Homework for Chapter 4

EXERCISE 1: On first arriving on the FTD website, the viewer is presented with a special ad showcasing birthday arrangements.  Also, there is a separate tab near the header that is marked “Occasions”, which offers subcategories such as Anniversaries, Sympathy/Bereavement, and corporate gifts.  Using occasion segmentation combined with product segmentation facilitates the sale two ways.  First, it saves the shopper time by taking him directly to a showcase of products that are relevant to his interests, rather than having to sift through everything the florist has to offer.  Secondly, it helps those shoppers who are unfamiliar with the symbolism and “language” of flowers to make a selection that’s appropriate to the situation (e.g.; red roses are symbolic of romantic love, so it would be more appropriate to get an arrangement with white or pink flowers for someone who is just a friend).  In addition, by presenting the viewer with a list of common occasions for buying flowers, it might jog the viewer’s memory with regard to other upcoming events that they might want to order flowers for.

CASE C2: MONTANA MOUNTAIN BIKING

Question 1 – Classify MMB’s customers.  Estimate the percentage of MMB customers who fall into each of the five categories.  Support your classification with logic and evidence from the case narrative.

Given the high rate of repeat customers (80%, according to the description), it’d be reasonable to assume a similar proportion of customers (60-75%) are in the Familiarity or Commitment stages, probably skewing toward Commitment due to the fact that MMB caters to the serious enthusiast.  That would probably also mean that very few (I’d estimate 5-10%) have reached the Separation stage.  MMB has maintained a very consistent business plan for most of its life, giving customers little reason to be driven away from them; and the article makes it sound like mountain biking enthusiasts wouldn’t be quick to give up their hobby.  This would leave roughly 15-20% at Exploration or Familiarity.  I would suspect that slightly more (10-15%) are Exploring based on the traffic being driven by the amateur photography displayed on the site – they wouldn’t be inquiring about the photos if they understood that the website was almost exclusively geared toward biking tours.

Question 2 – In a report of about 200 words, recommend an e-mail marketing strategy for MMB.  In your recommendation, consider the results of MMB’s earlier print mail advertising campaign, your answer to the first requirement, and the potential offered by permission marketing.

Given that a large percentage of MMB’s customers are repeat visitors, I would recommend adding an option to their website that would allow users to submit their e-mail address so they can receive a monthly newsletter or updates regarding featured tours.  In those e-mail messages I would also include links to the photo galleries posted to the website; they are eye-catching enough to draw traffic all on their own, and the links are convenient enough for customers to forward the e-mail to friends who might be interested or are photo enthusiasts.  This strategy also works well with the fact that so many of MMB’s first-time customers are referred to the company by word of mouth.  I might also include a promotion where the repeat customer could receive a discount on his next tour if he refers a first-time customer to the site and they also book a tour.  I would also advise the website include a page for booking tours online, since new customers might be more likely to plan a trip if the option is immediately available on the site.

Question 4 – Prepare a report of about 500 words in which you outline an affiliate marketing strategy for MMB.  Include a description of the types of Web sites that MMB should attempt to recruit as affiliates, and present at least five examples of specific sites that would be good referral sources.

My first recommendation for marketing MMB to the serious cycling enthusiast would be to seek out other mountain biking tour companies in other states (e.g.; http://www.totalescape.com/).  The fact that 90% of MMB’s current customers live in other states, shows that biking enthusiasts are willing to travel considerable distances to indulge their hobby.  A banner network would work to each company’s mutual advantage – if California cyclists might be interested in taking a biking vacation in Montana, it’s also likely that Montana enthusiasts would travel to the Golden Coast to go mountain biking there.

Next, I would recommend recruiting affiliates who specialize in selling equipment and apparel to mountain biking enthusiasts, such as Dick’s Sporting Goods (e.g.; http://www.dickssportinggoods.com; http://www.rei.com/).  Mountain biking is not a cheap hobby; people who have made the commitment of buying their own bike are more likely to consider taking a vacation devoted specifically to their hobby.  Both REI and Dick's are nationwide chains with large customer bases, which would have the potential to drive a lot of traffic to MMB's site. And in turn, providing links and information about cycling gear would be a great convenience for MMB customers who are preparing for their next cycling tour.

