Featured

“The Price of Free” in eBusiness Models

A response to the “Freemium Model” video by Chris Anderson

“The best model is a mix of paid and free content.”

-Alan Murray, Five Tips on charging for content

“What are some well known sites that you know of that people will most likely switch to ‘Free’ to ‘Premium’?” If you have thought of them, what is the one site you were to consider switching to ‘Premium’?

For me, it will be Netflix. Netflix is a platform that allows users to view TV shows and Movies globally. Ranging from Hollywood to Korean to Local Dramas, to entertainment and variety shows, there is something for everyone.

Netflix was founded in 1997, in Scotts Valley California USA by Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings.

Last year, when Netflix was already trending among my peers, I still have not owned a Netflix account. As a person that is not so hyped up over trends, I tend to ignore the deal about not following them. I have thoughts like “What does Netflix have to offer?” and “How much do I have to pay if I were to access it?” Out of curiosity, I searched up the Netflix official website and found out it offered a 30-day free trial.

The word ‘Free’ to me initially seemed dubious as I know that no usage of service is indeed free, but I still tried the Netflix service anyway. After that, there was no turning back. I got hooked to some shows like the famous Brooklyn Nine Nine series that currently air five seasons. I wanted to keep on watching that series so bad.. that I decided to switch to premium. For just SGD10.98/month, I can get to watch not just Brooklyn Nine Nine, but other shows or even new films Netflix produce in the months to come. Other examples used and popular by many that offer freemium services are Club Penguin and LinkedIn.

In the talk that Chris Anderson explained in the video, he mentioned that service or platform providers which target customers knows what will likely to entice them to purchase the premium services, and also discover the trends they are currently into so as to prompt them to try out such services. (Although the video was published 10 years ago, I still find it relevant in today’s society.)

Chris Anderson mentioned 5 Things eBusinesses know about consumers:

  1. They will pay to save time
  2. They will pay to lower risk
  3. They will pay for things they love
  4. They will pay for status
  5. They will pay if you make them

I agree to what he mentioned, especially point number 3. If someone really likes to spend time the things they love, chances are is that they will spend a little bit more money just to enjoy that activity and added convenience. For example, some services will mention that if you were to purchase the premium package, there’ll be no more ads. One of the reasons customers will pay more is that the price difference is not worth the hassle between competitors from the same market. For example, cable TV that charges at a higher premium price. However, in my opinion if there were some customers out there that are able to anticipate the psychological effect, supported by the term known as loss aversion of “Freemium” plays on them for example, they may become addicted to the service and continuously purchasing it for long term.

“Do I really need this premium service? Or am I doing it because others are doing it as well?”

In reference to the citation which I quoted at the start of this blogpost, I agree to a certain extent. However, the “Freemium” model will only be effective if people really know what they love, and would trade money for enjoyment and gratification. In this society we live in today, it is sometimes difficult to differentiate between liking something because you really like it, and liking something because it is trending and you want to be part of it.

Is our Privacy really in danger?

Based on Jaron Lanier’s TED Talk video: How we need to remake our internet.

When we think of the internet, what are first few sites that you would automatically click on to browse through or check? Be it on your mobile phones or your laptops. Does the term ‘privacy’ ever cross your mind while surfing these sites? How do you ensure that they are protected? In this week’s blogpost, I will be reiterating on the topic of data privacy and the negative aspects of it. Let’s read on!!

How sure are you that wherever you surf or checked in is safe?
Reference: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/gdpr-data-protection-regulation-3178218/

In reference to one of my previous blog posts on IOT devices and big data, privacy concerns is definitely linked here. One concern I would like to highlight will be the existence of bot and fake accounts.

According to CNBC, approximately 48 million twitter accounts are not real accounts, but fakes and bots as of 2017. Scary isn’t it?

Actually one way you can tell if an account is likely a fake or a bot is seeing an empty profile picture.
Reference: https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/lifestyle/2017/04/04/twitter-drops-egg-icon-battle-internet-trolls/

In my opinion, the existence of such accounts is a big deal because you do not know what are they truly created for. They could be used to gather personal information from real accounts, disguising them as someone else. A perfect example is in the case of my own, where someone posed as me back in my early teenage years.

