ASSESSMENT 1

ESSENTIAL E-MARKETING
STRATEGY (BK004)









SUBMITTED BY:
REVATHI KAKANI
ID NO: i133329
Email:kakanirevathi.91@gmail.com


SUBMITTED TO:

Stuart McNab.






Revathi Kakani ID i133329 3
Introduction
The introduction of the Internet to the world, allowed people to stay in touch and
communicate much easier, information to be found fast, and businesses to reach possible
clients on a more cost-effective basis than ever before. Internet made many changes in the
way a company or organization carries out a particular marketing strategy.
Today online marketing is no longer an option but has become a necessity. Well, thats not a
bad news because planning an Internet marketing strategy is not a difficult task, mainly if one
fully understands that the rules of online marketing are not as same as that of traditional
marketing.
Online Marketing Strategy Planning
Internet marketing requires one to know about their customers and their markets thoroughly.
This requires an intense level of marketing research and the development of a marketing plan.
The following are few basic points, which should be focused upon while online marketing for
successful results.
Target Your Audience focus on the customer your product or service will surely appeal.
Knowing this information is essential to develop a marketing strategy.
Think of your Ideal Customer Having a clear thought on the type of customer the
organization wants to develop a relationship with, is a good way to improve the ways your
online marketing strategy will play out.
Assess Values focus on the interest a customer has in the product and in the means in which
the product is marketed. For example, a customer will obviously expect good quality in the
product, but what will he expect when it comes to marketing the product? Will he be
interested in the video demonstrating of the product? Does he wish to read the other customer
reviews of others regarding the product?
Provide Information Customers expect accurate and genuine information on the product
they could possibly purchase. Becoming a resource of reliable and trustworthy information
will build relationships with the customers and it brand a company as trustworthy.
Targeted Internet marketing can produce phenomenal results, if done correctly. There are tons
of companies, which succeeded in online campaigning whereas some had been huge disasters.
Revathi Kakani ID i133329 4
In this article we will look into case studies of companies and products which
succeeded/failed in e marketing and the strategies it followed.
CASE STUDY #1:
STARBUCKS: SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY
Coffee is a big business at Starbucks. Since opening its first branch in Seattle, Washington in
the year 1971, Starbucks has grown into one of the worlds largest specialty coffee and food
retailers and one of the most globally recognized brands. Starbucks built a billion-dollar
enterprise not on more than just coffee alone but it also had succeeded in building a unique
Starbucks experience online. Starbucks is one of the first companies, which implemented the
use of social media and succeeded tremendously in it. Its social media strategy is constructed
around the companies website and also additional social platforms like Twitter, Google+,
YouTube, Facebook, and My Starbucks ideas.
Starbucks primary digital touch points:
Facebook: Starbucks cares about customer more than selling. Currently, 94% of the
Facebook users are either a Starbucks fan or friends with one. Starbucks has total number of
35,345,288 fans and 137,741 people talking about it. Starbucks is on the top #2 among 10
most famous Facebook brands. The strategy of Starbucks is different from other companies
since Starbucks focuses on customer relationship and commitment rather than just focusing
on increasing sales.
Twitter: Starbucks strategy on twitter is to listen to customers wants and needs. Starbucks is
a giant in social media. The brand has 2.1 million followers on Twitter. Their strategies on
twitter have made it the eighth most known company on this micro blogging site. One of the
most excellent strategies of Starbucks is using tweeter application to listen to the customer
needs and to solve their problems and other discomforts instantly.
YouTube channel: Starbucks posts videos ranging from branded content to short
documentaries of its charitable work.

MyStarbucksIdea.com: It is a digital suggestion box the where customers submit their ideas
for their products or services. My Starbucks.com helps in snowballing consumer involvement,
Revathi Kakani ID i133329 5
inspiration and address the acquired needs. By connecting with the marketing strategy
concept, customers feel that they are involved in the policy, product and also the environment
design of the store. Also, this online community website address the social need of customers.
Mobile app: Starbucks crated a mobile app in 2009 called my Starbucks app, which
allowed customers to locate the nearest store and learn more about companys coffees. This
app became a huge success since it has been launched with over 7 million app users and it
expects to collect 10% total profit through it.
Starbucks social media strategy:
Listen to your customer The most successful strategy from Starbucks is to know how to
listen to your customer needs and wants and make changes as fast as we can. Many
companies clearly understand this point, but only a very limited companies establish a website
like my Starbuckss idea and use the social media for interacting with customers. Starbucks
make changes regarding their customers idea efficiently, involving consumers and to become
a brand personality.
Along with the business Starbucks cares about the community- many companies see
social media as a perfect and only way to reach a greater market, and to promote and sell their
products and services. But Starbucks care about the community more than just the sales of the
business. Starbucks believe business is more about building a relationship with customers.
When a firm is fruitful in establishing a sturdy relationship and trustworthiness with their
consumers, growth of the business will follow inevitably.
Starbucks built a positive brand Personality and encouraged sharing- unlike many other
other beverage brands; Starbucks do not post things only on endorsing theirs sales or new a
product. Most of the posts on their Facebook are fan posts. People participate in various forms
like designing their coffee cup etc. Starbucks feel thankful on these remarkable artworks and
posts on the official pages. Even with the My Starbucks idea and Frappccino.com idea, its
purpose is to inspire customers to get involved in their business and to share the ideas with the
brand. Such characteristics carried the distinctive atmosphere of Starbucks that no one else
substituted.