Mountain bikers don't just need a bike in order to indulge their hobby, however; they also require proper clothing and safety equipment.  Stores that sell apparel and accessories for mountain biking e.g.; http://www.zoic.com/) also cater to the more serious enthusiast, and would help to drive more traffic to MMB's site.

The number of hits generated by the photographs on the MMB website suggests another potential customer: the outdoor photography enthusiasts.  If people are looking to purchase or use the photos, they must be of quite scenic vistas.  Many photographers are used to "roughing it" and traveling to remote locations in order to get their shot, so recruiting an affiliate like http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/ might convert some amateur and professional photographers into cycling enthusiasts as they combine their hobbies.  Companies that sell outdoor photo equipment (e.g.; http://www.kirkphoto.com/) might also make good potential affiliates if their customers are looking for new locales to shoot pictures.

Finally, the power of word-of-mouth for drawing in new customers might be leveraged by making hats and shirts available for sale with the MMB logo on them, through as site like http://www.zappos.com/.  This would allow our repeat customers to express their like for MMB and get other people talking about and asking questions about the company. 

REVIEW QUESTION #2: Describe in two paragraphs the origins of HTML.  Explain how markup tags work in HTML, and describe the role of at least one person involved with HTML's development.
HTML, or Hypertext markup Language, is a subset of the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), which was first developed in the late 1960's.  Markup languages were originally used for creating electronic documents which could be easily updated and then outputted in different formats and layouts.  Tim Berners-Lee of the Euorpean scientific organization CERN was the primary author of the first version of HTML.  The World Wide Web Consortium, or W3C, is a non-profit group (which Berners-Lee eventually became the head of).  It maintains standards for the Web, and has approved of official changes and additions to the HTML language since the first formal standards were drafted in 1991.  However, some Web browser software developers have developed custom features, called HTML extensions, which are not officially approved by the W3C; this sometimes leads to compatibility issues with other browsers.  In 2007 three major browser developers, Apple, Opera, and the Mozilla Foundation, started developing a new version of the HTML language, version 5.0.
HTML uses markup tags, enclosed in brackets (< >), to instruct the Web client software how to format the elements of a web page.  Using tags, Web designers can can change the size, color, and font of text, include graphics on their pages, and create lists and tables.  HTML also allows for the creation of hyperlinks, which allow a viewer to move from page to another by clicking on designated bits of text or graphics.  After 1997, HTML included the use of CSS, or Cascading Style Sheets, which allowed Web designers to easily re-format multiple pages by replacing a small bit of code that all the pages would then refer back to when gathering their formatting information.

REVIEW QUESTION #3: In about 200 words, compare the POP e-mail protocol to the IMAP e-mail protocol.  Described situations in which you would prefer to use one protocol over the other and explain the reasons for your preference.
The POP, or Post Office Protocol, lets a user to check if he has new e-mail saved on the e-mail server, then download it to his computer and view it and any attached files.  The Interactive Mail Access Protocol (IMAP) can do all this, as well as pre-screen new messages, allow the viewer to see only the sender's name and header before downloading it, and the ability to sort and organize those e-mails.  IMAP is convenient for users who access their account from different computers at different times, since they can manipulate their e-mail while it's still saved on the central server; however, this requires additional hard disk space on the server and can be prohibitively expensive for large organizations.  POP might therefore be preferable when employees are relatively fixed in terms of which terminals they'll be logging in from.

REVIEW QUESTION #4: In About 400 words, describe the similarities and differences between XML and XHTML.  Provide examples of at least two situations in which you would use XML and two situations in which you would use HTML. 
XML and HTML are both markup languages, which mean they both use tags to assign properties to bits of text.  However, XML differs from HTML in two important ways.  The first is that that tags used by XML are user-defined rather than pre-existing; this gives the designer more flexibility when it comes to creating tags, but can lead to compatibility problems if designers in related fields refer to tags with similar properties by different names.  There have been efforts among various industries that use online publishing, however, to come up with common standards for tags, commonly referred to as data-type definitions (DTDs) or XML schema.  The second is that those tags do not control the format of the text they contain, but rather assign a meaning to that text.  In the example in the text, the XML tags can define the text "Austria" as a country, and "Vienna" as its capital city.  XML allows the user to establish a parent-child hierarchy between these tags; in the example, the "country" elements were all considered child elements of "CountriesList".  XML also has a major practical difference from HTML in that that XML tags would actually be visible when displayed on the Web page.