This was a fake account of me created in 2011. And it is not the real me!!
Reference: https://www.facebook.com/kylynn.alwaycries?epa=SEARCH_BOX
Most of my friends were mad with this and decided to take it out on her feed. Looks like a political debate.
Reference: https://www.facebook.com/kylynn.alwaycries?epa=SEARCH_BOX

What is funny is that this account still exists today. My initial name was Kylynn AlwaysSmiles, but this genius decided to make hers the opposite.

Relating to what I mentioned to Jaron Lanier’s TED Talk, he mentioned a quote that made me think deeper about Social Networks and the internet as a whole. “We cannot have a society in which, if two people wish to communicate, the only way that can happen is if it’s financed by a third person who wishes to manipulate them.”

He also mentioned that behavioural modification and spying are part of the business plan of Google and Facebook. This type of modification in a social context refers to social punishments and rewards for users using a site for example, Facebook. The reward is where a user found his or her post being shared or liked by many of their friends. While the outcome of social punishment is the opposite, where the user finds his or her post catching no attention from anyone. Based on Pavlov’s consumer behaviour theory likewise, when you see something interesting online (stimulus), you will be motivated to share it to your network (unconditioned response).

Let this dog be an example of Pavlov’s Theory.
Reference: https://fos.cmb.ac.lk/blog/classical-conditioning-pavlovs-dog-experiment/

Relating to privacy concerns, I believe that it is important to think before sharing something online. The fact that Facebook and Google stores data at their backends, it is best to me that such sites should be appropriately used. It should not be a platform of simply badmouthing, backlashing and unscrupulous means. After all, it is a choice.

What are your thoughts on this? Leave your comments below!

The influence of IMC over Viral Marketing

With reference to the TED Talk by Kevin Allocca “Why do videos go viral?”

In continuation to one of my previous blog posts on Viral Marketing, I would like to share how Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) has positive influence over it!

Before we dive into the topic, let’s define what is IMC. It is referred as to all types of communications as well as messages linked together to the respective target audiences, through specific marketing tools used in the promotional mix.

Amount spent on desktop and mobile ads in the US from 2011- 2017. What a hefty amount!
Reference: https://www.statista.com/chart/1179/us-digital-ad-spending-forecast/

Based on statistacharts, the amount in billions spent on desktop and mobile ads are slowly closing up the gap from 2011 to 2017. With the increase of mobile usage among consumers, it is sure that marketers are keen to advertise through such platforms to reach out to specific groups of people. One great example would be youtube. In my personal opinion, youtube just like many other companies commonly use this tool to promote new things which is opt in marketing email. For youtube, if you opt this, through your email, you will receive recommended youtube videos. (To be honest, I dislike receiving email notifications from youtube. So I decided to turn it off.)

Now, let’s rewind back to 2011. What was the first viral video you’ve came across youtube? Ever wonder how do some videos manage to get viral in the first place? When and what is the trigger point to the boom in popularity?

Reference: Two hearts in three-quarter time: How to waltz the social media/viral marketing dance
by Kaplan and Haenlein (2010)

Based on Kaplan and Haenlein’s concept between word-of-mouth and viral marketing (2010), the three elements involved are the Word-of-mouth, the use of social media applications, and lastly viral marketing. Using this concept, it is applied back to Kevin Allocca’s TED Talk video.

Kevin Allocca, a youtube trends manager.
Reference: https://kevinallocca.com/about

Based on Kevin Allocca’s video, he explained that only a small percentage of videos go viral within 48 hours, and the three criteria for videos to go viral are:

  1. ‘Tastemakers’
  2. ‘Communities of Participation’
  3. ‘Unexpectedness’

Tastemakers, the first point is defined as for example, a key influential figure that would cause videos to go viral through sharing. The second criteria is where users not only enjoy the videos, they want to be part of them as well. While unexpectedness is simply having the differentiating factor that makes a particular video stand out from the rest. One perfect example Kevin shared is the Nyan Cat.

You may have seen the original nyan cat, but have you seen an international version of it? 😀
Reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfYYUsA9VpE
And here’s Gangnam Style which was trending on youtube as well the following year in 2012. Psy’s face totally said it all.
Reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0

With the examples listed above, I believe that IMC has an overall positive influence and it is the drive towards Viral Marketing. And viral marketing is a disease that spreads content to users very quickly, through positive word of mouth. Do you think there are implications on the use of IMC? Comment them below!

