DRIVER'S START YOUR ENGINES

Bumping and rubbing is part of racing and NASCAR has proven themselves to win both on the track and online. NASCAR.com website rating is 98 per Hubspot.com. It is a difficult to critique near perfection but I did find a few areas on their website that could be improved. The website is very busy and crowded, unless you are familiar with the racing culture, the user could be overwhelmed and exit the website before they dig deeper into the content. My first recommendation would be to de-clutter the homepage. The homepage is the user's first impression and they cannot view the entire page without scrolling down.

Sponsors advertisements, surveys, and YouTube links danced in front of my eyes and focusing on one area of the website took dedication. NASCAR.com's homepage is difficult to navigate and the objective is hard to determine. Roberts(2008) states, " there must be a coherent structure to the content of the site, usually one that is hierarchical in nature. This enables visitors to move around the site in a manner that fits each person 's individual need to merely examine summary information or to drill deeper into the site in search of detailed information about a specific topic"(p.256). My second recommendation would be to take away or move the images to appropriate tabs. There are too many active links and small images that are not well represented because they are lost among larger content. NASCAR should restructure the homepage and move these images and links to appropriate pages to better serve their purpose. My third recommendation would be create seamless navigation. Currently, if you click on the shop tab a new web page opens up. This page takes time to load and potentially a loss of viewership. Also, if you want to go back to the homepage, another web page opens up. Opening up all these tabs slows down my computer. NASCAR.com has a lot to offer but I feel their valued added services are lost by cramming all the content onto the homepage.

Please Please Target Me

Each morning when I open my email I have multiple messages from Amazon.com, Express, Bath and Body Works, and Gap advertising their daily or weekly deals. These deals are anywhere from free shipping to discounts on purchases. eMarketer's May 14, 2010 article discussed how a majority of women welcome being targeted. eMarketer stated, "The vast majority of female Internet users surveyed wanted more targeted offers from trusted brands. Nearly two-thirds of those polled said they thought it was "cool" when they saw an online ad that was tailored to their interests, compared with only 10.8% who thought it was weird." I personally like receiving emails from my favorite stores and don't mind being targeted based of my past purchases. The targeting actually works on me because I always open the email and browse the online store. I have actually purchased items this week from two different stores based of off targeted ads. The two main reasons I did this was because free shipping was offered and I didn't have time to run to the actual store. eMarketer states my reason perfectly in their article, "The top way to win a good relationship with women was to give them things such as deals, following by getting to know them and providing them with valuable information. Discounts are a major reason people appreciate advertising in general, targeted or otherwise." It has taken me awhile to feel comfortable purchasing items online but once you are familiar with sizing and start receiving great discounts, online shopping is a blast!

SPAM won WWII?

In honor of Memorial Day, I decided to blog about SPAM and what some say won WWII. Speculation of course, but since SPAM is made in Austin, MN I would like to think the great state of Minnesota helped win the war:) SPAM'S website is bright, fun and interactive. True to many websites, a pop-up met my eyes as soon as the website loaded. This pop-up was advertising SPAM'S receipt exchange, which is a new campaign to grow the use of SPAM in meals. Th user can upload SPAM receipts and print coupons, which I thought was neat and a clever way for customers to interact with each other. (Keep in mind everyone, I have never tired SPAM and not sure what it tastes like) I made the observation that SPAM is pushing receipts and trying to revive the brand. I came to this conclusion based off of the pop-up and home page. Receipts based on different foods, such as tomato's, macaroni, and potato's were the first item on the page. The user clicks and drags a can of SPAM over images of these foods to find receipts. Over all, this site is very interactive and entertaining. One of the highlights was the SPAMALOT game where you can catapult cows and toss coconuts in effort to defend your castle. Unfortunately, the game did not work on my computer:( This game is somehow connected to play or show I think...not really sure how the game connects in with anything but very funny.

I wanted to stay on task so I checked out the contact tab to see how SPAM handles customer service. The options that were presented to me were, General Inquiries, Return Policy, Shipping rates and mail/fax order forms. The general inquiry link had a form the customer can fill out and also how SPAM can contact them. They also provided a phone number and address for customers to contact them; very basic customer service connections. I think the receipt exchange and interactivity of this site is what will draw customers to SPAM. SPAM does have an online store but a majority of the merchandise is novelty and I don't see customer returning to SPAM.com to make repeat purchases on a regular basis. Building loyalty by allowing customers to interact with each other by uploading and sharing receipts creates a connection to SPAM and will draw users to this site. SPAM.com does a great job creating value for the customer.

