Welcome to my new blog! In all my other blogs I discussed media use in general, commonly used for profit purposes. In this blog I will discuss media use for non-profit purposes. In this case it is all about the safety of public service employees and to reduce aggression on the streets. In contrary to my previous blogs, this blog will pay attention to a widespread phenomenon in Holland.
This bizarre phenomenon is that the use of violence towards public service employees is extremely rising. For example, the violence against the police and ambulance personnel during New Year’s Eve of this year increased enormous compared to New Year’s Eve of last year. It went wrong this year 138 times, compared to 97 incidents last year.
Obviously, violence towards public service employees is unacceptable and it is extremely “crazy” that this happens in the first place. People on the streets who see it happen that any madmen starts fighting with ambulance personnel or police men (who are practically on the streets for everybody’s safety) are most of the time afraid to intervene or completely flabbergasted. Therefore, the Ministry of Justice came with an idea to place huge, interactive, live billboards in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. From now on, people in public are confronted with street kids who behave violently against ambulance personnel. With this new approach, the Ministry of Justice hopes to make the people in the streets more aware of what happens in the streets. Besides that, they hope that these people will do something to stop the aggression towards public service employees.
At the end of this blog a video is shown about what the huge, interactive billboards look like. This video will also show which four tips are presented to the people in the street in order to inform them about what to do and how to act in a violently situations. Finally, media use is rising in a lot of organizations and it is very popular these days, but fortunately media use is more than only profitable for organizations and handy or nice. Hopefully, this form of media use can reduce the aggression on the streets and hopefully this can also contribute to a better atmosphere on the streets.
Please let me know what you think about this new approach of the Ministery of Justice in Holland.
dinsdag 27 april 2010
dinsdag 20 april 2010
Augmented Reality
My new blog this time is about Augmented Reality. I was surfing on the internet this afternoon to find an interesting topic which has something to do with media use. During this internet session I came into contact with the concept “Augmented Reality”. I have never heard of it before and I was really surprised about the fact that there are technical applications like this, notwithstanding we live in a “digital world” nowadays. If you have also never heard of this concept before, you are hopefully getting a bit curious. First, I would like to explain something more about this great concept and later on in this blog I’ll show a video to get a better idea and to give an example of Augmented Reality.
Augmented Reality is a topic that is aimed at the adding of digital, computer-generated images to the reality (things that are really there). It is as far as I know, one of the latest and newest hypes on the field of internet, technology and marketing (correct me if I’m wrong). It is used in some organizations to encourage people to go to their website or to promote certain products, services or events. As is shown in the video at the end in this blog, you can imagine that it is very original and striking to make use of Augmented Reality. It can also be used to attract people’s attention for different reasons, to increase the visitors experience in attraction parcs and musea.
Augmented Reality increases the interactivity and the degree of information provision. It works for several purposes, but here follow a few examples:
-it can add information to peoples sight (for example to the sight of a mechanic, as is shown in the video below)
-it can function as navigation or a simulation, for example to practice for your driving license.
-it increases the quality of videogames and other interactive purposes for in peoples leisure time.
A Dutch Layar application is introduced and it integrates live internet within the physical environment on a mobile phone. “Layar” places different layers on the image of a camera, as the name suggests. In this way, the camera adds some virtual layers on the reality which results in the fact that your mobile phone can function as a tour guide for instance. There are shown two videos below. One which shows the way how Augmented Reality can increase the work of a mechanic and the other in what way it can increase the interactivity in a playful, but instructive way. I hope you like the videos and please let me know what you think about the concept!
Augmented Reality is a topic that is aimed at the adding of digital, computer-generated images to the reality (things that are really there). It is as far as I know, one of the latest and newest hypes on the field of internet, technology and marketing (correct me if I’m wrong). It is used in some organizations to encourage people to go to their website or to promote certain products, services or events. As is shown in the video at the end in this blog, you can imagine that it is very original and striking to make use of Augmented Reality. It can also be used to attract people’s attention for different reasons, to increase the visitors experience in attraction parcs and musea.
