The future of marketing = Electronic marketing

As the end of the semester draws near, so too does the due date for this blog. Although I may continue on with this blog, I think I should address the opening quote to my blog which states;

"The trade of advertising is now so near to perfection, it is not easy to propose any improvements".

- Samuel Johnson (1759).

I love this quote as it was said way back in 1759, yet they thought advertising was at its peak and that it could not be improved. Oh how wrong they were.


My first blog post titled "What is electronic Marketing?" posed the question to readers what exactly is electronic marketing and what mediums are included in electronic marketing. At the beginning of the semester I did not know the answer to these two questions. However, after 11 weeks of extremely interesting lectures and tutorials I think I now know. As stated in that first blog post, electronic marketing is;

The use of information communication technologies to; understand, create, communicate and deliver value to customers and the organisation.

I believe these include mediums such as; the internet, email, social networking sites, mobile phones etc.


Electronic marketing is also used to facilitate other forms of marketing such as; flash mobs, controversial advertising, viral marketing, and ambient advertising. Electronic marketing is used by a wide range of organisations and people, from large global companies such as McDonalds to politicians to charities to everyday Australians simply posting a video on Youtube.


However, electronic marketing did not exist in 1759. Consequently, as we now know advertising was no where near perfection in 1759, and there were many improvements that could have, and have since been made, in fact T.V. commercials did not even exist back then.


Traditional media is continually loosing its effectiveness with consumers, as many people are now simply too busy or have no interest in traditional media. For example many consumers may not read an actual newspaper, but rather read it online instead. Many consumers may choose to download television programs and therefore bypass the T.V. commercials. Furthermore, many Australians no longer listen to the radio but rather their iPods. Consequently, more and more organisations will be forced to turn their marketing efforts towards electronic marketing in order to break through the clutter and reach consumers in an effective way. Thus electronic marketing is definitely where marketing will be heading in the future.


I think electronic marketing is just fascinating, it is unbelievable the ways in which marketers can reach consumers, I mean who would ever have thought of iPhone applications? I look forward to seeing the new ways in which marketers will reach consumers in the future.


P.S Wags I have really enjoyed your tutorials and lectures, they have been extremely interesting and I have learnt so much! This has definitely been my favourite subject in all my three years of Uni.

Ambient Advertising

So a couple of weeks ago myself and two others gave a pretty awesome group presentation on ambient advertising.

Kit Kat park bench

For those of you who don’t know exactly what ambient advertising is, it was best defined by Sandra Luxton in her article titled “What is this thing called ambient advertising?” where she defined it as “The placement of advertising in unusual and unexpected places often with unconventional methods and being the first or only ad execution to do so”.

Mc Fries pedestrian crossing

This presentation was accompanied with a report. The report covered everything from the beginning of ambient advertising, to its purpose, to its effectiveness etc. In writing the report and presenting our findings to the class, I found it extremely interesting that although ambient advertising is often associated with out of home mediums such as; roads, buildings, stairs, cars, buses etc, it relies heavily on e-marketing. This is due to the fact that ambient advertisements are seen only by a relatively small amount of people. The advertisement hopes to be creative and unique enough that those who do see the advertisement will generate buzz and word of mouth about the advertisements. This is done through blogs, Youtube and other social networking sites. In fact, the majority of ambient advertising examples used in our report were taken from Youtube and various blogs.

Mc coffee street light

Furthermore, ambient advertising is thought to be relatively cost effective. This again is due to the fact that individuals generally tend to share the advertisement with friends and family through their blogs, Youtube, Facebook etc.

A campaign for feed South Africa in which images of hungry children are placed in the bottom of shopping trolleys

Considering the above statements, it is easy to see why Ambient advertising only began in 1996 and has steadily increased in popularity, as Electronic Marketing is essential to the effectiveness of ambient advertising!




P.S Does anyone have any other super cool examples of ambient advertising?

Facebook video assignment

I just realised that I had not yet put my video assignment on my blog. This is my very first attempt at making a video. I had no idea how to make a video but thought it was definately worth learning!

This video is on "How marketer's can use Facebook to create customer value". It focuses on Facebook ad's and Facebook pages. This video was made by Pat and myself.
Here it is,

$1 Big Mac's, $2 Mc Flurry's & free Ice cream cones!!

So most of you have probably heard about the pickle club by now. For those of you who haven't, i shall explain it.

It was about 2 and a half weeks ago that i first heard about Pickle club. Pickle club is a Facebook page used to promote the new Mc Donald's store that has just opened up in Malvern East (right near uni). Fans like the page to receive amazing daily deals such as; $1 Big Macs, $1 Quarter pounders, 50 cent cheeseburgers, $2 Mc Flurry's etc. They also offered fans free ice cream cones when Pickle club received 1700 "likes".

