"6 Ways to Fix a Confused Information Architecture" from Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox, September 25, 2006 was the article that I read. This article is here to help those who have a website where the users consistently navigate to the wrong sections. A study was done and the results showed that only 45% of the time users went to the correct site section. This can mean problems in the IA, the site's writing, visual design, forms, error messages, and/or a service that is difficult to understand. There are six ways to fix the problem:
1. Merge the two sections
2. Rename the two existing sections
3. Explain the two choices
4. Restructure the site
5. Move information around
6. Add cross-reference links
There is not a specific one way to fix the problem. Sometimes it is a combination of two or more of the options.
I personally do not know a lot about this subject, so I would be unqualified to agree or disagree with the author. But his ideas sound good to me, and if I had a problem my website's navigation I would try his advice. The implication of this article is that the person who is reading the article has a website, and that they need some help with their user's navigation problems.

I read the article "NBC Launches Multiple Online Content Features" by Matthew G. Nelson posted November 9, 2006. In summary, the article is about how NBC Universal will be offering Internet-only "webisodes" of live broadcast talk shows. The show they are going to create is "A Big Life with Sally Biggers" which will be played exclusively on MSN video. "iVillage Live" is another show that will be a live-audience talk show that will appear both on air and online simultaneously. The benefits of having the shows online will be that viewers can participate. The shows will provide forums for viewer comments, additional info on topics, blogs, live online chat, online polls etc. Sponsors for the shows will have the benefit of advertising and their products will be able to be purchased while the show is streaming. I chose this article simply because it seemed interesting and I knew that eventually shows would be broadcasted solely on the Internet, I just didn't know when. Now I know. This article's affect on e-commerce is pretty big in my opinion. This way of broadcasting gives a whole new forum for advertisers. If people see things that they want that are featured on the show, or through advertisements, then they can directly go to that company's website and purchase it. If people are spending their time watching shows on the Internet, then they are definitely going to be more interested in purchasing on the Internet.

Guest Speakers

The guest speakers on 10/26 spoke about the marketing mix-the 4 P's-with emphasis on promotions. Marketing promotions include direct marketing, advertising, public relations and sales. They went into even greater detail about direct marketing which includes telemarketing, direct mail, direct response broadcast, online shopping and infomercials. The popular venues for direct marketing are catalogs, self-mailers, postcards, envelope mailers, snap mailers and dimensional mailers. Direct mailers can either be addressable or "mass" media and both are quantifiable and trackable. The advantages of direct marketing are targeting, personalization, optimization and accumulation. The disadvantages are cost. While the two guest speakers were interesting themselves, it felt like they were teaching a basic marketing class and not specifically an Internet marketing class. All of the information that they went over was stuff that I had already learned in other marketing classes, so it was quite redundant.

1. I chose the Charles by Charles David shoe called Hamilton.

2. From the reviews I found out that the shoes are very comfortable for a shoe that has a 4 inch heel. Most of the reviews also stated that the shoe runs a little big, so when ordering the shoe one should get them a half size smaller. Overall the reviews were positive and the shoe is loved by those who have bought it.

3. With this review, I would not feel any more or any less inclined to buy the shoe since other peoples taste do not necessarily matter to me. However, the heads up about the size difference is a big help to future buyers, and in that case I would take their advice. Overall it is nice to know what others have thought about the shoe, but some other women's comfort and look is not the same for me.

4. I think the advantage is that future consumers can get a general idea about how past buyers have felt about the product. If all of the reviews were bad, I think it would have a stronger affect on whether the product is purchased or not. If the reviews were all good, there are still many other factors the buyer would think about before buying, such as price and whether the shoe is affordable to the buyer. Just because the reviews are good, does not necessarily mean that someone will buy the product. If the reviews are bad I would hope someone would opt not to buy the product.

5. The benefit for Zappos.com is that consumers think that Zappos is being very open and helpful with their products. This gives the consumer the feeling of customer service and cousumer feedback without having to go to a store.

6. I would not necessarily recommend that Kencole.com do this since they do not have as large of a selection as Zappos.com. They also probably do not get as much business through their website as they do through stores, so they might not get much feedback to provide shoppers with.

7. I personally do not do a lot of shopping online, so I can not say that I look at a lot of recommendations before I purchase. If I did do more internet shopping I definitely would look at the reviews because it can't hurt to know what someone else thought about the product.

8. I think a site that has a large selection, where perhaps consumers are torn between one item or another, reviews would be really helpful. I do not think that sites that contain moderate quality items should have reviews because the reviews might all be negative.

Mktg 437 Assignment #1

1. Businesses can use blogs in a couple of different ways. They can use them by putting out their own blogs to give information about their products, how they work and what their benefits are. Businesses can also use blogs to follow how the public feels about their products and the way they do business.
2. I do not think that blogs should look and feel like traditional marketing and advertising because they are not traditional marketing and advertising in the sense that they are completely based on opinion.
3. I think that blogs are a fad for now until something bigger, better and easier comes along. But I believe that the ability for anyone to be able to hop on a computer and say what they think and feel about something is not a fad. And what the consumer thinks is always going to be important to a business and will have an affect on their marketing.
4. I would like to see the marketing department start a blog. I think it would be interesting to see what others think about this department.