Revathi Kakani ID i133329 6
CASE STUDY #2:
Not #McLovin It: McDonalds Case Study:
Its no surprise that we consider a good social media strategy leads to promotional success. But
shockingly, even the best brands have social media failures. A soft ball thrown turned into a
solid rock when McDonalds marketing campaign backfired on Twitter. The fans were not
lovin it when McDonalds tried to gather consumer's stories about how much they love this
fast food chain. The endorsed hash tag McDStories was used by the followers to share their
terrible encounters with the company. These Stories ranged from food poisoning to unpleasant
customer service, live worm found in a Filet o Fish sandwich and what not to throw the
reputation of this big giant company into ashes.
Mc Donalds intentions when it started online campaigning on twitter with hash tag of mcd
stories was to promote its brand using amusing personal experiences from customers and to
raise awareness for the companys fresh produce which was guaranteed. Despite posting
constructive personal experiences, the global market consumers instead felt bound to tweet
discontenting provoking and even absolute disgusting facts about the food quality and past
visits at mc Donalds.
After the damage has been done McDonalds had cancelled its advertising deal with Twitter
and pulled off the hash tag few hours after the campaigns launch. Well, still its better late
than never. Rick Wion, the social media director of McDonalds, later posted a bulletin telling
the campaigns original purpose as well as explaining the lack of success in the campaign. He
also mentioned that there were actually more than 72,000 remarks that day about
McDonalds. However mc Donalds implemented a new campaign the next day for Chicken
McBites (#LittleThings)
Revathi Kakani ID i133329 7

TWEETS ABOUT HORRIFIC PAST EXPERIENCES AT MC DONALDS
Mc Donalds apparently winged it when it launched the campaign, without taking time to
research existing customers sentiments toward the brand. It clearly failed to admit the
mocking audience that Twitter embodies before implementing the hash tag promotion.
Absence of the R in the R.O.P.E.S. public relations model i.e. lack of research is the reason
for the failure of twitter e campaigning at mc Donalds.
One should wary of how online campaigns can twist out of control and should mc Donalds
should have adjusted the campaign quickly after it starts to sour. Having a crisis
communication plan ready with defined pathways of response is essential to avoid snowballs
like this. The McDonalds campaign also taught a lesson for the other companies using social
media for marketing. The negative feedback shouldnt be ignored but is to be addressed as
soon as possible because it looks great for a company and it might helps gain back its
customer loyalty which mc Donalds failed to do.
Strategies that might have helped in making twitter- e campaigning a success factor for mc
Donalds:
The focus should be shifted away from the trending hash tag.
Admit the campaigns apparently offensive outcome to the public
Redirect the focus to more optimistic features of McDonalds.
Revathi Kakani ID i133329 8
A better contingency plan should have been developed to control campaign in the first
minute, not after the damage has been done to the company.
A manual or systematic overview should be implemented. An internal team mentioned that
Use of Facebook is far more beneficial for e campaigns like this instead of Twitter because
the comments can be better controlled and also fans who actually like mc Donalds follow on
Facebook. Twitter is known for more vulnerable platform for trolls and mockery.
McDonalds should emphasis on its assets in order to make its flaws irrelevant: some of its
strengths are cheap food, Fast and convenient, Best fries and reliable service.
The tweeting can be directed using keywords that would support positive opinions like Tell
us your finest stories at mcd , would have served the purpose better rather than just tell us
your stories.
Incentives could have been provided for positive tweets. Foe example, the Wendys Twitter
campaign requested consumers to tweet about its new burger for a chance to have Nick
Lachey sing for the message on national television and the campaign was a huge success.
~ Wendys Twitter campaign asked customers to tweet about its new pretzel bun burger for a
chance to have Nick Lachey sing the message on national television
~ The campaign was successful

The mc Donalds failed twitter campaigning is a wake up call for the corporate social
networking specialists in the world. Internet marketing can produce phenomenal results, if
done correctly. If not one has to face the bad experiences and sometimes it also leads to
downfall of the company at a great pace.
CONCLUSION:
The successful implementation of an E-Business plan depends upon the E-Business strategic
plan. The implementation is a successful guide to E-Business delivery, from both project
management and technological perspective. The company fails to achieve the successful
implementation of products if there is a improper strategic plan and also if the implementation
of the products in the market is not as per the proper strategic plan. E-Business provides a
powerful mechanism for organizations to increase productivity and lower costs. However, in
order to utilize these considerable benefits, companies must ensure their E-Business is
implemented correctly and is appropriate to their market segment.
Revathi Kakani ID i133329 9