I randomly clicked on Brian Burke’s name as I was going through the list of names. I know him; he is in my group, so I ended up choosing him. As I scroll down his page I saw his #7 blog titled “Facebook.” Since I had written a blog on Facebook earlier I decided to read what he had to say about Facebook.
I am a regular user of Facebook and I get really frustrated when Facebook does all these changes on their websites. One thing I had not noticed myself, but I thought was interesting reading from Brian’s blog, was that they customize the ads on your Facebook page depending on your personality. When I wrote about the Facebook ads on one of my earlier blogs, I had mentioned that those ads do not appeal to me. I don’t even pay attention to them and neither do my friends. I knew Facebook is selling and letting others view our information but I had not paid attention to that they customize your page according to the information you provide on your Facebook page.
To see if the above was true, I did a little experiment. I noticed the ads playing on my Facebook page for 10-15 minutes and wrote down what I noticed. Some of the ads that were displayed on my page were about games, several ads on flight all around US, several ads on things related to fashion, apartment search, photography, style, organic foods, purses, makeup, acne treatment, salon ads, a lot of ads related to Hindi movies and music, fly worldwide, tea, and art related ads. When I compared to some of the things I have listed on my information page, not all, but many of these are related to things I have listed on my personal information page. I have listed things like I like art, tea, fashion, and I am a lot into Hindi movies and music. I don’t know why I got so many ads related to flying here and there. I did not put traveling as my interest on my personal information. But I have been talking about taking a trip to Pakistan in summer on my friends’ wall. So are the advertisers looking at the wall post and that too that carefully? That is creepy. I would not mind if another friend of mine who is listed as a friend on my Facebook comes up and tell me the things I am talking about with my friends on Facebook. Since I am talking about it publicly I would not find it creepy if any of my friends come and tell me. But when an unknown source does things like that, you feel as if you are being stalked!
I do agree with Brian when he mentions that Facebook should have notified its users what they are doing. They are always doing things on their own without telling its users. I am very conservative when it comes to other people having access to my information. Like Brian said it would not be a problem if Facebook had asked us or informed us about selling our information to these advertisers. I would rather be volunteering to give my information about my interest to others if I was asked, rather then just doing it through a sneaky way. It not just loses the trust but also makes me want to disown that thing. I have sent Facebook several negative emails about how I don’t like some of the changes they are doing, but like usually they never reply back. It was interesting to see that they have replied to me when I have had problem viewing any part of the Facebook page or having problem with any application, but when I sent them comments about what I don’t like about their changes, but they never reply back. Instead they just send an automated email saying some thing like “Thank you for writing to us. Due to heavy email we will be unable to answer individually. Please check our website for your answers.”
I sometimes feel that Facebook is making so much money out of us by doing nothing! There are a lot of users who would want to stay connected with their friends through Facebook. It is an amazing social network because I have all my friends from all the parts of the world on it. But by doing things in a sneaky way Facebook might lose its users. It will not be overnight but if people began to freak out they will not use Facebook. It will then become a page where user might join using all the fake information. I think Facebook should be really careful. They have reached far enough in making their website popular and profitable but they should not forget that all the users on Facebook have made it happen and they should pay attention to their privacy.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
Paper Outline
I) Introduction
For my paper, I plan to study how Tide, the laundry detergent, markets it self and holds its top seller position. With a lot of competition form other laundry detergent what are the marketers of Tide doing to make Tide the family choice. What are the strategies used mainly on their target market, women, by marketers to to get a better understanding of the purchasing decision about detergents.
a. About Tide
b. Target market
c. Building confidence/credibility
d. Presentation
e. Any negative aspects
f. How is it different from other products
I) Body
a. About Tide
i. What Tide is, their goal
b. Target market
i. Women
ii. Provide examples of what women are saying about Tide
iii. Examples of how Tide conducts their research
1. (Article) They went to fields and asked women
c. Building confidence/credibility
i. They are not focusing tide as just a detergent, but rather making tide a part of a family member
ii. Different variety of tide offered. By offering varieties they are satisfying individuals’ needs as well as building the relationship with customers. Because tide offers variety they are not sending their customer to other brands to satisfy their needs. Some of the examples of their variety are:
1. Tide with Bleach
2. Tide with Downy
3. Tide with Febreze
4. Tide with HE (its designed strictly for HE washing machine)
iii. The benefits to consumers by offering a lot of variety
d. Presentation of tide
i. Color scheme
1. Bright colors, happy feeling
ii. Offers, coupons, awareness
1. (Article) they had a deal for limited time at Home Depot that if you purchase Washing Machine and a dryer you will get a year of supply of Tide.
e. Any negative aspects
i. Since Tide is my favorite brand for laundry detergent, it doesn’t mean that it has no flaws. In this section I will talk about any criticism Tide is getting in the market.
ii. Negative comments about Tide from consumers. Why they don’t like Tide?
f. How is Tide different from other products
i. Comparison of examples with different detergents
ii. Is Tide the only choice for removing all types of stains?
