Amazon.com Chapter 8

Chapter 18

Marketing in the Digital Age

Individual Assignments

1. Read the opening vignette to the chapter. Think about the answers to the follow­ing questions:
1. How does Amazon.com connect with its customers?
2. What are the advantages of this new type of intermediary? Are there any disadvantages? If so, what are they?
3. Does Amazon.com have a role to play in the B2B domain? If so, what is it? If not, why not?
4. Do you think click-only companies have a future? Explain your answer.

Share your findings with the class.

Think-Pair-Share

1. Consider the following questions, formulate an answer, pair with the student on your right, share your thoughts with one another, and respond to questions from the instructor.
1. What is the New Economy (new digital age)?
2. What are the major forces shaping this New Economy?
3. What is the difference between an intranet, extranet, and Internet?
4. What is e-marketing?
5. What is the most important benefit to a buyer for doing business online? Explain.
6. Why does the B2B e-commerce model do so much more business than the other forms?
7. What are your biggest fears about doing business online? How could a marketer deal with these fears and reduce them?
8. How can marketers use viral marketing to their advantage?

Outside Example

The University of Phoenix was founded in 1976, well before there was at least one PC in every home. But its founding did happen to coincide with the debut of the first personal computer, the Apple 1. From its beginning, the University of Phoenix has focused on the educational needs of working adults—a constituency that was largely ignored prior to this. For several years, the University operated “on the ground”; that is, students had to go to class one or more nights a week, just like everywhere else.

But the University’s “online campus” was established in 1989, well before the advent of and widespread use of the World Wide Web. And since then, the University of Phoenix has exploded, and more and more adults are earning their Bachelor’s, Master’s and even Doctoral degrees online.

And because this model has been so successful, many traditional universities have added online options to their degree programs. Sometimes courses are only “Web enhanced,” meaning that the students still gather in a traditional classroom, but some work takes place on the Internet. Many colleges and universities, however, are moving at least some of their courses completely online. This allows them to reach many non-traditional students, and students who simply cannot relocate to the city in which their campus is located.

1. How has the University of Phoenix Online affected the college experience? Be specific.
2. What are the benefits of obtaining a degree online? What are the disadvantages, if any? How do both the advantages and disadvantages affect how the University of Phoenix reaches out to prospective students?
3. Analyze where the University of Phoenix Online advertises. Are they reaching their target audience?
4. Visit their Web site at http://www.phoenix.edu/. Is it an effective Web site? Defend your answer.
5. Although many clicks-only companies struggle to become profitable, University of Phoenix’s parent, Apollo Group, is highly profitable. Comment on your feelings regarding a for-profit University.