Is it really safe utilising IOT devices and Big Data?

-With reference from the youtube TED talk video “How dangerous are IOT devices” by Yuval Elovici

Before we dive into this topic of IOT and Big Data, do you know the definition of these terms? For me personally, I grew up not being a very tech savvy person or someone that has been acquiring IT knowledge. When I first came across these terms, they looked seemingly ‘huge’ and ‘incomprehensible’. So today, let me share with you what they are, and a few examples and implications on using them.

Reference: https://vulcanpost.com/620103/malaysia-selangor-smart-city-convention-big-data-iot/

IOT, which is known as Internet of Things, basically refers to a series of interrelated devices, that data is able to be transferred over a network without any physical human interaction. IOT was first founded in 1999 by Kevin Ashton, that mentions that having devices to track data for us as consumers would reduce waste. On the other hand, Big data is defined by the variety and complexity of the content presented, with the main objective of transforming unstructured into structured data. Big data is very linked to IOT, which to me IOT are smart devices that house and store data that is relevant to consumers. According to statistics, IOT would have about 30 billion connected devices globally by the year 2020. That is a staggering number.

One great category I would think that explains a lot about the Internet of Things and Big Data is wearable technology. For example, Google Home.

Reference: https://www.flipkart.com/google-home/p/itmf3xz9aa6n6urf

How simple can a device really look? Yet be attractive to many.

Costing over a hundred dollars, this device is able to do things with just of a detection of a human voice “Hey google”. From turning on music and electrical appliances at home such as the air-conditioner and lights, I am sure any of us owning this excellent device would make great use of it out of our convenience. Another competitor that has introduced such technology is Amazon’s Alexa.

Reference: https://www.wink.com/products/amazon-alexa/
Its AMAzing isn’t it? 😉

The list of wearable devices could go on, such as smart watches like Fitbit, and Virtual Reality headsets. However, referring back to what Yuval Elovici mentioned in his TED talk video, privacy is being put to risk when using such smart devices. When we use them, our user habits, the data we provide can be translated for organisations owning such platforms into marketing or other usage, sometimes perhaps without our permission. These are also applicable to phone applications.

What google introduced a decade ago was Google Opt-out village. I personally think that this invention is still relevant to today’s issue on data privacy.

Reference: https://walyou.com/blog/2009/09/15/google-opt-out-feature-removes-you-from-your-life/
That could be an option.. or is it really?

According to the youtube video uploaded, Google opt-out village is a platform where users are able to choose whether they would like their personal information to be permanently removed from Google. In my opinion, that could be a scary option. My question would be “If Google has implemented Google opt-out village, where would the deleted data eventually go to? It has to go somewhere.” I would like to have the benefit of the doubt that things removed from the internet or smart devices will be really removed. Data will always require a space to be stored in. So back to the topic sentence, is it truly safe using IOT devices?

What are your thoughts towards this? Do you have any suggestions as to mitigate privacy issues? Do comment down below!

The Importance of Mobile Marketing

One thing for sure and no doubt is that Mobile Phones have became part and parcel of our lives in this day and age. I would like to start off this blog post with this question “Do you still remember how your life was led 10 years ago or even longer when you do not have a mobile phone in your hands?”

When was the last time you recalled having a proper conversation with your family or friends without the interruption of the mobile phone?

However, with the world’s pace increasing in the recent years, alongside with the rise of Digitalisation and Internet Penetration rate, businesses are required to converse with consumers like you and I differently too. According to a website, 5.13 billion people owns a mobile device as of 2019, that is 66.53% of the world’s total population. This is when mobile marketing comes in as an opportunity and it is handy.

I would like to take reference from Kaplan’s (2012) classification of mobile marketing application to explain the importance of the topic.

Kaplan Andreas M. (2012) If you love something, let it go mobile: Mobile Marketing and mobile social media 4×4, Business Horizons 55(2), 129-139.

There are 4 different types of consumer groups businesses are targeting whenever they are marketing something. They are dependent on two factors, the trigger of communication and degree of consumer knowledge. For example, the Patron, where the communication is done through pulling consumers in with a high degree of their knowledge. One company that does this successfully is Grab, offering services such as ride hailing and food delivery. Through regular promo codes offered by the company, consumers that regularly use its services would be more prompted to use such codes in future.

An example of how Grab uses promocodes in their mobile application in Malaysia.