Video Killed the Radio Star

Video e-commerce is kinda a big deal....so says retailers. eMarketer blogs post on May 21, 2010 reads, "Retailers are responding to the growing consumer appetite for online videos by adding them to their websites both to differentiate themselves from competition and to keep up with what consumers expect from their online shopping experience". My own personal opinion on videos is that of annoyance. They slow up my shopping experience because the video needs to load and half the time they are not advertising anything I am interested in. eMarketer blogs also reads, " Retailers find that videos boost sales conversions rates and reduce abandoned shopping cart and product return rates". I wonder if I should start watching these videos to see if my abandoned shopping cart rate decreases?
My shopping habits are a mixture of goal oriented and experiential and I can see the video's having a higher impact on those people who experiential. Experiential shoppers are letting their search guide their shopping behavior, which means they can be easily marketed too if they have no strong opinion on what they are looking for. Let the video wars begin:)

Stain Stain go away

Laundry detergent is expensive! The name brand detergents are priced anywhere from $9-$15 dollars depending on the bottle size. I typically buy the cheapest detergent on the shelf regardless of the reputation. I do not have a lot of confidence in the marketing of detergent because I have found that when I used and tested Era and Tide detergents they are equally as effective at getting out stains......While reviewing the Tide website, they are advertising their volunteer work in Nashville through their Tide Loads of Hope campaign. They are trying to set themselves apart from the competition by being socially responsible and building a brand image that sticks with people. From a marketers perspective they do a good job at building awareness of their Tide Loads of Hope campiagn by listing the current locations of the campaign and opportunities the viewer can assist with the campaign. What I want to focus on was the Shop Now tab. I wanted to see if their marketing and offers could entice me to actually purchase from the website versus a retail store. I noticed that Tide offers products that I haven't seen in retail stores, such as Swash, washing machine cleaner, and scented lint rollers. Could it be that I don't notice these products when they are amongst many different brands or does Tide only offer certain products online? I continue to search for products that interested me; unfortunately the products I would be interested in buying were not available for online purchase. I liked the items that I did not see on the stores shelves and to my disappointment I could not purchase them online. If Tide wants to build a relationship with me they need to offer different products other than detergent online and on the store shelves. "A successful outcome from the marketer's perspective is not achieved until the user becomes a repeat user or, better, a loyal customer" (Roberts, 2008, pg. 117). Currently, I will continue to buy the cheapest detergent until Tide offers more value for my buck!

Interactive Jeep Experience

While reviewing Jeep website I noticed that the shape has not changed significantly throughout the years. The models have the same boxy body and the headlights are still round. I have always thought Jeep's were for people who like to go mudding or live in the mountains or drive up steep hills (ex: Duluth). After reviewing the website, my assumptions were correct but Jeep is also marketing their vehicles to customers who just want to drive them on the highway. This website offers vehicle lineup, build your own jeep, shopping tools and Jeep experience. They offer a variety of information including vehicle price quotes and find your local dealer. This site creates value for the customer by offering a shopping experience similar to what they would receive if they walked into a dealership. From a marketer's perspective, the Website is interactive, fresh, and informative. I noticed that Jeep has used some Hierarchy Strategies. They have used interactivity, which "engages the visitor's attention and provides reasons for the visitor to return, "(Roberts, 2008, pg. 103). It was fun to personalization a jeep by adding color and interior items. From a marketer's perspective, the personlization added to the customer experience. This website also offers customer's to shop, which is another tier on the Hierarchy of marketing strategies. Allowing transactions on a website is a huge commitment by IT standards but creates revenue for the company and value to the customer. "Transactional sites require specialized technology such as shopping carts and they require the integration of back-end-data inventory databases for in-stock." Overall, Jeep does a great job at having interactive technology, which creates stickiness and kept me on the site longer.

Take me out to the ball game, Take me out with the crowd, Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks....

I have reviewed the Twins website a couple times and I am itching to watch a game at the new field! The first thing I noticed when clicking through the site is that MLB.com is using software based services. When clicking on the other team's website, they have similar layouts and basically identical pages except for the logos and players. This tells me that the Oracle owns and maintains the software for MLB.com. I was slightly sad about this because I have a biased opinion and feel and view the Minnesota Twins baseball team as unique and one of a kind franchise. The Twins should have their own amazing webpage, not a cookie cutter team without any real online identity. Okay, back to reality. From a marketer's perspective, MLB.com made a great choice by using Oracle to be their software servicer. MLB.com does not have to purchasing software and hopefully reduces development and administrative costs.

The texts states, "Data can be obtained and used to understand both target customer and organizational capabilities, making developing a value proposition an information-driven marketing activity"(Roberts, 2088, p.55). I was looking for areas online where they would ask for my information or let me leave feedback, which I found once I logged into MLB.com. I created a account and once I was logged in I could choose my favorite team and least favorite team; I could also enter my hometown and favorite active player. They also wanted my birthday and address (maybe free stuff for my birthday?!?! doubt it) and email address. Clearly, this is the area where they capture people's information to create the value proposition. I enjoyed the site and donated my information in hopes they will create a value proposition geared towards my likes and dislikes:)