1. From all the research I have done so far, it seems like a lot of people like Tide when they compare it to other laundry detergent , but most of them are talking about Tide because of the fresh smell it leaves in their clothes
III) Conclusion
i. What I learned from the research
a.Interesting findings
ii. My opinion
a. How accurate were my predictions about Tide
b. Did my opinion about Tide change at the end of the research. I chose Tide over any other detergent because my mom always buys it. Did i form my own opinion after doing a research.
iii. Relating it to customer insights- How all the research helps the marketers understand the consumer behavior / buying patterns / their decisions of purchasing laundry detergent.
Concerns
Am I headed toward the right direction?
Since I chose a specific topic, and from your feedback earlier on the blog, I don’t want to make it seem like a love letter about Tide. Based on that is my outline okay? I am trying to make it like an informative paper and then in conclusion I will talk a little bit about my opinion and why I chose to write it.
I am afraid if I will reach the 10-15 page length for the final paper. However, I do plan to bring in a lot of examples will that be all right?
Do I need to add something else/talk about other points?
Some Sources
http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T6295673182&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T6295673185&cisb=22_T6295673184&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=303830&docNo=7
http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T6295673182&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T6295673185&cisb=22_T6295673184&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=8093&docNo=9
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/home/2008/11/tide-detergents.html
http://www.pg.com/science/innovations_detergent.shtml
For my paper, I plan to study how Tide, the laundry detergent, markets it self and holds its top seller position. With a lot of competition form other laundry detergent what are the marketers of Tide doing to make Tide the family choice. What are the strategies used mainly on their target market, women, by marketers to to get a better understanding of the purchasing decision about detergents.
a. About Tide
b. Target market
c. Building confidence/credibility
d. Presentation
e. Any negative aspects
f. How is it different from other products
I) Body
a. About Tide
i. What Tide is, their goal
b. Target market
i. Women
ii. Provide examples of what women are saying about Tide
iii. Examples of how Tide conducts their research
1. (Article) They went to fields and asked women
c. Building confidence/credibility
i. They are not focusing tide as just a detergent, but rather making tide a part of a family member
ii. Different variety of tide offered. By offering varieties they are satisfying individuals’ needs as well as building the relationship with customers. Because tide offers variety they are not sending their customer to other brands to satisfy their needs. Some of the examples of their variety are:
1. Tide with Bleach
2. Tide with Downy
3. Tide with Febreze
4. Tide with HE (its designed strictly for HE washing machine)
iii. The benefits to consumers by offering a lot of variety
d. Presentation of tide
i. Color scheme
1. Bright colors, happy feeling
ii. Offers, coupons, awareness
1. (Article) they had a deal for limited time at Home Depot that if you purchase Washing Machine and a dryer you will get a year of supply of Tide.
e. Any negative aspects
i. Since Tide is my favorite brand for laundry detergent, it doesn’t mean that it has no flaws. In this section I will talk about any criticism Tide is getting in the market.
ii. Negative comments about Tide from consumers. Why they don’t like Tide?
f. How is Tide different from other products
i. Comparison of examples with different detergents
ii. Is Tide the only choice for removing all types of stains?
1. From all the research I have done so far, it seems like a lot of people like Tide when they compare it to other laundry detergent , but most of them are talking about Tide because of the fresh smell it leaves in their clothes
III) Conclusion
i. What I learned from the research
a.Interesting findings
ii. My opinion
a. How accurate were my predictions about Tide
b. Did my opinion about Tide change at the end of the research. I chose Tide over any other detergent because my mom always buys it. Did i form my own opinion after doing a research.
iii. Relating it to customer insights- How all the research helps the marketers understand the consumer behavior / buying patterns / their decisions of purchasing laundry detergent.
Concerns
Am I headed toward the right direction?
