Just reviewing the suggested sites..I really like the zeitgeist. I am using google trends at the moment, and decided to see how the term "Chris Brown" was doing. Google
trends displays the number of search entries, the term "chris brown" gets everyday, and puts it on a graph. You can use this for any search entry, from anytime on Google. So when I entered "Chris Brown", you can see a very very slow increasing trend over a couple of years and then it skyrockets up in early 2009, when he first went to court on counts of domestic violence. I can see how zeitgeist would be very helpful if you were looking to see the trends of certain products over a period of time. It is definitely a great source of secondary data, if you are looking to see how popular a topic is.
I never really got into blogs until this class, but after not only writing my own, but playing around with the blog search tool, I've found that it has some really cool functions! The benefits to marketers are amazing. If I wanted to see what people are saying about my product/company before and after an update/event, there are numerousss blog entries from as many blog sites as you can imagine, it does not limit itself to a certain amount.
Gaining insight -- Probably one of the best ways to gain insight using social media, is FACEBOOK. Facebook and similar networking sites are ridiculously informative.
Facebook can not only give marketers demographic data, but information about their hobbies, interests, annnnddddd a 1000 photo picture-journal? Almost seems like
Facebook was created for marketers.. Appealing applications lures facebook members to use it, and give up ALL of their information; pretty sneaky huh?
By using social media, there are a ton of ways for marketers to gain customer insight, that cost virtually nothing. So many companies employ traditional marketing techniques that are often costly, and not insightful. The great thing about using social media is that you get a REAL look at someone's interest. It is like the example I heard from the guest speaker (woman)..that whenever you setup an appointment with a family to view their house, you often don't get a very good look into their life, because they clean up, put away their bad foods, etc., basically..they can show you their "fake life". But what facebook and other similar forms of social media do, is give you a real, unedited version of their lives. It's amazing!

Wally World

Question 1:

- Given the enormous amount of data that Walmart captures, do you think they have been successful at converting into an experience that serves as a competitive advantage for them?

“Wal-Mart executives have spent handsomely for their systems . . . well ahead of the pack.” There is no doubt in my mind that Wal-mart has a competitive advantage because they can successfully convert data into an experience for the customer. Have they reached their potential? Most likely not; but they are trying harder than most, that’s for certain.

Wal-Mart is known for being so widespread and still having economies of scale for so long. This is not only because of their logistics setup, but because they have so much data they can continue so satisfy their customers, and their changing habits. Wal-Mart has more data than one could ever imagine, “the Internet has less than half as much data, according to experts.” And without even a loyalty card service!

It is not hard to tell that Wal-Mart is indeed creating an experience for the customer:

In 1962, four new retailers were born. One called Kmart was started in Garden City, Michigan, another called Target was started in Minneapolis, another from Woolworth, the big name in retailing at the time, called Woolco was started, and the final one in rural Rogers, Arkansas, called Wal-Mart.*

As you can see, Kmart and Target were started in the same year as Wal-Mart, but which one do you see as the leader today? Wal-Mart has transformed into it’s own little world. Who would have imagined when Wal-mart opened, that it would be a one-stop shop, for EVERYTHING. Tires, oil change, hunting, clothes, food, tools, furniture, fabrics..it crazy! But Wal-mart has successfully targeted an enormous segment of the market, with their low prices and huge selection.

Question 2:

- What do you think about the privacy issues associated with all of that data and the amount of personally identifiable data they are able to capture. Does it bother you? Do you trust them with it?

Walmart is a GIANT corporation that has been around since 1962, and collecting data for a while as well, with their major jump in 1991 (scanners). It is definitely uncomforting to know that a supercenter (grocery store?) knows more about someone than their mother, but I do not believe anybody will have any issues with leaked information. Don’t get me wrong, just because I believe that we can trust Wal-Mart – it does not mean that Wal-Mart is right. A grocer should not be recording anyone’s information like a SSN, DL number, mortages, etc.. That is extremely PRIVATE information, and something which I believe, only the individual should know, or the people whom the individual gives it to (consentingly). Even if it is more convenient for us not to have to type in our SSN AND our DL number whenever we want to cash a check everytime; who cares? If that minimal convenience is at the expense of us losing a little bit of our privacy, then it is wrong!