Augmented Reality increases the interactivity and the degree of information provision. It works for several purposes, but here follow a few examples:
-it can add information to peoples sight (for example to the sight of a mechanic, as is shown in the video below)
-it can function as navigation or a simulation, for example to practice for your driving license.
-it increases the quality of videogames and other interactive purposes for in peoples leisure time.
A Dutch Layar application is introduced and it integrates live internet within the physical environment on a mobile phone. “Layar” places different layers on the image of a camera, as the name suggests. In this way, the camera adds some virtual layers on the reality which results in the fact that your mobile phone can function as a tour guide for instance. There are shown two videos below. One which shows the way how Augmented Reality can increase the work of a mechanic and the other in what way it can increase the interactivity in a playful, but instructive way. I hope you like the videos and please let me know what you think about the concept!
dinsdag 13 april 2010
How “Dell” has implemented SMM
In my last blog I discussed the main idea of Social Media Marketing (SMM). I mentioned the key point of entering into a dialogue or a relation with the target group. In this blog I’m going to explain this a bit more by giving an example of a company who has implemented SMM. But first I’m going to elaborate on an action plan in order to have a good SMM strategy, which is crucial and forms the basis of your campaign, like I mentioned in my previous blog.
Action plan
First of all, you have to define a mission. Try to come up with a few goals and convert these goals into success factors. Next, make sure to have a nice budget and employees who want to go for it and who believe in your idea. Important to keep in mind is that SMM is not something you do “in a week”. A good SMM campaign requires time. Do some research and determine where your target group is and which social media they are using the most. Then start online with reputation management. First, you need to find out what your target group is saying about you or your products and services on the internet. Subsequently, participate in conversations, convince “opponents” and help, inform and interact with (current) customers. Develop blogs, forums and unique content to increase brand awareness. Try to stay innovative and keep interacting with “your people”. Evaluate new things you tried earlier and measure the effects. Important is to improve weaker points and optimize your results. Companies want to see the difference as fast as possible and they are a bit impatient, but it is important to be patient and to evaluate and improve if necessary.
Dell
In 2009, Dell implemented SMM in their organization. Dell started its own community site, where the customers have access to twelve blogs, dozens of forums, media galleries and the successful “Dell IdeaStorm”. The Dell IdeaStorm is a digital place where (potential) customers can drop their ideas about current products or just “wild ideas”. It is Dells intention to react on all comments and ideas, whether it is positive or negative, but just to give a signal to the people that Dell stands for customer loyalty and that they want to help out customers with problems.
Tons of useful ideas were send in and a few were actually used to improve their assortment and to listen to their customers. This is very smart, because those customers think that they are “a part of the organization”. This is how you create commitment. Next time, customers who feel that they are taken very seriously by Dell are definitely coming back to Dell. If you have already read my previous blog, you know that customer retention is much cheaper and easier than attracting new customers. Conclusively, Social Media Marketing can be very advantageous and profitable, but make sure to have a good strategy and try to be patient!
Action plan
First of all, you have to define a mission. Try to come up with a few goals and convert these goals into success factors. Next, make sure to have a nice budget and employees who want to go for it and who believe in your idea. Important to keep in mind is that SMM is not something you do “in a week”. A good SMM campaign requires time. Do some research and determine where your target group is and which social media they are using the most. Then start online with reputation management. First, you need to find out what your target group is saying about you or your products and services on the internet. Subsequently, participate in conversations, convince “opponents” and help, inform and interact with (current) customers. Develop blogs, forums and unique content to increase brand awareness. Try to stay innovative and keep interacting with “your people”. Evaluate new things you tried earlier and measure the effects. Important is to improve weaker points and optimize your results. Companies want to see the difference as fast as possible and they are a bit impatient, but it is important to be patient and to evaluate and improve if necessary.
Dell
In 2009, Dell implemented SMM in their organization. Dell started its own community site, where the customers have access to twelve blogs, dozens of forums, media galleries and the successful “Dell IdeaStorm”. The Dell IdeaStorm is a digital place where (potential) customers can drop their ideas about current products or just “wild ideas”. It is Dells intention to react on all comments and ideas, whether it is positive or negative, but just to give a signal to the people that Dell stands for customer loyalty and that they want to help out customers with problems.