When i first heard about this I thought "that sounds too good to be true, it can't be real". So that night I went and tried it out, and bought a $1 Big Mac, it worked!! The very next day the power at my house got turned off for 8 hours, so there was no meat for me to cook. It was late, so i checked Pickle Club and went and bought $1 Quarter pounders for dinner. I told friends about the pickle club, they later joined it. The next day they asked my husband and I to go get $2 Mc Flurry's with them, we said yes.

For the next few days I kept thinking, Why is Mc Donald's doing this?  They are selling their products at heavily discounted prices, this can't be sustainable, what is in it for them? It was my husband who answered my question when he said "Wow they're really clever using this whole pickle club thing". I still didn't understand. He went on to explain that although we live in Caulfield, and Malvern East is our closest Mc Donald's, we had never been there until pickle club.  He also added the fact that although we bought a discounted Big Mac, we then payed full price for chips and a drink. Furthermore, we went to Mc Donald's 3 nights in a row, when we would usually go about once every 2 months. I then understood it all perfectly.

Pickle club is an amazing tool to encourage consumers to visit the new Mc Donald's store and to generate store traffic. Furthermore, its target market is Uni students, as it is very close to Uni. Thus, what better way to reach Uni students than through Facebook and cheap food. Not only does this encourage Uni students to visit this store, but to do so regularly. In addition, it encourages consumers to try food they wouldn't otherwise purchase (e.g. I had never eaten a quarter pounder, until it was the pickle club daily offer).

For those of you who aren't already part of Pickle club, i highly recommend you join. I love Pickle club, but i do have to learn to place a limit on it, Mc Donald's 3 days in a row was just too much!!

“Would you give away your coat?”

So I was doing some research for an assignment for another subject and stumbled upon this and thought it was pretty cool. It is an advertising campaign for a charity called Ong gente Brasil (people Brazil).


Take a look




I think this is a very effective campaign as; we live in and are accustomed to a world filled with technology. Thus the most effective way to break through the advertising clutter and appeal to a large number of people is through electronic means. Even then, it is still difficult to break through the clutter as many advertisers now use electronic methods.


Thus this campaign took to street advertising which always generates high interest among by passers. However, rather than using real homeless people to just stand on the streets shivering, they used virtual homeless people. I think the virtual element added substantially to the success of the campaign as it was more attention grabbing. In addition, it also let the audience know that this was an advertising campaign as opposed to random homeless people asking for coats (which I don’t think would have worked too well, because lets be honest, how many homeless people have you given your coat too?) This allowed Ong gente Brasil to get their message across. Another reason I think this campaign is so effective, is the fact that it involved the audience (encouraging people to donate their coats).


I know a vast majority of not-for-profit organisations are already using electronic marketing, but I think it is necessary for all not-for-profit organisations to use electronic marketing methods if they want to reach a large amount of donors, particularly if they want to target younger donors.

"The Social Network" -the movie

Anyone heard of  the movie "The Social network"?

Maybe you have already heard about this, but i just found out about it. Apparently they have made a movie about Mark Zuckerberg and how he created Facebook. It is set to be released at Australian theaters in November of this year.

Take a look at the trailer.



I don't know about you, but i think that it's a pretty lame idea for a movie. I know that Facebook is the most popular social networking site with millions of user worldwide, and lets face it, we all love Facebook. But how many of us really care how it started? How many of us would be interested in watching a full movie about Mark Zukerberg?

I for one will not be going to see this movie, Will you?

Election Media blackout? I think not!

As the election draws near, election advertising is subject to a three day “black out”.


Under schedule 2 of the Broadcasting Service Act 1992, election advertising in the electronic media is subject to a ‘blackout’ from midnight on the Wednesday before the polling day to the end of polling on the Saturday.

Basically this means, political parties and candidates are unable to purchase television or radio time. This is to enable Australian citizens some time to think without being bombarded by political advertising, as to whom they will vote for.

However, politicians are sneaky and have found a way around the ban! Although the act states a ban on election advertising in the electronic media, it only prevents advertising through TV and radio. Thus Politicians are making use of social networking sites such as Youtube, facebook, twitter and blogs. Currently, if you go on to Youtube, you will be bombarded with two giant liberal party advertisements.