Since I chose a specific topic, and from your feedback earlier on the blog, I don’t want to make it seem like a love letter about Tide. Based on that is my outline okay? I am trying to make it like an informative paper and then in conclusion I will talk a little bit about my opinion and why I chose to write it.
I am afraid if I will reach the 10-15 page length for the final paper. However, I do plan to bring in a lot of examples will that be all right?
Do I need to add something else/talk about other points?
Some Sources
http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T6295673182&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T6295673185&cisb=22_T6295673184&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=303830&docNo=7
http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic/results/docview/docview.do?docLinkInd=true&risb=21_T6295673182&format=GNBFI&sort=RELEVANCE&startDocNo=1&resultsUrlKey=29_T6295673185&cisb=22_T6295673184&treeMax=true&treeWidth=0&csi=8093&docNo=9
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/home/2008/11/tide-detergents.html
http://www.pg.com/science/innovations_detergent.shtml
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Free Blog
Since we are offered another free blog I decided to write on what I am currently busy doing - finding tickets for visiting Pakistan this summer! This summer my family has decided to visit our family in Pakistan. Everything has been planned, what gifts to take, what to do there, locations to visit, which restaurants to go etc. But the most important thing that stays undecided is the tickets! We are planning to fly during summer, in June-July. Because of the summer season the tickets are ridiculously high. As we do our research and ask all the airlines we don’t find anything below $2,000 per person. It is total of 5 of us in my family and that means spending about $10,000 just in tickets. I have observed this before that just because of the tickets people changes their plans of visiting their home countries. Because of the high prices just for the tickets we all began to do our research for choosing the dates for travel and the airline.
My family usually doesn’t fly all together because we all like to go different places. My mom and my younger sister prefer to go back to our home country during summer. While my youngest sister and I like to go places within States or Canada. Because my mom has always flown to Pakistan in summer, she has always used Emirates Airlines. Emirates Airline is ranked five stars in service, experience, and for comfort. Emirates Airline is not a cheap airline but because it’s just two of the family members traveling, we don’t freak out about the prices as we are now. Looking from the marketing perspective Emirates Airlines took over what used to be ranked #1 choice of Pakistani travelers, PIA (Pakistan International Airlines).
The reason why people chose PIA over any other airline was because it used to offer a direct flight only from New York. Since the growing population of Pakistani’s are all over the States, PIA started their flights from other destination as well. PIA used to offer only one stop, in London, in between Houston to Karachi, Pakistan in comparison to other airlines which offered multiple stops in several countries. The travel distance is already too much. It takes about 24 hours from Houston to Karachi, Pakistan and the only thing PIA offered was the direct flight to save some time. I think they were marketing their service by saying we provide the “Pakistani feeling” but that doesn’t mean you skip meals and provide horrible service. The way Emirates Airline took over was by providing something PIA lacked the most - Customer Service. I always read reviews for PIA because for some reason I wanted to work for an airline. My aunt used to work for PIA and so I always had something to complain to her about the airline.
From the reviews, I read that people were happy they are saving some time by having a direct flight but are not appreciating the service offered. My personal experience with PIA was horrible. They skip meals, they are not available when you call them for help, and they are out of almost everything you ask for. Emirates Airline not only offers a great service, but it also offers a direct flight from Houston to Dubai and then Dubai to Pakistan all in less than 24 hours. (from my family member’s experience) Because of their great services they provide to their travelers, Emirates Airlines took over what Pakistani’s or more like what my family prefers. My mom and my sister just love the experience of flying in Emirates. They said the appearance of the plane is neat and clean. There is always help available from flight attendants. They provide you with meals according to your choice and according to where you’re going. Not only that, once you fly with them they subscribe you for their newsletter. They send you little things such as stickers, hand bands, and they also give mileage points. Once you reach up to that certain mileage points, you can redeem it for a free ticket. With all these great services provided to us, Emirates became our number one choice.
Now going back to the issue of tickets and pricing, like I said Emirates is not cheap! The tickets they are offering are $2,000 per person. As we were worrying about the tickets prices because it’s five of us traveling this time, we heard about this new airline in competition to Emirates, Qatar Airways. It was good news for us because they are offering alot lower prices than what Emirates is offering. Doing the research on Qatar Airways we found out they are also good in services. Their planes are new, clean, and flight attendants are very friendly. Because of this, my mom and sister have already bought tickets with Qatar Airways. And as I suspected the Qatar Airways did cause Emirates to lower their prices!