Tons of useful ideas were send in and a few were actually used to improve their assortment and to listen to their customers. This is very smart, because those customers think that they are “a part of the organization”. This is how you create commitment. Next time, customers who feel that they are taken very seriously by Dell are definitely coming back to Dell. If you have already read my previous blog, you know that customer retention is much cheaper and easier than attracting new customers. Conclusively, Social Media Marketing can be very advantageous and profitable, but make sure to have a good strategy and try to be patient!
woensdag 31 maart 2010
Social Media Marketing
Nowadays, people come in contact with dozens of forms of advertisement. People’s minds work in a way that only a few very striking and interesting advertisements get their attention. In general, people can remind the brand or the advertisement itself from only one or two of these striking advertising expressions. So why would a company spend tons of money to advertisements which, in the worst case, wouldn’t be recalled by anybody. This is a different way of evaluating advertisements, but in the busy society where people live in these days it is a lot more profitable to reach the target group by using social media. Since the social media revolution is emerging these days it is easier and probably cheaper to get the attention of the people by using social media marketing (SMM).
In this blog I’m going to discuss social media marketing.
The main idea of SMM is the entering into a dialogue or a relation with the target group instead of overwhelming them with lots of advertisements. This can be done by using online communities, forums, blogs or other types of social network to get in touch with “your” people.
The first advantage is that participating or registering in social networks is free. Compared to spending money on advertisements which are only recalled by some people, participating in social networks is advantageous. As mentioned in the beginning of this blog, there is a so called “social media revolution” going on at the internet. Subsequently, the amount of visitors on sites as Facebook, LinkdIn and Twitter is rising in unprecedented quantities. This means that companies can generate brand awareness to (potential) customers all over the internet, only by a “little” time investment. This doesn’t mean that SMM is “just something extra” on companies’ to-do-list. Before starting with the actual SMM-campaign it is essential to create a clear strategy. Identify what the organization needs to achieve with SMM. An example of a strategy is mentioned before in this blog, such as generating more brand awareness or creating better relationships with your customers. These are just some examples of strategies, but there are lots of more to imagine. In order to achieve the goals it is important to do research about the target group. Important questions can be: “Which social network is commonly used by the target group?” and “Which style is the best to approach the target group?”. After doing research companies can actually start with their SMM campaign.
Key point in approaching the target group is to treat them as individual customers. Obviously, important customers are more important than smaller customers. Get to know your customers better in the beginning and try to interact with each other. Significant detail is that the customers want to be understood and they want to get the feeling that the organization is helpful. Customers will respect this and probably/hopefully this results in loyalty. And never forget this thumb rule: “It is better and cheaper to keep your current customers satisfied and loyal, than attracting/finding new customers”.
In this blog I’m going to discuss social media marketing.
The main idea of SMM is the entering into a dialogue or a relation with the target group instead of overwhelming them with lots of advertisements. This can be done by using online communities, forums, blogs or other types of social network to get in touch with “your” people.
The first advantage is that participating or registering in social networks is free. Compared to spending money on advertisements which are only recalled by some people, participating in social networks is advantageous. As mentioned in the beginning of this blog, there is a so called “social media revolution” going on at the internet. Subsequently, the amount of visitors on sites as Facebook, LinkdIn and Twitter is rising in unprecedented quantities. This means that companies can generate brand awareness to (potential) customers all over the internet, only by a “little” time investment. This doesn’t mean that SMM is “just something extra” on companies’ to-do-list. Before starting with the actual SMM-campaign it is essential to create a clear strategy. Identify what the organization needs to achieve with SMM. An example of a strategy is mentioned before in this blog, such as generating more brand awareness or creating better relationships with your customers. These are just some examples of strategies, but there are lots of more to imagine. In order to achieve the goals it is important to do research about the target group. Important questions can be: “Which social network is commonly used by the target group?” and “Which style is the best to approach the target group?”. After doing research companies can actually start with their SMM campaign.
