The Marketing Journey Begins

This week I began my journey to learn about digital marketing. My goal for the week was to:

• Learn about the class and class expectations and deliverables
• Set up a Twitter account and this blog
• Start to learn about Business Model Canvas
• Read about the Internet an how it has changed marketing

I successfully accomplished my goal for the week and in addition to the required readings also read and listened to the following articles and NPR audio:

"Does the Internet Make You Dumber? (by Nicholas Carr, the Wall Street Journal, June 6, 2010)

"Does the Internet Make You Smarter? (by Clay Shirkey, the Wall Street Journal, June 6, 2010) Books 2.0 (Audio from NPR "On the Media", July 2, 2010; 6 minutes)  Reflections and Comments on What I Learned:

The articles by Nicholas Carr and Clay Shirkey provided two very interesting and competing views on the impact of the Internet to modern society.  However, the two positions are not mutually exclusive and both provide an insight into the impacts of the Internet.  A more appropriate representation would be that the Internet is what you make it out to be. It can be a source of entertainment, a way to connect and interact globally, and also a very power tool for information and collaboration.

Carr argues that the Internet has caused a lot of distraction to learning; people comprehend and remember less when they multi-task or are distracted.  I agree with Carr that the Internet can be very distracting and is full of information that may not necessarily be accurate or useful. However, when used for a focused purpose and as a productivity tool there are many advantages the Internet provides. Shirkey provides a few examples including, PatientsLikeMe, where many people can collaborate for a good cause to help advance medicine.  Among all the entertainment and inaccurate information there are sites that help connect people and produce great results. The Internet doesn't make you dumber or smarter but should be thought of as a tool in a marketers handbook to gain and share  information.

Chapter 1 of the book, "Made to Engage" (in The Age of Engage, pp. 1-26.) discusses how marketing strategies have evolved over the decades and in the age of Web 3.0 there is great opportunity to interact with your customers. In this case, the Internet is viewed as a marketing tool: all communications are interactions with the customer and represent the brand.  The internet, and more specifically Web 3.0 has made it even more important to deliver a clear message of what your brand represents and give your customers the opportunity to collaborate and provide feedback on your products. 

I'm looking forward to learn more about how I can utilize the internet as a tool to better deliver my personal brand message. (Maybe one day company brand message).