It’s really interesting to see how industries of any kind can be harmed by competitors and how the competitors can also cause others to change their decision. I believe it’s really important for an airline in their industry to be updated with what’s going on and find strategies to either keep themselves in the good position or make it better. With Emirates Airlines, I think it’s going to be challenging for Qatar Airways to compete with them. Since Emirates is already well known and have a strong image in peoples mind, it will take time for Qatar Airways to compete with Emirates. Even though my mom and sister have chosen Qatar Airways for the first time, they might not choose it for future. Since it is new to the US market at this point, we don’t have many reviews to read and decide. And like I mentioned earlier Emirates Airlines is lowering their price and so I will choose to fly Emirates. I have never flown in this airline and from what I have heard about their services, I look forward to have an experience.
My family usually doesn’t fly all together because we all like to go different places. My mom and my younger sister prefer to go back to our home country during summer. While my youngest sister and I like to go places within States or Canada. Because my mom has always flown to Pakistan in summer, she has always used Emirates Airlines. Emirates Airline is ranked five stars in service, experience, and for comfort. Emirates Airline is not a cheap airline but because it’s just two of the family members traveling, we don’t freak out about the prices as we are now. Looking from the marketing perspective Emirates Airlines took over what used to be ranked #1 choice of Pakistani travelers, PIA (Pakistan International Airlines).
The reason why people chose PIA over any other airline was because it used to offer a direct flight only from New York. Since the growing population of Pakistani’s are all over the States, PIA started their flights from other destination as well. PIA used to offer only one stop, in London, in between Houston to Karachi, Pakistan in comparison to other airlines which offered multiple stops in several countries. The travel distance is already too much. It takes about 24 hours from Houston to Karachi, Pakistan and the only thing PIA offered was the direct flight to save some time. I think they were marketing their service by saying we provide the “Pakistani feeling” but that doesn’t mean you skip meals and provide horrible service. The way Emirates Airline took over was by providing something PIA lacked the most - Customer Service. I always read reviews for PIA because for some reason I wanted to work for an airline. My aunt used to work for PIA and so I always had something to complain to her about the airline.
From the reviews, I read that people were happy they are saving some time by having a direct flight but are not appreciating the service offered. My personal experience with PIA was horrible. They skip meals, they are not available when you call them for help, and they are out of almost everything you ask for. Emirates Airline not only offers a great service, but it also offers a direct flight from Houston to Dubai and then Dubai to Pakistan all in less than 24 hours. (from my family member’s experience) Because of their great services they provide to their travelers, Emirates Airlines took over what Pakistani’s or more like what my family prefers. My mom and my sister just love the experience of flying in Emirates. They said the appearance of the plane is neat and clean. There is always help available from flight attendants. They provide you with meals according to your choice and according to where you’re going. Not only that, once you fly with them they subscribe you for their newsletter. They send you little things such as stickers, hand bands, and they also give mileage points. Once you reach up to that certain mileage points, you can redeem it for a free ticket. With all these great services provided to us, Emirates became our number one choice.
Now going back to the issue of tickets and pricing, like I said Emirates is not cheap! The tickets they are offering are $2,000 per person. As we were worrying about the tickets prices because it’s five of us traveling this time, we heard about this new airline in competition to Emirates, Qatar Airways. It was good news for us because they are offering alot lower prices than what Emirates is offering. Doing the research on Qatar Airways we found out they are also good in services. Their planes are new, clean, and flight attendants are very friendly. Because of this, my mom and sister have already bought tickets with Qatar Airways. And as I suspected the Qatar Airways did cause Emirates to lower their prices!
It’s really interesting to see how industries of any kind can be harmed by competitors and how the competitors can also cause others to change their decision. I believe it’s really important for an airline in their industry to be updated with what’s going on and find strategies to either keep themselves in the good position or make it better. With Emirates Airlines, I think it’s going to be challenging for Qatar Airways to compete with them. Since Emirates is already well known and have a strong image in peoples mind, it will take time for Qatar Airways to compete with Emirates. Even though my mom and sister have chosen Qatar Airways for the first time, they might not choose it for future. Since it is new to the US market at this point, we don’t have many reviews to read and decide. And like I mentioned earlier Emirates Airlines is lowering their price and so I will choose to fly Emirates. I have never flown in this airline and from what I have heard about their services, I look forward to have an experience.
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