web-site for the Cluetrain Manifesto.

We also wondered who else Sirius was bringing to their line-up. On my way home last night it was noted on my '80s' channel that Martha Stewart was joining them soon to launch her own channel! The article notes the numbers of subscribers:

For Sirius, the deal with Stewart is the most recent effort to ramp up its programming to compete with its much larger rival in the emerging satellite radio business, XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. Earlier this month, XM reported that it had 3.8 million subscribers, while Sirius' most recent subscriber count was 1.2 million.

Presentation Blog Entries for Wednesday, June 13

2005-06-14T02:02:00.000-07:00

The following are the presentation entries for wednesday:

chpts 15 - 17

2005-06-13T04:04:00.000-07:00

have been added to webCafe.

Sitemeter one last time

2005-06-11T03:13:00.000-07:00

I have previously provided instructions on creating an account with sitemeter so you can track your blog traffic. This is very useful as it allows you to see who is linking to your blog (from the referrer stats) and writing entries that link to your entries (assuming the author then clicks on the permalink he / she creates to your entry).

Since this type of entry (referencing a classmate's entry) is a required post for the course it reminded me that sitemeter makes sense so you can see quickly who is referencing your work. Not required, and I promise, the last reminder re: sitemeter.

Presentation Blog Entries for Monday, June 13

2005-06-11T02:54:00.000-07:00

The following are the presentatioons for monday, June 13:

Additional Required Posts for Class

2005-06-10T07:04:00.000-07:00

Just a gentle reminder of additional entries you are required to make on your blog, outside of those directly related to your topic area and your company project.

You are required to submit a minimum of two additional entries as indicated earlier, point 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)

These posts do not need to be related to your specific topic, nor your team company, but you are expected to relate the entry to the appropriate concept(s) from the text etc.

I also wanted to highlight one of the extra credit opportunities, as it also requires posting to your blog:

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.

Note, much like your topic expert entries and team company entries, please label these entries appropriately so it will be easy for me to distinguish the 'purpose' of each of your entries.

Team Project Entries

2005-06-10T03:07:00.000-07:00

Individual Topic Post
As noted earlier, your initial team project post, as the topic expert, is due by the end of day, wednesday, June 15. This post, approximately 300 words (very approximate), should cover the strategy for the company / product with respect to your individual topic. Each team member is expected to cover the same product if you have selected a product rather than the company as a whole (i.e. for Toyota, the Prius). Your entry should include relevant links to additional resources that support your analysis etc.

Team Post
Your team is responsible for one additional entry, published by the end of day, wednesday June 22. This entry should be on one team member's site (and other team members would create an entry that points to this entry). This entry should explore the overall marketing strategy for the same company / product. It should draw from the individual entries posted a week earlier, without simply repeating the content.

Some company teams have experts from the 4 Ps, global / market segmentation, and societal marketing. If that is the case, then all these issues should clearly be covered. A few teams do not have all these experts represented, this would somewhat limit the scope of the expectation of coverage on my part (however, as part of the current set of 'experts' you may well have coverage on some of the 'gaps' since each topic is not mutually exclusive to other topics). Each team should also include a competitive analysis as part of their coverage, which likely already falls within the product positioning aspect of the analysis etc. The team post should also be about 300 words (again, this is quite approximate) and should link to each of the expert posts from the previous week.

I hope this makes sense, please use the comments section if this is not the case.

quick reminder: first 'team' entry

2005-06-08T17:37:00.000-07:00

your expert topic area post for your team is due, by the end of day, wednesday, june 15 (which is one week from today).

I will post more about the final team post over the course of the next couple of days, and will also make some time available, in class on monday, for you to meet as a team.

chpts 13 and 14

2005-06-08T13:51:00.000-07:00

have been added to webCafe.

updated example questions

2005-06-08T01:36:00.000-07:00

on webCafe with answers. cheers, alex

mid term help ?

2005-06-07T17:10:00.000-07:00

and some help from a classmate who has created a study guide. I have not read it, and thus cannot endorse it, but am certainly happy to link to it for anyone who may be interested.

A few example questions

2005-06-07T13:52:00.000-07:00

I have added a few example questions for the mid term to webCafe.

Bloglines Subscriptions

2005-06-07T08:54:00.000-07:00

Having processed some of the feedback from the survey I gave in class it struck me that some of you were not yet using your bloglines account effectively for the course. My hope (and intent) is that by subscribing to your classmates' blogs (esp. your team members and fellow topic experts) and one or two additional marketing-related resources (from the lists on the site here on the left) you will easily be able to keep up to date with the current conversations related to your topics, teams and marketing issues in general. This seems much more efficient than:

trying to check each blog individually from time-to-time to see if they have new information for you to read / digest / comment
trying to determine, once you have accessed a blog, whether you have already read the most recent content

Anyway, this is a gentle reminder, for those not yet fully subscribed to the class blogs and outside resources, that it is not too late to start to get used to this means of processing your news content on the internet and managing the class conversations.

Below are a few examples of well organized bloglines subscriptions from the class:

If anyone is willing to share their (positive) experience with their use of bloglines, please do so in the comments section.

