All the media coverage would have us think that MySpace is the place where teenagers and those in their early 20s hang out. But demographic data from MySpace shows us that this is far from the truth. Indeed less than a third of the users of MySpace are aged under 24. The biggest age group, with almost 30% of MySpace usage are the 35–49s. What this shows us from an Internet marketing perspective is not to believe all that you read in the press. Instead, use actual data to guide you through the Internet marketing maze. If you want to target people in their 40s you may well miss out MySpace users. But with the demographic data in your hand, you would focus on MySpace. To help your online marketing campaigns, always use reliable data rather than guesswork.
Carphone warehouse goes the same way as Time Warner
So, Carphone Warehouse has bought AOL UK after Time Warner decided to get rid of it. In a deal worth £370m, Carphone Warehouse has acquired the name and the 2.1m customers of AOL UK. Plus the deal will allow cross selling of each company’s products. However, ask yourself why did Time Warner want rid of the business? Over recent years, we have seen traditional publishing companies, like Time Warner, rushing into the online sector. Time Warner realised that having a broadband supplier and online portal was not core business. Carphone Warehouse has a broadband business – on numbers alone, the third best in the country. On customer service, you might think different. Their launch of free broadband was more successful than they predicted leading to huge customer relationship problems. It makes you worry about the forecasting capabilities at Carphone if they got this so badly wrong. The new AOL UK deal also makes you worry about the business – even though the City rewarded Carphone Warehouse with a 5% share price increase. Carphone Warehouse succeeded in the mobile phone market where others had failed. Why? Because it had a focused, niche – just car phones and mobiles. Competitors didn’t survive – they offered office phone systems, mobiles, computing and the like all under one roof. The focus of the Carphone Warehouse made it successful. Now it has added broadband, with huge difficulties and an extra £20m cost above budget. Furthermore, it’s going into the online portal business with AOL UK. Be warned: Time Warner got rid of AOL UK partly because it took it away from its focus. Carphone Warehouse’s addition of AOL UK takes it away from its own focus. If there is one thing that running an e-business teaches you very quickly, it is the need for focusing on a narrow niche. Successful entrepreneurs always do that – at the outset. But the lure of expansion and growth often takes businesses away from the very focus that got them their success. Is that what is happening with Carphone Warehouse?
Miami teachers exploit Internet for education
It was great to read that teachers in Miami are exploiting the Internet and modern technology to help teach children. According to the Miami Herald newspaper one art teacher is using blogging to engage more with children in classes. Another teacher has started using iPods to deliver digital content to children. What a fantastic idea – use the technology children are using to connect with them. Schools in the UK are so behind the times. They are slowly investing in “smart board” technology which helps teachers interact with PowerPoint projections. But that is so last century, as far as children are concerned. So come on teachers, get blogging and downloading stuff to the kids iPods.
Your web site will need GPS facilities
New market research suggests location based services are going to take off in a big way. According to the research published in eMarketer, the current 12 million subscribers to location based services will skyrocket to more than 300 million in the next five years. Location based services mean you integrate Global Positioning Services (GPS) within your mobile phone enhanced web site. So, for instance, if someone visiting your web site wants to know how close they are to your office, a GPS device will tell them. Equally, if you run a restaurant web site, people will be able to find you based more upon their location – i.e. they could look for a restaurant within walking distance of their hotel. If you have location based services within your web site, you’ll come top of their search. More fruitfully, advertisers will be able to push specific adverts onto mobile phones based on the location of the handset. However, be warned. When TV on mobiles was first mooted, market research showed an enormous take up. Ten years later, suppliers are struggling to get take-up. Location based services could suffer the same fate. It may be difficult for users to give up the feeling of control they have. If location based services push advertising based on location too much, the chances are users will reject it because of the lack of apparent control. And that means the predictions of millions of subscribers could be wrong.
Google and the YouTube deal
So, Google has bought YouTube for $1.65 billion. Wow! In case you don’t know, YouTube is an online video sharing web site. You can post your home videos up there and anyone can have a peek at them. So why is Google that interested in YouTube? Advertising. Pure and simple. YouTube is only 18 months old, but already 100 million videos are watched every day – that’s 1,157 every second…! Google is arguing that it allows them to organise and deliver “the world’s information”. They also suggest it will allow them to deliver a “more comprehensive entertainment experience”. What they really mean is they can deliver more adverts. Google’s only source of income is advertising. Unless they can distribute online video, Google will be left only with text and graphics based advertising. In order to deliver video adverts it badly needed a proper distribution channel for such material. The YouTube deal provides just what they need. You can expect to see entrepreneurs jumping on the bandwagon fairly soon, producing videos with little content, but lots of adverts.
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