"People don't know that Wal-Mart is capturing information about who they are and what they bought, but they are also capable of capturing a huge amount of outside information about them that has nothing to do with their grocery purchases," said Katherine Albrecht, the founder and director of Caspian, a consumer advocacy group concerned with privacy issues. "They can find out your mortgage amounts, your court dates, your driving record, your creditworthiness."

Does it bother me? –It is not that bothersome simply because what else can we do besides not shop there? Marketing research is getting more and more extensive, and with Wal-Mart at the “head of the pack”, their terabyte mainframes will only be spilling over the top with more information about what you’re going to buy for this hurricane, or how much you paid for your house; and some things will probably be more even more private than what is mined right now.

Because of legal obligations and such (didn’t feel like including “moral obligations” was necessary), we can all rest assure that our identity will in fact remain our own, well kind of.

*http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_did_Walmart_get_its_start

Wally World

Question 1:

- Given the enormous amount of data that Walmart captures, do you think they have been successful at converting into an experience that serves as a competitive advantage for them?

“Wal-Mart executives have spent handsomely for their systems . . . well ahead of the pack.” There is no doubt in my mind that Wal-mart has a competitive advantage because they can successfully convert data into an experience for the customer. Have they reached their potential? Most likely not; but they are trying harder than most, that’s for certain.

Wal-Mart is known for being so widespread and still having economies of scale for so long. This is not only because of their logistics setup, but because they have so much data they can continue so satisfy their customers, and their changing habits. Wal-Mart has more data than one could ever imagine, “the Internet has less than half as much data, according to experts.” And without even a loyalty card service!

It is not hard to tell that Wal-Mart is indeed creating an experience for the customer:

In 1962, four new retailers were born. One called Kmart was started in Garden City, Michigan, another called Target was started in Minneapolis, another from Woolworth, the big name in retailing at the time, called Woolco was started, and the final one in rural Rogers, Arkansas, called Wal-Mart.*

As you can see, Kmart and Target were started in the same year as Wal-Mart, but which one do you see as the leader today? Wal-Mart has transformed into it’s own little world. Who would have imagined when Wal-mart opened, that it would be a one-stop shop, for EVERYTHING. Tires, oil change, hunting, clothes, food, tools, furniture, fabrics..it crazy! But Wal-mart has successfully targeted an enormous segment of the market, with their low prices and huge selection.

Question 2:

- What do you think about the privacy issues associated with all of that data and the amount of personally identifiable data they are able to capture. Does it bother you? Do you trust them with it?

Walmart is a GIANT corporation that has been around since 1962, and collecting data for a while as well, with their major jump in 1991 (scanners). It is definitely uncomforting to know that a supercenter (grocery store?) knows more about someone than their mother, but I do not believe anybody will have any issues with leaked information. Don’t get me wrong, just because I believe that we can trust Wal-Mart – it does not mean that Wal-Mart is right. A grocer should not be recording anyone’s information like a SSN, DL number, mortages, etc.. That is extremely PRIVATE information, and something which I believe, only the individual should know, or the people whom the individual gives it to (consentingly). Even if it is more convenient for us not to have to type in our SSN AND our DL number whenever we want to cash a check everytime; who cares? If that minimal convenience is at the expense of us losing a little bit of our privacy, then it is wrong!

"People don't know that Wal-Mart is capturing information about who they are and what they bought, but they are also capable of capturing a huge amount of outside information about them that has nothing to do with their grocery purchases," said Katherine Albrecht, the founder and director of Caspian, a consumer advocacy group concerned with privacy issues. "They can find out your mortgage amounts, your court dates, your driving record, your creditworthiness."

Does it bother me? –It is not that bothersome simply because what else can we do besides not shop there? Marketing research is getting more and more extensive, and with Wal-Mart at the “head of the pack”, their terabyte mainframes will only be spilling over the top with more information about what you’re going to buy for this hurricane, or how much you paid for your house; and some things will probably be more even more private than what is mined right now.

Because of legal obligations and such (didn’t feel like including “moral obligations” was necessary), we can all rest assure that our identity will in fact remain our own, well kind of.

*http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_did_Walmart_get_its_start

Wal-Mart, an aggressive marketing approach