Key point in approaching the target group is to treat them as individual customers. Obviously, important customers are more important than smaller customers. Get to know your customers better in the beginning and try to interact with each other. Significant detail is that the customers want to be understood and they want to get the feeling that the organization is helpful. Customers will respect this and probably/hopefully this results in loyalty. And never forget this thumb rule: “It is better and cheaper to keep your current customers satisfied and loyal, than attracting/finding new customers”.
dinsdag 30 maart 2010
RFID technology
This blog will give an introduction to the RFID technology which is probably going to be big business in the near future. This blog will discuss what RFID actually is and how it can be used. I will also give some predictions of how RFID will be applied in the future.
What is RFID?
RFID is an abbreviation of Radio Frequency Identification. RFID is a technology which uses radio signals to identify goods and vehicles and perhaps in the future also to identify people and animals. This technology is developed to work more efficient, to guarantee the security and to increase the usability for some products.
How does it work?
A product with a RFID chip can catch radio signals from special devices, so called readers. The chip uses the energy from the radio signal to send information or a message back to this reader. This message contains information about that specific product and is connected to a database where the information can be processed. Every chip in each product contains their own specific product information. Some chips have a bigger reach than others, because they differ in frequency. Obviously, a higher frequency results in a bigger reach.
RFID and people’s privacy
As shown in the short video below, it is for companies in the United States already legal to build RFID chips in for example your shoes, so that it can work as a tracking device. Obviously, the question raises why companies would “follow” us and what the practical benefit is. Using RFID chips in the clothing of people can be very advantageous for crime investigation for example, but the key point is to find the right balance between the privacy of people and the benefits of using RFID for the “ordinary citizens”. It is imaginable that the RFID technology could be very advantageous for our society, but it is obvious that there are some questionable points which need to be investigated.
RFID in the future
As mentioned above, there has to be a lot more investigation about the RFID technology before all objects and living beings have their own chip, but I think it is pretty imaginable that this technology will take the place of a lot of working people with serious consequences. I definitely can see the benefits of RFID, but I doubt the fact that RFID is “the solution”. For example, the RFID technology is going to substitute cashiers by the time that all products in the grocery store have their own chips. It is plausible that in the future every person has their own chip. So when one is going to the grocery store to go shopping, one can fill his basket or cart with the products he needs and while walking out of the store, a device scans what someone just bought. So this device can also “see” what the shop has in store at a certain time and what the supplier needs to bring. At the moment of passing the device which measures your products, money from your chip (which everybody is wearing in their hand or arm) is going to be paid to the grocery store and one is ready to go. This is an example of how RFID is going to substitute cashiers, but I think a lot of people will loose their jobs in the future by the implementing of this technology.
What do you think? Please leave a comment!
What is RFID?
RFID is an abbreviation of Radio Frequency Identification. RFID is a technology which uses radio signals to identify goods and vehicles and perhaps in the future also to identify people and animals. This technology is developed to work more efficient, to guarantee the security and to increase the usability for some products.
How does it work?
A product with a RFID chip can catch radio signals from special devices, so called readers. The chip uses the energy from the radio signal to send information or a message back to this reader. This message contains information about that specific product and is connected to a database where the information can be processed. Every chip in each product contains their own specific product information. Some chips have a bigger reach than others, because they differ in frequency. Obviously, a higher frequency results in a bigger reach.
RFID and people’s privacy
As shown in the short video below, it is for companies in the United States already legal to build RFID chips in for example your shoes, so that it can work as a tracking device. Obviously, the question raises why companies would “follow” us and what the practical benefit is. Using RFID chips in the clothing of people can be very advantageous for crime investigation for example, but the key point is to find the right balance between the privacy of people and the benefits of using RFID for the “ordinary citizens”. It is imaginable that the RFID technology could be very advantageous for our society, but it is obvious that there are some questionable points which need to be investigated.
