I was unable to attend the presentation so I watched the webcast.
Customers are becoming increasingly more powerful. They have new tools such as do not call lists, pop-up blockers, spam blockers, and DVRs. It is increasingly getting harder to reach potential customers. With that being the case, it is more important then ever to adopt good practices when it comes to online customer acquisition. That is the point of this presentation. It talks about a number of best practices for online customer acquisition.
One of the points that is especially emphasized is getting the customers permission to send them emails. Studies have shown that people are more likely to open emails that they agree to be sent. They respond very negatively toward unsolicited emails from companies.
Another key issue was when to gather the data. The presentation said that it was important to build the relationship, and gradually ask for more information. As customers get to know and trust the company, they are willing to disclose more personal information. If a company asks for too much information too quickly, they are likely to alienate the customer.
They also emphasize the importance of maintaining the database, and measuring the results. This information is valuable, but becomes less so if it is not kept up to date. It is also important to know how effective the marketing is. By measuring the results, companies can know what is working, and what is not. If they do not measure the results, they will not know what campaigns to drop, and what ones to continue.
There are several other best practices that are discussed throughout the presentation. The ones that I have touched on are the ones that were stressed by both presenters, and seemed to be more important to them.

Google Searches for a Home in China

Google is a dominant force in the United States, but it has a long way to go to be the top dog in China. Google currently owns a 13% share of the Chinese search market. Baidu, the market leader, has a 44% share. Signs show that Google is looking to make a push to take market share away from Baidu, and establish themselves as a leader in the growing Chinese market. Google is expected to sell its 2.6% share in Baidu prior to making this push.
There are a number of issues that Google will have to deal with to succeed in the vastly different culture of China. One of the most critical is censorship. Google recently took some heat here in the US for allowing the Chinese government to censor searches for “hot-button” topics such as Taiwan, Tibet, and the Tiananmen uprising. In addition to the criticism they received in the US, the Chinese government was upset that Google notified users of the censorship, and said that they were not doing enough to censor the material.
China is a society where relationships are everything. Baidu has a good relationship with the Chinese government, and therefore does not have the problems that Google has as the newcomer.
In addition to the relationship problems that Google has, it will also have to face increased competition. Many western companies are moving in by forming partnerships with Chinese companies. This allows them to take advantage of the Chinese companies’ relationships with the government and knowledge of the market. IBM, Intel, and Nokia all formed partnerships with Chinese companies this spring.
China is the most populous country in the world, and is a very fast growing economy. Although the market is very small now, it will be one that will be very important in the future. Many companies are looking to gain share in this market. Will Google be able to overcome their conflicts with the Chinese government to become a power house in China? Only time will tell.
(Image courtesy of murdocnet)

Party’s Over for Online Gambling

The issue of online gambling has become a lot more complicated since my previous post on the topic. The US Congress just passed a bill expected to be signed by George W Bush that will effectively outlaw internet gambling in the United States. This has important ramifications for many international internet gaming companies that relied will now have to do without the business of the largest internet gambling market.
These actions have seriously hurt many companies. The stocks of internet gambling companies such as PartyGaming and Sportingbet plummeted. This is causing companies to scramble to expand interests in other markets. European and Asian countries look to be the markets that will be targeted.
The law will prevent online gambling by preventing banks and credit card institutions to process bets made in the US via the internet. In addition, several large internet gambling sites have said that they will block US based IP addresses and will no longer accept credit cards that have billing addresses located in the United States.
Analysts speculate that large companies may seek to purchase smaller non-US focused gambling sites to make up for losses. It is also expected that many gambling sites that have a large focus on the US will go under.
The law may result in a lot of illegal internet gambling, as US consumers try to find ways to utilize the sites. This could farther escalate debates over how the internet should be regulated.
The situation that many of these companies are now faced with is a result of not looking at the signals in the market. The US government had been cracking down on internet gambling, and there had been talk of a law prohibiting it. Companies should have heeded these signals, and tried to expand in countries where the government had a more favorable view of internet gambling. Instead, they decided to ignore these signals, believing that a bill such as this would never be passed.
Image courtesy of UNLV)

U.S. will extend Internet agreement

A topic of much debate recently has been the amount of control that the United States has over ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. ICANN is currently under the supervision of the US Commerce Department. This supervision includes veto power of ICANN decisions. This is something that many in the international community do not feel is right.
This issue is especially important right now. The current agreement between ICANN and the US Commerce Department is scheduled to expire at the end of this much, and there is much debate over how much influence the US should continue to have. The Commerce Department has already announced that they plan to extend oversight, but have added that provisions will be added to handle some of the complaints expressed by the international community.
The provisions that are expected to be included will increase the transparency and accountability of ICANN. These provisions will ease concerns of those who argue that ICANN often meets behind closed doors, and makes decisions that to not reflect the internet community.
The opposition of US control of ICANN is not a new idea. Many promote a takeover by an international organization such as the United Nations; however the US was able to earn the endorsement of the UN in a summit held last November.
It is clear that much will be decided in the coming weeks. In addition to the new agreement between ICANN and the US Commerce Department, an international forum is set to meet in Athens from October 30 to November 2. This forum is going to discuss “matters the ICANN wouldn’t normally handle”.
Most parties seem to agree that ICANN is not ready to govern itself, and the provisions to improve transparency and accountability seem to have pleased most parties. There are no details as to how long the new agreement between ICANN and the Commerce Department will be for, but with the opposition of US control growing expect it to be much shorter than the previous 3 year deal.
(Image courtesy of ICANN.org)

