Editorial: Marketing In The World Of The Web

Retailers will eventually recover from the consumption tailspin that threatens this holiday season. But quite apart from the recession, there are other, profound changes underway in the retail sector. As the evidence mounts about the power of social networks to reconfigure individual behavior, the crucial question facing industry is: How to leverage this phenomenon into actual profits?

The second generation of Internet ("Web 2.0") companies such as MySpace, Facebook, Linked/In and YouTube exploded upon the scene three years ago. Today, MySpace and Facebook together have more users than the entire U.S. population; and the online community concept is already becoming a powerful tool for everything from creating customer loyalty, to assistance in product design, to a sounding board for company strategy.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[iceage7]

Why can't the auto industry have a social network of their own whereby consumers can give them ideas on what type of cars people want as opposed to a handful of engineers deciding for the rest of us on what cars we need to drive. I mean who came up with the Hummer. How many Hummers do you see on the streets compared to Toyotas.

[larry278]

While there is money to be made in web advertising & advertising, somebody who offers an ad free experience or a way to suppress advertising content from any experience can also make money. It's rare to find an ad that isn't annoying & ads become more annoying each time they are presented or experienced. Ads & ad people have justly earned a lousy reputation as being annoying, exaggerating &, all too often, deceptive & untruthful. We're doing this to advertise... & trust me are 2 phrases or fragments that are sure to antagonize & turn off the attention of people. The $15 flight across the Atlantic while being deluged by ads will be avoided by passanger who'll willingly pay more for an a free flight. I'd take an ad free DC 7 in preferance to an add filled flight on an SST, even if you threw in gourmet food & luxury wide seats. I'd take the ad free DC 7 & sit on seats like an old C 47 had. Yes, even if I had to pay $25.00 extra for a MRE & weak tea or old, stale, strong coffee to use the ad free DC 7. I'd take the ad free DC 7 to Prestwick.
Pitch & use ads on your site; somebody is sure to offer an ad free site which will take your users. Check what happens to people who spam or use pop ups. At best they are roundly cursed. Often they constantly face legal actions