The Never Ending Cycle of Music Piracy

Ever since my first CD purchase (which I won't mention who the artist was as it is quite embarrassing for myself) there have been ways to share, spread, and illegally copy the music. Even in middle school I knew how to burn my friend's CDs and increase my music collection for free. Several years later online music piracy is still a prevalent issue causing $12.5 billion of economic loss every year.

Since that time when I loved cute boy bands and popular one hit wonders, the only thing that has changed for online piracy is newer technology and the expanse of internet use, both of which only help spread illegal file sharing among individuals. While investigations are sprouting up in every city world-wide, many argue that the legislation system is catching up to those who partake in online pirated music and will one day be stopped. But can online piracy ever be completely stopped?

The answer to that question is no. After the federal courts shut down Napster, there were hundreds if not thousands of other websites allowing individuals to file share across borders. People can file share anything from music, books, movies, pictures, magazines, etc. ANYTHING can be made into a digital copy and spread illegally to other nations and the fact is that our federal courts are just not physically capable of keeping up with the speed of new websites and technology available for users today. The only true way for legislation to stop online music piracy would be to shut down the world wide web.

John Lennon would rise from the dead before legislation could put an end to pirated music.

Coupons + Social Media= Big Returns for Groupon

            In 2008 Eric Lefkofsky along with Andrew Mason combined efforts and created a "social coupon Web-site" called Groupon. First some background knowledge for those readers who have not yet heard about "one of the fastest growing companies today.""  Groupon offers followers daily deals that is meant to be spread through other social networking sites. Then when customers come in to use that coupon at a local business, Groupon takes a share of the proceeds. Pretty simple, yet this business idea came at a perfect time when social media was rising in popularity and many families were having to watch their spending habits due to the financial crisis of 2008. 

            

        Even though Groupon is still privately owned, the company is estimated to be worth roughly $3 million and has recently expanded to over 29 countries. Not only are local businesses taking notice as ways to increase revenue within their own business, but also huge corporations like Google have become interested in this new social coupon. Recent talks show Google offering to buyout Groupon for $6 million. Obviously, Google recognizes the growing power of Groupon, but should Groupon sell? In only 2 years, Eric Lefkofsky has changed the way companies advertise their products on social media sites. With more than 95% of merchants willing to advertise future discounts, Groupon continues to grow and make big profits. 

Social Media: Innovation for Small and Large Companies

            With increased competition in the global marketplace, many businesses are shifting their focus to social networking sites. Some examples of social networks, besides the top three of Facebook, Twitter, and LinkIn, are YouTube, Microblogging, Myspace, and Widgets. These sites, are now allowing companies, both large and small, to go beyond customers’ expectations and improve their market position and more importantly customer service opportunities. In such a technological world where individuals are continuously connected to one another through computers, mobile phones, and now even their televisions, customers are demanding faster response times for support and assistance. Social media is an excellent tool for both large and small companies to learn about their customers and to stay visible in this hi-tech age. 
               By creating accounts in Facebook and Twitter, managers of smaller businesses can easily track both positive and negative feedback comments made by their customers, by setting up RSS feeds. Understanding what an organization needs to work on and improve can greatly effect the customer satisfaction levels within your company. Social media also allows IT representatives to offer support through virtual chat rooms, which allow problems to be solved at a faster and more efficient rate, rather than responding to an automated voice messaging system. 
             In the article Six Reasons Companies Are Still Scared of Social Media, one main issue of why small businesses avoid social networking sites is the aspect that there is a fine line on offering either too many status updates or not enough. In other words you can be the annoying company or the unseen company. However, if a small business effectively manages their content, social media can enhance the company's image resulting in greater customer satisfaction and overall appreciation. On that note, social media is an important tool that should be used by businesses both large and small. 

Marketing: The New Form of Mind Control

      In only 30 seconds, television ads are becoming a harder form of communication as an effective marketing tool. Television advertisement is not an easy task; companies need to convey a message to their potential client base and hopefully gain increased consumption of their products and services. 

      Neuromarketing is a new marketing tool used to measure consumer's brain waves, eye-tracking, and skin responsiveness to determine what a consumer is thinking. In addition to understanding external consumption behaviors, marketing is evolving to include study effects on individuals' sub-conscience.  Many scientists are persuaded this new technology will change the way organizations conduct marketing research in the future.

      After purchasing the machine for over "$5 million," one might first ask if neuromarketing can accurately understand "consumer's propensity to purchase?"  Accurate tests on brain waves might be beneficial to some, but neuromarketing fails to address cultural differences among individuals. A person's background, financial status, and environmental upbringing are never included in this research tool. Another question one must consider is if neuromarketing will be seen as a manipulative instrument used to control consumer's purchasing power. If organizations can accurately understand your psyche and persuade television ads without you knowing, couldn't that be considered brainwashing and even obtrusive? I thought this was a free market, where consumers had a choice in what they buy.

     Even though we live in a highly technological age, where change is expected, the best approach to marketing might just be first knowing your client base and then using traditional marketing tools that have proven to be effective in the past.

Marketing is fun... don't believe me just read below.

To lighten the mood on my first blog post, I thought I'd offer some fun topics dealing with marketing and blogging.

Just remember there is never one absolute answer in marketing. Finding the correct decision for your organization really might have you saying "it depends"...

Please enjoy!