RFID in the future
As mentioned above, there has to be a lot more investigation about the RFID technology before all objects and living beings have their own chip, but I think it is pretty imaginable that this technology will take the place of a lot of working people with serious consequences. I definitely can see the benefits of RFID, but I doubt the fact that RFID is “the solution”. For example, the RFID technology is going to substitute cashiers by the time that all products in the grocery store have their own chips. It is plausible that in the future every person has their own chip. So when one is going to the grocery store to go shopping, one can fill his basket or cart with the products he needs and while walking out of the store, a device scans what someone just bought. So this device can also “see” what the shop has in store at a certain time and what the supplier needs to bring. At the moment of passing the device which measures your products, money from your chip (which everybody is wearing in their hand or arm) is going to be paid to the grocery store and one is ready to go. This is an example of how RFID is going to substitute cashiers, but I think a lot of people will loose their jobs in the future by the implementing of this technology.
What do you think? Please leave a comment!
maandag 22 februari 2010
E-Commerce as a component of E-Business
Welcome to my second blog about IT use in organizations. In my first blog I explained the importance of Customer Relationship Management. In this blog I will explain the main idea of E-Commerce and the different types of this emerging notion.
E-Commerce is a relatively new conception to many people. I have already heard about E-Commerce before and I knew that it has something to do with E-Business, but that is about it. E-Commerce is simply explained as doing business on the internet. So there actually are two notions which look like each other and has to do with each other. “E-Business” and “E-Commerce”. E-Commerce is a component of E-Business. E-Commerce is all about online transactions, which means that it is all about buying and selling goods and services over the internet. E-Business is much broader and is also about online transactions, but refers more to all internet based interactions with suppliers, customers and other organizations.
There are different types of E-Commerce in today’s society which are abbreviated as: B2B, B2C and C2C. These abbreviations are explained below.
B2B = Business 2 Business
B2C = Business 2 Consumers
C2C = Consumers 2 Consumers
B2B means nothing more than trading between 2 companies/organizations. B2C is about trading from a company to a customer and C2C means trading between 2 customers. For instance eBay.com is a good example of C2C, a virtual place where people “come together” to offer products to others who are buying those products.
Like mentioned above, for too many people the notion “E-Commerce” is unknown, but a lot of people are trading in products on the internet on websites as Marktplaats and eBay. So many people have to deal with E-Commerce, but the only haven’t heard about the notion itself. Regarding E-Commerce and the future there are emerging some very interesting developments. “Social Commerce” is one of those developments which is relatively unknown for now, but which is probably getting more and more popular in the future. Social Commerce is that a lot of users become traders y by making use of their own websites to sell products and services. The current technology is making it easier and cheaper.
The last upcoming development which I am going to discuss is “Live Shopping”. This is getting very popular in Germany and it is quite easy. A product which is very popular among potential buyers is for sale during one day with a permanent discount from 50 percent for instance. The discount from 50 percent is so attractive that “everybody” wants to buy that product. And the organizations are still making good money, despite of the huge discount and a few weeks later they will come with another attractive product which makes the other products old-fashioned and perhaps even redundant. In this way the organizations ensure that the people want to buy this new product, because people are sensitive for trends and modernity.
I hope this blog about E-Commerce was interesting and I hope you will keep reading my other blogs!
E-Commerce is a relatively new conception to many people. I have already heard about E-Commerce before and I knew that it has something to do with E-Business, but that is about it. E-Commerce is simply explained as doing business on the internet. So there actually are two notions which look like each other and has to do with each other. “E-Business” and “E-Commerce”. E-Commerce is a component of E-Business. E-Commerce is all about online transactions, which means that it is all about buying and selling goods and services over the internet. E-Business is much broader and is also about online transactions, but refers more to all internet based interactions with suppliers, customers and other organizations.
There are different types of E-Commerce in today’s society which are abbreviated as: B2B, B2C and C2C. These abbreviations are explained below.
B2B = Business 2 Business
B2C = Business 2 Consumers
C2C = Consumers 2 Consumers
B2B means nothing more than trading between 2 companies/organizations. B2C is about trading from a company to a customer and C2C means trading between 2 customers. For instance eBay.com is a good example of C2C, a virtual place where people “come together” to offer products to others who are buying those products.
