Blog 6

Due Sunday, December 7th

Here is your final blog assignment. Note that the length requirement for this one is 1 to 1.5 pages, using the guidelines provided for previous blogs – 12 point, Times New Roman, etc.). For this one, I'd like you to spend some time reflecting on the Insight/Experience Audit & Prototype group project that you have been working on all semester. This blog is fairly structured, so please read and consider this one before completing your blog entry. This is your last one, so enjoy it!

First Paragraph
Pick one main idea, core concept, topic, or skill (or a combined set of any of those) from this course that you believe you understand better as a result of working on this group project. Describe what it is and give a specific example of how the project helped you gain a better understanding of it.

Second Paragraph
Pick another main idea, core concept, topic, or skill (or a combined set of any of those) from this course that you believe you understand better as a result of working on this group project. As above, describe what it is and give a specific example of how the project helped you gain a better understanding of it.

Third Paragraph
Lastly, describe the emotional reactions you had along the way as you worked on this project. Reflect on the experiences you had with your teammates, the instructor (me), and the process of the project. Do you feel like working with your group contributed to your learning and/or enjoyment of this material? Explain why or why not.

Blog 5 Adjustment

So, we'll be keeping the first two items from the original instructions (see below).  But, rather than read the Groundswell chapter (although I will still get those posted on Monday or early Tuesday), I'd like for you to use the Google sites below to see how helpful they might be if you were doing marketing research on a topic or brand.  

So, as a part of your discussion on using social media, use the tools below to search for a particular brand, company, person, etc. that (who) you think is interesting and then report back on your findings.  You don't have to use both extensively, but at least try them out and report back on at least one (note: the zeitgeist has several tools).

http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist/

http://blogsearch.google.com/

Blog 5

Due Wednesday, November 11th

Ok - Here is your next to last blog!

Next week, we'll be discussing social media as a way to gain insight and create customer experiences.  

- So, I would like to hear your thoughts about the best ways for companies to use social media to do one or both of those things (i.e., you can focus on just one aspect, gaining insight or creating experiences, or both).  

- You can also focus on any type of social media - Facebook/MySpace, Twitter, blogs, other user generated content.  Just try to keep some sort of focus in your comments rather than hopping around haphazardly among the different types of media.  

- Finally, I would also like you to incorporate what you have read from the Groundswell chapters I assigned.  This is such an important topic in marketing right now and you all are obviously the experts on this.

As always, please keep the length guidelines in mind and have fun with it!

Blog 4

Due Wednesday, November 4th

So here is your 4th blog. You may have already noticed the due date is different than the syllabus. I intended to send a note out yesterday and I have just been too wrapped up in my dissertation, so... you'll have an extra couple of days to complete this one. Also, I am hunting down the RFID article and will post that soon. For some reason, I can't find it right now. This blog is based on the article "What Walmart Knows About Customers' Habits." I'm curious about your response to a few things - you should respond to at least 2 of these questions in your blog. And, as always, don't forget about the length requirements. - Given the enormous amount of data that Walmart captures, do you think they have been successful at converting into an experience that serves as a competitive advantage for them? - What do you think about the privacy issues associated with all of that data and the amount of personally identifiable data they are able to capture. Does it bother you? Do you trust them with it? - What aren't they doing with technology that they could; that is, are they using all of the technology that is available to them to capture insights and create great experiences for their customers and, if not, what could they do? - What impact do you think they are having on their suppliers - making them better and more efficient or driving them too hard and reducing their profitability. Again, try to keep this in the context of technology.