The term Electronic marketing has grown substantially in recent years. Consequently, I think the legislation should be updated to include a ‘blackout’ on advertising through social networking sites. I’m not saying they should have to close down their facebook pages and twitter accounts; I’m saying, they should not be allowed to use these sights to show big advertisements, such as the one on the Youtube home page. Otherwise, what is the point of this media blackout, if the advertisements are still able to reach a large proportion of the Australian nation?

What do you think?

Everyone loves a bit of toilet humour!

These clips are absolutely hilarious!!! The only way i know about them is from my Dad. Someone emailed him the link, he thought it was funny and passed it on to me, and now here i am passing it on to you. I believe this is called viral marketing. Viral marketings success really does rely on the use of e-marketing mediums such as youtube, email, blogs, faebook etc.

Anyway hope you enjoy the clips! Please share the links for any funny clips you have.

I love ebay!!

So i needed to go shopping today, but im sick so i couldnt go!! But luckily for me there is this amazing thing called ebay!! So although i was sick, i was still able to get some shopping done right from the comfort of my own bed!!

I knew what i needed, looked them up and was offered a broad variety in style, quality and price. I bought the things i needed from Hong Kong and England. I got them at cheaper prices than i would have been able to find here, and the very best part is, i didnt even have to leave the house!!!

I think Ebay is one of the greatest things ever, ive bought a bunch of stuff through ebay such as my car and half of the furnishings in my home. Ive also been able to buy things that i havent been able to find in stores here. I've also sold a bunch of stuff that is useless to me and made some money while doing so!! I think ebay is amazing that it allows you to connect with a seller or buyer who could be on the other side of the world! Furthermore it allows ordinary people like you and i to become sellers of a product.

Honestly, where would be we with out ebay, i know i would personally be without a car and have a half empty house!

Oh Ebay how i love you!!

However, i am curious to see what similar concepts will exist in a few years time or how they could improve ebay even more.

Controversial ad's

Controversial advertising is communication that is attention grabbing, shocking, offensive, inappropriate, unethical, thought provoking, humorous and emotive, and that pushes the boundries of social conditioning. Controversial advertisiements usually end up banned.

So why then do marketers produce such ads?
The objective of controversial advertisements is to break through the clutter, grab viewers attention, be remembered, and to create publicity.

But how can publicity occur if the advertisements get banned?
This is where e-marketing comes into play. Banned commercials are easily accessible through Youtube, email forwards, Facebook, blogs, and websites. Thus marketers are still able to achieve their objectives of breaking through the clutter, being remembered and creating publicity....and are able to do it much cheaper as they no longer have to pay for t.v time, magazine spots etc.

Seen any cool or interesting banned ad's?

Flash Mobs

The use of flash mobs is becoming an increasingly popular way of advertising. However, in order for these flash mobs to be successful, they rely not only on the word of mouth of the people present at the time of the performance, but also on electronic methods of marketing. The flash mob performances are usually filmed and placed on popular sites such as Youtube where the ads are left to run viral. Furthermore, it also relies on the people present at the performace to film or take photos of the performance and pass it along to friends in order to generate "buzz".


I think Flashmobs are a very effective and fun way to break through the clutter



Does anyone know any other cool flash mob clips?

What is Electronic Marketing?

Electronic marketing is a very new and constantly changing term, but what exactly does it mean?


Well we all know what marketing is, or at least have an idea of what marketing is (for those of you who think it is simply advertising, you are misinformed – advertising is only a small part of marketing. I know my opening quote may be misleading- but I will address that in a latter post).
There are numerous definitions of what marketing is, my personal favourite is; “Marketing is a set of processes used to understand, create, communicate and deliver value”.  Therefore electronic marketing is just an extension of the previous definition. It can therefore be defined as;
“The use of information communication technologies (ICT) to; understand, create, communicate and deliver value to customers and the organisation. – Peter Wagstaff (2010).
But what exactly does ICT mean? Well ICT is the new name given to Information technology (I.T), thus it refers to technology that can be used to produce, store and communicate information.


So my understanding of electronic marketing is that it is any marketing that uses any form of technology. But this definition is too broad. Where do we draw the line? Companies marketing through facebook, twitter, Youtube, emails, text messages and websites are all using technology to do so. However, brands being marketed through T.V commercials, cinema previews and product placements in movies are also using technology, are they classified as Electronic marketing too? What about radio advertisements? Moving billboards? What about the companies that uses fancy technological equipment to produce their packaging which displays and communicates a lot of information about the product, does that count as electronic marketing?

Where exactly do you think the line is drawn? What constitutes electronic marketing?


I think electronic marketing relates to marketing that uses computers, internet, phones, mobile phones, T.V, radio, and cinema (I’m sure there is more, I just can’t think of them right now). But I would love to hear what others think?