Like mentioned above, for too many people the notion “E-Commerce” is unknown, but a lot of people are trading in products on the internet on websites as Marktplaats and eBay. So many people have to deal with E-Commerce, but the only haven’t heard about the notion itself. Regarding E-Commerce and the future there are emerging some very interesting developments. “Social Commerce” is one of those developments which is relatively unknown for now, but which is probably getting more and more popular in the future. Social Commerce is that a lot of users become traders y by making use of their own websites to sell products and services. The current technology is making it easier and cheaper.
The last upcoming development which I am going to discuss is “Live Shopping”. This is getting very popular in Germany and it is quite easy. A product which is very popular among potential buyers is for sale during one day with a permanent discount from 50 percent for instance. The discount from 50 percent is so attractive that “everybody” wants to buy that product. And the organizations are still making good money, despite of the huge discount and a few weeks later they will come with another attractive product which makes the other products old-fashioned and perhaps even redundant. In this way the organizations ensure that the people want to buy this new product, because people are sensitive for trends and modernity.
I hope this blog about E-Commerce was interesting and I hope you will keep reading my other blogs!
dinsdag 9 februari 2010
Customer Relationship Management
This is my first blog and in this blog I am going to introduce the notion CRM, which is a very important notion within the use of media (internet) in organizations. I hope you will enjoy reading my blog!
Organizations cannot “exist” without the use of media to reach customers and to advertise themselves, but they especially cannot think about an existence without the use of internet.
Internet has become such an important communicator in the past decades. One of the main reasons to clarify the use of internet in organizations is that this communicator is cheaper than the use of TV or radio for instance. Secondly, the reach of potential customers and “all people” in general is way much larger by using the internet than using other communicators.
The use of internet in order to CRM
The importance and the advantages of internet are mentioned above. There is indicated that internet a good communicator to reach (potential) customers. A very important notion in communication and customer reach is customer relationship management, an important component of marketing in general.
Too many organizations pay too little attention to the relations with their customers, what means that many organizations do not make good use of the internet as a communicator. If organizations would pay better attention to relationship management their costs would reduce tremendous. In general, the customer loyalty would be better if organizations would make a better use of the internet in order to manage their relation with customers. Customer loyalty is very important to reduce a lot of costs, a “forgotten notion” in many organizations. First of all, customer loyalty is way much cheaper than attracting new customers every time and secondly, when a company pays enough attention to customer loyalty the customers will definitely stay at your organization. In other words, it is much cheaper to keep customers loyal to your company than “stealing” customers from your competitors. In addition, loyal customers stay away from your competitors.
In conclusion, mentioned is that internet is the most important communicator for organizations, but they should make better use of it in order to manage their customer relations.
The main idea of CRM is described in this blog and possibly in an other blog I will be more specific about some major components.
Organizations cannot “exist” without the use of media to reach customers and to advertise themselves, but they especially cannot think about an existence without the use of internet.
Internet has become such an important communicator in the past decades. One of the main reasons to clarify the use of internet in organizations is that this communicator is cheaper than the use of TV or radio for instance. Secondly, the reach of potential customers and “all people” in general is way much larger by using the internet than using other communicators.
The use of internet in order to CRM
The importance and the advantages of internet are mentioned above. There is indicated that internet a good communicator to reach (potential) customers. A very important notion in communication and customer reach is customer relationship management, an important component of marketing in general.
Too many organizations pay too little attention to the relations with their customers, what means that many organizations do not make good use of the internet as a communicator. If organizations would pay better attention to relationship management their costs would reduce tremendous. In general, the customer loyalty would be better if organizations would make a better use of the internet in order to manage their relation with customers. Customer loyalty is very important to reduce a lot of costs, a “forgotten notion” in many organizations. First of all, customer loyalty is way much cheaper than attracting new customers every time and secondly, when a company pays enough attention to customer loyalty the customers will definitely stay at your organization. In other words, it is much cheaper to keep customers loyal to your company than “stealing” customers from your competitors. In addition, loyal customers stay away from your competitors.
In conclusion, mentioned is that internet is the most important communicator for organizations, but they should make better use of it in order to manage their customer relations.
The main idea of CRM is described in this blog and possibly in an other blog I will be more specific about some major components.
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