Highlands and Islands Enterprise

International Marketing and Web 2.0

Author: Alan Stevenson and Dr. Jim Hamill

March, 2009

Welcome

This Highlands and Islands Enterprise seminar has been developed to help you take advantage of the opportunities for internationalisation presented by ICT and the Internet - from a ‘customer led’ perspective and taking into account the opportunities presented by Web 2.0

Your Presenters:

Alan Stevenson/ Jim Hamill

Internationalisation and the Internet

SMEs face a number of barriers or obstacles when going international

Used effectively, the Internet can help to over come these barriers

Used effectively, the internet provides a powerful, low cost ‘gateway’ to global markets

Exciting new opportunities are emerging with the growth of Web 2.0

Internationalisation and the Internet

• But success in a Web 2.0 environment requires new ‘mindsets’ and new approaches to business strategy development and international marketing

• Marketing as a conversation with your customers; as a conversation with your network

‘The times they are a changing’

Come gather 'round peopleWherever you roamAnd don’t criticise

What you can't understandYour sons and your daughters

Are beyond your commandYour old road is

Rapidly agin‘Then you better start swimmin’

Or you'll sink like a stoneFor the times they are a-changin’

Bob Dylan

Workshop Content

• An Overview of Web 2.0 – what is it?

• Web 2.0 in Action - examples

• Web 2.0 and Your Business - practical advice

• Next Steps: Web 2.0 strategy development and implementation

Questions and Comments

Don’t bother because we don’t really care if you have any questions, what your

opinion is or what you think; if you ask a question we will ignore you

Web 2.0: An Overview

What is it?

Business impact?

Opportunities and threats?

What Is It?

• A new buzz word coined by management consultants to encourage us to part with our hard earned cash

or

• A fundamental change in the way people use the Internet, their online expectations and experiences

What Is It?

• It’s a fundamental, revolutionary change……

• Major impact on consumer/B2B decision-making and behaviour across a broad spectrum of industries

• Major opportunities for businesses to engage with their customers/ with their network/ with their ‘tribe’

• Marketing as a ‘conversation’………..

What Is It?

• All revolutions have ‘winners’ and ‘losers’. ‘Winners’ will be businesses who fully utilise the interactive power of Web 2.0 technology for building strong ‘1-to-1’ customer and network relationships - especially with their ‘Most Valuable’ and ‘Most Growable’

• Those who fully leverage Web 2.0 for ‘Identifying, Acquiring, Retaining and Growing ‘Quality’ Customers

• Requires a new ‘mindset’ and new approaches to business strategy development and implementation

Web 2.0

• A fundamental change in the way people use the Internet ……. Rather than being passive recipients of ‘brand messages’, Web 2.0 is characterised by

– Information ‘pull’ rather than ‘push’– User generated content– Openness, sharing, collaboration, interaction, communities,

and social networking

• ‘Power to the people’ – Web 2.0 empowers people

• The revolutionary nature of these changes is having a profound impact on consumer/B2B decision-making and behaviour across a broad spectrum of industries

Web 2.0The end of the beginning of……..

• The read only Internet

• The ‘tell them how good’ we are Internet

• Traditional ‘push’ marketing strategies (declining effectiveness – nobody listens any more)

• The ‘Brand’ as we know it – People are becoming ‘cynical’ to brands and resistant to brand messages- -the ‘brand’ becomes the customer experience

• The end of the ‘About Us’ web site…..and the beginning of the ‘About You’ web site

Web 2.0: An Overview

Applications

Features

Implications

Applications

Social Network Sites

Social Content

Social Bookmarks

Blogs

Wikis

Virtual Realities

RSS Feeds

Podcasts

Social Applications

Mash Ups

Mobile Web; Internet Telephony

These applications can be ‘internal’ to your own web site or the use of

‘external’ 2.0 sites

Characteristics

Communities and Networks

Interactivity

Social Element

Openness

Peering

Hosted Services

Global

Sharing

Empowerment

Mass Collaboration

The Internet as the platform

Impact

Business Intelligence

Customer Interaction

Sales & Marketing

Customer Experience

Customer Insight

Processes and HRM

Mindset

Product Development

Reputation Management

Rich Internet Applications

IT Infrastructure

International Marketing 2.0

Web 2.0 Applications

Open sourceOnline Applications/ Web ServicesSocial Network SitesSocial Content – Social BookmarkingBlogs or WeblogsWikisPodcasts/ VodcastsVirtual RealitiesMash UpsRSS FeedsMobile Web; Internet TelephonyCharacteristics

Communities and NetworksOpennessSharingPeeringHosted Services – online applications; the Internet as the platformInteractivitySocial ElementMass CollaborationEmpowermentGlobal

Business Impact

MindsetBusiness IntelligenceCustomer Insight and UnderstandingCustomer InteractionEnhanced Customer Experience –

Rich Internet ApplicationsReputation ManagementSales and Marketing Product Development and R&D e.g.

engage and co-createIT/Software/ApplicationsOperations, Internal Processes and

HRM

Business Impact

• The need for new approaches to business strategy development and international marketing

– Traditional approach:• Product development – Differentiate – Market and

Promote - Sell

– New model based on: • Communities, networks, openness, peering, sharing,

collaboration, customer empowerment, ‘think and act’ globally

The Groundswell

Li and Bernoff (2008)

• A spontaneous movement of people using online tools to connect, take charge of their own experiences and get what they need from each other (information, support, ideas, products, bargaining power etc)

• The ‘groundswell’ is unstoppable – it’s a social revolution; a permanent, revolutionary shift in the way the world works

• You can try to fight it or join it – ‘energise the groundswell’