2 Peer Review 1 Video Review 6W

1# Alex Post

Like many companies The New York times is trying to attract a new target consumer. In their case this target is the younger generation. With the decline of printed news The New York Times have transcribed their content onto digital sources. Offering the same content on their website and on their mobile app allows them to reach a broader audience instantly. The use of Google virtual reality goggles was a great use of technology to try and connect with a younger audience. Considering Google was one of the companies leading the innovation in virtual reality The New York Times was able to associate itself with this new technology.

I think a good way to reach a younger audience is through The New York Times app. If they were to partner with a big smartphone companies like Samsung or Apple they could have their app pre downloaded on the phone. This takes away the first step the target demographic has to do to see the content. With the app pre downloaded the phone could use Apple's Siri or Samsung's Bixby to pull up recent events and articles from The Times with the use of the users voice. This allows the user to access more with an ease of access feature on the smart phone. One of the default apps the smartphone pulls information on current events or articles is from The New York Times.

One possible explanation for the decrease in The New York Times advertising revenue is the availability of better alternative or substitutes. The New York Times is a more sophisticated platform so their requirements and price for advertisement may be more stringent than that of Facebook or Twitter. Just the number of potential number of views if enough to encourage advertisers to seek advertising of Facebook instead of The Times.

2# Cody’s Post

1. Like many newspapers, The New York Times has struggled to attract younger viewers and retain subscribers. What other types of technologies could help older brands like the Times connect with new customers?

Well, as the question somewhat implies, their recent cutting edge breakthroughs with virtual reality may have left those struggles in the past. I think the younger generation of today needs to be entertained quickly and easily. The video showed a perfect example of how to draw in younger consumers through the use of newer technologies. Some other ways to connect with new consumers could include a wide variety of digital vehicles such as electronic and mobile commerce. 

The realm of digital marketing provides an almost endless array of possibilities for consumer connection through the use of e-commerce and m-commerce. Consumer emails can provide a perfect cost-efficient means of connecting through systematic and careful placements of advertisements. Targeted personalizations and appeals to scarcity can draw in many potential buyers and can drastically facilitate marketing sales. This, however, is no good if the company has an ineffective website. 

Based on effective marketing techniques, the landing page can facilitate consumers to the exact products they are looking for and increase conversion rates. The explosive rise in m-commerce can also help connect companies to consumers. Having a contemporary usage time of 5 hours per day can be the perfect vehicle for getting the attention, interest, desire, and action of consumers (Perez, 2017). There are other vehicles as well but this would provide two viable solutions to help connect younger consumers. 

2. The New York Times has been experiencing double-digit increases in the number of digital subscribers it has. However, the company has seen its digital advertising revenues drop. How can this happen?

Although there can be several factors related to this drop in digital advertising revenues, despite increased digital subscribers, the main reason might stem from ineffective advertisement techniques or strategies. Perhaps too little details and images within the ad display fail to catch consumer attention. Another possibility is that their retargeting techniques leave consumers annoyed and subsequently associate these ads as invaluable due to the frequencies. A final consideration is that they are utilizing ineffective vehicles and would benefit more by advertising through other areas such as mobile commerce or social media. As stated above, there are many reasons for this but by utilizing risk mitigation measures before advertisement releases, such as multivariate testing or split testing, this company could have prevented a drop in revenue (Tanner & Raymond 2019). 

References: 

Perez, S. (2017), "U.S. Consumers Now Spend 5 Hours per Day on Mobile Devices, TechCrunch, https://techcrunch.com/2017/03/03/u-s-consumers-now-spend-5-hours-per-day-on-mobile-devices/ (Links to an external site.).

Tanner, J., & Raymond, M. (2019). Principles of Marketing (4th ed). N.p.: FlatWorld.

Video Directions

View the video in chapter 11 titled, UPS United Problem Solvers (Links to an external site.) and provide a few brief comments with respect to its relevancy to this unit’s marketing concepts. Note: This item is worth 1 bonus point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbVy5kRYbgs&feature=youtu.be