Hence, mobile marketing is important to Grab as not only it meets the high demand among consumers, it also encourages the convenience of seamless payment, making transactions so simple with a tap on the phone. This is one of the success factors for a successful mobile application, which is making it easy to use.

Let’s take a step back from the example of Grab to the success story of Pokemon Go.

Total number of downloads within 7 days from the time Pokemon Go has released its application in July 2016. That’s insane.

From the above graph, the growth in the number of Pokemon Go users increased rapidly, surpassing other popular games like Angry Birds 2. Personally, I was not intrigued to even try downloading the application, the sole reason was that… I am not a Pokemon fan.

I am one of the few people that have not played Pokemon Go.

Overall, Pokemon Go was able to capture the attention of consumers, from millennials to working adults due to the use of Augmented Reality and novelty of such a mobile application. Mobile marketing is important because the game made use of location tracking, hence users are able to use it on-the-go.

In my opinion, I totally support the idea of Mobile Marketing in general for businesses today. However, physical interaction between the businesses and consumers may deplete in the years to come, with technology replacing human interactions. Also.. the way people communicate with their peers.

What are other examples of successful or unsuccessful companies implementing mobile marketing, or anything else you would like to input? Do comment down below!

What is up with Viral Marketing?

In response to the TED TALK video by Seth Godin – How to get your ideas spread

Viral Marketing through Social Media

Viral Marketing. What are the recent viral marketing content you have came across online? Be it on social media, a video on youtube, or a TV commercial.

Before we think about the latest campaign or trend, let’s bring back one of the music videos which probably we all know back in 2011. Rebecca Black’s top hit on her album: Friday.

Did I ring a bell?

Aside from the ratio of like and dislike bar of her music video on youtube (you may know roughly, and has surpassed Justin Bieber’s Baby Official Music Video the year of release), this indeed has sparked controversial comments from the thread. From her voice to how the video was badly taken. Two and a half years later, after deleting and re-uploading the music video on youtube, Rebecca Black has released a video on her channel of herself reacting to “Friday”. Also on the same year, she released her ‘sequel’ to “Friday”, “Saturday”. On Thefinebros youtube channel that year, Rebecca was included in the group of youtubers reacting to “Saturday” which some people may find it absurd. But let’s take this on a positive note, she was probably just laughing it off like it is no big deal regarding the “Friday” references. (She was only 13 when she filmed “Friday”.)

You’re right, its Saturday!

I love how despite the word of mouth spread so quickly, and criticism people took upon the “Friday” video, the way Rebecca Black handled it was excellent. By releasing her ‘sequel’ on “Saturday”, it did prove a point that she was a talented singer, and also not bothering whoever said bad about her.

Back to the topic I want to highlight today, I want to highlight the term and perspective on viral marketing. In viral marketing, word of mouth is important. Why? According to a site, it mentioned that people tend to trust other people’s experiences and what they have to report. Hence, it gives weight and credibility to the source. As a result, people have the tendency to share to others, given its novelty and ‘fresh out of the oven’ content.

One good viral marketing example through social media is the instagram filter games such as ‘Flying Face’ and ‘Easter Egg Spoon’. As a result, people share their high scores on their instagram stories, bringing about friendly competition in the online community.

Instagram uses Augmented Reality lenses to detect a user’s face to play the game.

In Seth’s TED Talk video, he mentioned about a japanese term ‘otaku‘ which means obsessed with something regarding to a popular culture. People like to be in the loop of trends trying not to fall into the category of ‘laggards’.

Adopter Categorization on the basis of innovativeness. Let’s be honest, we prefer to fall somewhere in the middle.

Referring back to Seth’s TED talk that was over a decade ago, I personally think he explained content that are still relevant in today’s context of Viral Marketing. I agree to his point that it is still trending and it will not go away soon in the next couple of years. People wants to hear something fresh, and they are attracted to the novelty. In the video, he mentioned that advertising is not the key to creating Viral Marketing, but rather doing something that is remarkable.

Seth Godin, American Author and former dot com Business Executive.

I would like to wrap up my blog post that Viral Marketing is essential to contributing to the online world. No matter what situation is present to us, it may be inevitable, but the type of response to it matters and will impact those coming across it. Be it a positive or negative outcome, it is up to us to determine what kind of community and space we would want to live in.

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started