HTML is preferable to use for the basic formatting and nuts-and-bolts of a web page, since it's designed to control the format and look of the page.  HTML is also the better choice when the data the designer is dealing with is simple and non-hierarchical in nature.  XML, however, was not meant to be viewed directly and would typically be translated into a viewable format by way of an XML parser.  XML would be useful for formatting larges lists of information, like product catalogs or purchase orders.

EXERCISE #3:Use the Web and the links in the Online Companion to locate information about extranets and VPN's.  Write a report that briefly describes how companies use extranets to link their systems with those of their suppliers, then write an evaluation of at least two companies (using information you have gathered from your web searches) that could help develop an extranet that would work for your client.  Close the report with an overview of how BECO could use VPN technologies in this type of extranet.  The three parts of your report should total about 750-1000 words.
Establishing an extranet, or Business-to-Business Web, would have several benefits to BECO.  By opening up BECO's internal network to suppliers, the improved transparency can allow BECO to reduce the amount of parts and supplies kept in inventory, reducing our own company's overhead; and suppliers can optimize their delivery schedules to stay ahead of our own needs and deadlines.  This will also allow for quicker and more seamless responses to changes in the market, regardless of the suppliers' relative locations, reducing the risk in an ever-changing market.  An extranet will also allow our suppliers 24-hour access to vital information, allowing them to continue working for us even across different time zone and without the lag inherent to in-person or phone meetings.  Some of the more routine transactions may even be able to be entirely automated, reducing BECO's labor costs and reducing the risk of human error.  In addition, BECO may be able to entirely avoid having to go through middlemen or wholesalers for some materials, which could result in considerable costs savings.  The reduction of time and money spent between the initial order and final delivery will give us a competitive edge over any other machinery company not similarly linked in, allowing BECO to expand its market share.

However, there are some associated risks and costs to establishing an extranet with our suppliers.  In order to be useful to our suppliers, BECO's own data will need to be kept accurate and up to date at all times.  This may require the purchase of content management software to keep that data up to date, and the hiring or training of personnel to use it.  There are also matters of security to consider.  Our suppliers may be partners in many of our business dealings, but giving them access to our sensitive data might be risky if we are competing with them in the supplying of certain types of machinery or parts.  Consequently, we will need to add internal security measures, such as network firewalls and security checks, to make sure our suppliers only have access to information relevant to our business dealings with them.  We will also need to set up proper use guidelines and clear access limits while negotiating the extranet partnership with our suppliers.

I have investigated several of the companies who could help BECO set up a VPN, and believe I have found a couple of strong candidates.  The first is Cisco, a company with a long and established history in the business of computer networking.  I believe this brand recognition and company's reputation will help ensure BECO's suppliers that the extranet will be reliable and secure enough to protect both companies' sensitive data.  Cisco's website offers first-time customers an extensive walkthrough of what their products do and what they can do for their clients, which did a great deal to assure me that they know what they're doing.  They offer an additional layer of security to their VPNs by allowing the addition of an Internet Key Exchange (IKE) in addition to creating an encrypted tunnel through IPSec.  Also, the use of IKEs allows the network to be more easily scalable over time than one that uses pre-shared keys.

WatchGuard Technologies is also a strong contender for providing BECO with its extranet facilities.  While their company does not immediately seem to offer the same level of hand-holding and custom setup and design for a VPN, they emphasize that their technology is much more "plug and play" than Cisco's might be, which could potentially save money for BECO in terms of training in the use of the network.  WatchGuard's website also offers testimonials from other manufacturing companies similar to our own, suggesting that they have experience providing the sorts of services BECO is looking for for companies like our own.



In conclusion, I believe that setting up a Virtual Private Network would be a low-cost solution for integrating our own intranet with those of our suppliers, as well as sharing information with them, in order to improve the efficiency and productivity of all of our respective businesses.