Addendum: Internet Economics

2005-06-05T12:18:00.000-07:00

As an addendum to our coverage on pricing (monday) we will also review some of the unique characteristics of Internet Economics.

Presentation Blog Entries for Monday, June 6

2005-06-05T01:37:00.000-07:00

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

more on branding

2005-06-04T01:59:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in class I would identify some additional web resources that focus on branding. The following article from Businessweek Aug 2004 (Cult Brands) highlights how loyalty to brands manifests when consumers now have more of a voice (nice intro. about Apple Computer and issues with the IPod battery life). The more intimate the relationship the company can build with its customers, the more likely they can identify and nurture those customers that are passionate about their brand. (Good to see Harley Davidson making strides in this survey also).

Forbes 2004 list of brands has no real surprises (What's In A Name?). It is extraordinary to note the values assigned to the brand equity of these leaders, which puts more emphasis on the importance of the brand for sure. A couple of the team companies are listed: P&G #1: $107.4 billion and Coca Cola #13 (behind Pepsi): $45.6 billion. Again Harley Davidson is listed ($15.7 billion).

catching up with class insights

2005-06-03T12:31:00.000-07:00

some more nuggets from the class. Junko reports on some poor international advertising efforts while also providing us some direct insights into the successes of Nike in China.

Continuing the Nike theme, Tammy discusses Nike's decision to withdraw from the Sears' Stores, concerned with the potential impact on their brand equity as a result of Kmart's acquisition of Sears. Tammy also highlights the Labels for Education program of Campbell's Soup. Seeing for profit companies providing resources for schools has sometimes been seen as controversial, but this seems a win-win.

Xinkai poses a few questions about P&G's more creative marketing ideas and Winita begins her blogging 'experiment' by highlighting a new course offering at Wharton on 'Customer-Centricity' (sounds like a critical principle for successful business).

Keep blogging, keep subscribed via Bloglines!

labeling your 'project' posts

2005-06-03T12:23:00.000-07:00

i am beginning to realize it may become increasingly difficult to correctly identify your posts that are directly related to your project work. Could you please label these posts by adding to the Title field something like:

Promotion Presentation Post: Then the regular title (replacing promotion w/ your topic)
Promotion Topic Post: Then the regular title (replacing promotion with your topic)

You can similarly label your team topic post:

Amazon and Promotion: Then the regular title etc.

in the spirit of transparency ...

2005-06-02T15:52:00.000-07:00

here are the results of the survey you completed in class last night (THANKS)!

all questions were on the following scale:

Totally Agree (1) Totally Disagree (6)

1. I have found getting familiar with developing my blog surprisingly straightforward
mean score: 2.04

2. I think the blog improves my opportunity to learn the class material
mean score: 2.92

3. I have found getting familiar with using bloglines to keep uptodate with my classmates' blogs and other resources useful
mean score: 2.66

4. I have found getting familiar with using bloglines suprisingly straightforward.
mean score: 2.26

5. I understand the value of the blog and bloglines relationship and its value to sharing insights with my classmates for this class
mean score: 2.11

6. This class, thus far, has met my expectations in terms of what I am learning
mean score: 2.21

7. I would consider myself very comfortable with using new technology
mean score: 2.39

certainly need to digest the results to see what they really mean, but truly appreciate the feedback as it may well help 'tweak' planning going forward.

webCafe updated for Chpts. 11 - 12

2005-06-01T13:42:00.000-07:00

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

More nuggets from the class ...

2005-05-31T15:49:00.000-07:00

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

2005-05-30T22:23:00.000-07:00

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

Offline for a while

2005-05-26T12:15:00.000-07:00

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 ...

2005-05-26T09:28:00.000-07:00

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

2005-05-26T09:02:00.000-07:00

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

2005-05-26T08:52:00.000-07:00

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.

2005-05-25T10:48:00.000-07:00

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

2005-05-24T17:31:00.000-07:00

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

2005-05-22T09:03:00.000-07:00

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

Additions to the this blog.

2005-05-22T02:02:00.000-07:00

I have added:

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).
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

2005-05-20T14:22:00.000-07:00

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

2005-05-20T01:48:00.000-07:00

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!

2005-05-17T12:29:00.000-07:00

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

Welcome to the Class Blog

2005-05-16T01:54:00.000-07:00

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

2005-05-16T01:53:00.000-07:00

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:

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

2005-05-16T01:52:00.000-07:00

Setting up Bloglines Subscription

Once you have set up your account on bloglines:

click on the 'my feeds' tab.
click on 'Add'
key in the URL of the blog to which you are subscribing, click subscribe
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):

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

your url for your public subscriptions will be:

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

Creating Your Blog

2005-05-16T01:50:00.000-07:00

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?

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

How to edit the template

2005-05-10T07:09:00.000-07:00

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.

Log into http://www.blogger.com
Access your class blog
Click on the 'Template' Link.
Scroll down (or use the search function) until you find the 'code'

<h2 class="sidebar-title">Previous Posts</h2>
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>
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>
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>
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

2005-05-10T07:08:00.000-07:00

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?

2005-05-10T01:48:00.000-07:00

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!