Arrest adds pressure on Internet gaming

When a company is doing business over the internet there are a lot of international legal issues that come into play. One of the largest of those issues is online gambling. Most online gambling sites operate on servers outside of the United States to avoid US regulations. However, at least 40 percent of online gamblers are American.
The US is trying to crack down on this practice by arresting executives involved in online gambling. On September 7, Peter Dicks, the chairman of Sportingbet PLC, was arrested as soon as he stepped on US soil. This is the second such arrest that has occurred in the past few months. These actions by the US have caused the cancellation of an online gambling conference that was scheduled to occur this summer in Las Vegas.
Despite what is going on even US companies are getting into the business of online gambling. Harrah’s Entertainment opened an online gambling site in the United Kingdom. Their site, LuckyMe currently only accepts subscribers from England.
There are currently eight states that have laws prohibiting online gambling (Washington, Nevada, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, South Dakota, Michigan, and Oregon), and there is pending federal legislation on both sides of the issue. Bill Frist, the Senate Majority Leader, is proposing a bill that will make internet gambling illegal. At the same time, Republican Congressman Jon Porter is proposing a bill to legalize internet gambling.
While the US is trying to do what it wants, countries with interests in online gambling are struggling to keep the market open. In 2003, the World Trade Organization upheld a complaint by Antigua and Barbuda. The complaint was that the US ban on internet gambling was illegal. The United States is currently appealing that decision.
The question remains should the US government be able to prevent these gambling sites from doing business in the US. The public doesn’t want them to. US companies want in on the action. Even members of the legislature believe that it would be a good idea to legalize internet gambling. None the less it is obvious that the stakes are high when it comes to online gambling.
(Image courtesy of poker.org.uk)

MySpace: No Free Ride in Europe


MySpace has a lot to contend with. The number of social network websites is growing. The biggest challenge facing MySpace will be expanding outside of the United States where many competitors have already entrenched themselves.
The biggest challenge that MySpace will face is changing its content to appeal to international markets. This is a concept that MySpace understands. They are attempting to make the content as localized as possible. They are in the process of signing local bands, adding native language videos, and setting up events. These actions will allow them to appeal to users in the new markets, and still maintain the feel that has allowed MySpace to become what it is in the United States.
The competition that MySpace is facing is not just The Facebook and Friendster that are popular in the United States. Many countries have sites that originated there, and are therefore much more established. For example, a site called Bebo is very popular in Britain. They are looking to challenge MySpace in European markets, and are even expanding into the United States.
In addition to more established competition, MySpace will be facing new types of competition. This competition strikes at something that is a popular feature of MySpace. Music is an important aspect of MySpace. A site called MTVFlux that has been launched in Italy and Britain will challenge MySpace for users who like music. Of course MySpace is not backing down, they have plans to start selling music downloads.
Different markets expect very different things from sites like this. All parties are trying to customize their sites to fit each individual market. The battle will be intense, and it will be one that will be won one customized market at a time.
(Image courtesy of Joey Ungerer: jungerer@simla.colostate.edu)

My name is Michael Kunert, and this is my blog for BUAD 477. In it I will describe what is current in the area of International Internet Marketing.

Out-eBaying eBay In Korea
When you think about online auctions, you immediately think of eBay. If you live in the United States, that is. This is not the case in many Asian countries. In Korea, a subsidiary of Yahoo! called Gmarket is involved in a bitter rivalry with eBay.
What is Gmarket doing to successfully compete with the internet juggernaut? The answer is internet marketing. Gmarket has introduced a number of web campaigns to put the fun back into internet shopping. The most popular is a promotion known as “lucky auction”. This allows consumers to buy products at drastically reduced costs. The winner is determined in a lottery style.
When marketing internationally, it is important to have knowledge of the culture. By not customizing their site to the Korean market, eBay lost share to Gmarket. Gmarket allows consumers to buy items immediately without waiting for an auction to end. This is very popular in the Korean market, and accounts for over 90% of Gmarket’s sales. eBay was quick to replicate this design, but is still trailing.
eBay is trying to move in on the female shoppers with a fashion oriented site known as “Club Sancy”. With the rivalry as bitter as it is, expect Gmarket to be quick to respond.
This example of international internet marketing makes it clear how important it is to look at the culture of the country. Had eBay properly assessed the Asian market when it moved in, it would not have left the door open for Gmarket to move in. Different cultures expect different things, and while it would be easy to launch one website for the every market, it would not be the right move. Online culture is an extension of offline culture and it is important to account for that. eBay's website requires culturalization. That is the localizing of the site to conform to cultural standards in the targeted markets.
(Image courtesy of CBS News)