Discussion questions

This article was written in year 2000, when the Internet saw a massive growth from its

birth from year 1994. It is said that: International communication network (W.W.W) is the

second greatest invention of mankind, after the first one is language.

According to the articles, more and more businesses are discovering the W.W.W as a

fundamental communication tool used to conduct daily business. Larger and small companies

are embracing the web to communicate with current and prospective customers in a same cost

and ease as in their countries. The internet Era is changing the way people doing business. It

hasthe fastest growing and most innovative componentsthat make them center to the paradigm

of marketing.

In some way, digital marketing is different with the traditional networking as it shifts

from “one-way” to “two-way” information flows between companies and consumers. Digital

is excellent way to broaden your network “one- to- many” and create great opportunities to

establish relationship with customers in a mutual communication. Never before has it been so

easy to access information on a worldwide basic and never before so many people been

exposed to and used a single information sharing system. Therefore, many firms have to

rethink their strategy and place more emphasis on digital world.

Reza Kiani also pointed out the many marketing opportunities on the Web as a twoway Communication, in four logical situations: Company-to-consumer, consumer-tocompany, consumer-to-consumer, company-to-company.

(1) Company-to-consumer: According to Morgan (1996), marketers can use interactive media

to provide higher services and lower cost by delivering up-dated product and non-product

related information. Compare to traditional marketing communication channel, digital

marketing is faster, less expensive, highly immediate communication, round the clock and

global. It offers wider and deeper material and richer advertisement content.

Assignment 1 3

Many articles pointed out the 3 basic advantages to business using the Web as:

Addressability, Flexibility and accessibility. The strong “Addressability” of the web is

the primary marketing resources for many firm to define target market, with the “

Flexibility”, customer will shape the firms that serve them.

(2) Consumer-to-company: The consumer is now an active participant, and a partner in the

production. Marketing today has learned that the probability of purchase by a repeat buyer

is much greater than that by a randomly mailed house-hold who has never been a customer.

As the product or service becomes customeised, the consumer faces serious problems to

identify the product or service s/he desires. To deal with this difficulty, Blattnerd (1994)

suggest that it will be necessary for the firm to develop integrative information –processing

system to simplify the consumer’s decision process. The system should allow the customer

to enter specific desired characteristic and trade-off and then design the product. If the

product costs too much, the consumer can look at the related options to reduce it.

(3) Consumers-to-consumers: Interactive media allows marketers to establish a dialogue and

benefit from nay possibilities that media can provide. The concept of interactivity can be

clarified better by the notion of the on-line communities

(4) Company-to-company: The rule of the game in the interactive media is changed and it is

expected more co-operation will take place among companies in the future.

Lastly, the author suggests that the new marketing models for marketing in the new

environment should consider all opportunities which the interactive media can provide for

marketers and be well-matched with the new marketing paradigms.

Even though this article has written 17 years ago, but they are correct in predicting the

marketing trends. Nowadays, digital marketing is an excellent way to broaden network beyond

referral. Social media is a “must” for marketing in building relationship with clients.

Consumers can interact more with Influencer Marketing, Mobile Video, Livestreaming.

Chatbots... Thus, company should adopt a continuous improvement strategy challenged by the

digital revolution and to changing consumer behavior.

Assignment 1 4

Reference

G. Reza Kiani (2010). Marketing opportunities in digital world. Internet Research, Vol 8. Iss 22

pp.185-194. Retrieved from:

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/10662249810211656