68
4. WEB MARKETING TOOLS AND APPLICATIONS: WHERE’S
EVERYBODY STRATEGIES
Exploiting the information capabilities and the Web interactivity, the online communication process permits to a company to understand consumers in depth, planning a long lasting relationship through a value proposal, according to users’ interests and behaviors.
There are several marketing strategies that count on having recourse to Internet and that create different communication mixes, depending on several demands. Internet is a modern and powerful way of communication, but it is not suitable in itself for conventional forms of advertising. This is due to a fundamental aspect: the pull behavior of the user. As a result, Internet users, unlike passive television audience or newspaper’s readers, have at their disposal an informative place that is practically limitless. For customers, the primary reason for surfing is searching and selecting relevant information, thus it is feasible to understand why traditional advertising has scarcely effect on the Web (Vescovi, 2007, p.137).
Broadly speaking, the main marketing tools nowadays adopted can be divided in two groups. On the one hand, the former includes the beginning, as well as the traditional, communication channels on the Web, which are the corporate website, the banner, the sponsored link, the interstitial and the newsletter (Chiarvesio, Di Maria, 2008, p.43). Next to the website, the banner is one of the first form of online communication. It is an advertisement on a web page taking the form of a graphic or animation above or alongside the main content. It is a very simple kind of display advertising and it can be used to inform about the company and the product, so it is aimed at promoting. A banner allows to reach a website through a link and the communicative effectivity is measured by the click-through, the user’s click on the banner.
69 Another instrument is the sponsored link. The company invests in promoting its own website and offers on generic, such as search engines, or specialized websites. This kind of communication is perceived as less invading by users and it permits to connect the sponsorship to key words or to page contents (Chiarvesio, Di Maria, 2008, p.45). One more tool is represented by the interstitial or intermediate window that appears between web pages. It has the same functionalities of banners and sponsored links, but it offers a more breadth of contents and it is usually an obliged passage that cannot be avoided, due to pop-up (Chiarvesio, Di Maria, 2008, p.46). For instance, this device is
applied by the Internet site of La Repubblica1, that puts interstitial prevalently between
the home page and the news.
At last, there is the newsletter. It is a regularly delivered publication via email, generally about topics of interest to its subscribers. Sending newsletters to customers and prospects is a common marketing strategy in order to gain their retention.
On the other hand, the latter group includes the most innovative tools, which make a greater interaction with customers and an integration with other marketing levers possible. Mini sites, that are websites created on purpose of a special event, social networks and services on demand fall within this group.
I am going to analyze only some of web marketing tools, according to my work experience. These are those through which I executed web marketing tasks, as well as the most ahead of the times. The other tools, except the corporate website, do not permit to interact with users and to involve them in the communicative processes. They remain simple devices, still enclosed in a Web 1.0 point of view, and they are not included in an attitude towards participation and collaboration.
1
70 4.1 Corporate website and mini sites: characteristics of a good design
Planning and creating a corporate website and related mini sites is a strategy that requires, from the company, abilities and competences in using technological and communicative Internet tools. In fact, compared to the past, thanks to its own site the firm open a new direct channel towards its users and, in general, all its stakeholders. This is just the case of the media production house Where’s Everybody, which holds employees having a wide range of skills in communication and broadcasting technology.
According to Vescovi, the features that both corporate website and mini site should have to result effective are the following . It has to be noticed that these are only general and that later on in the analysis I am going to study which ones fall within the specific characteristics of Where’s Everybody sites.
• Visibility: easy to find on the Web (placement on search engines, directory etc.). • Easy to surf: how users orient themselves in the website and how difficult is to find interesting information (internal search engine, site map, site structure etc.). • Ease to use: contents clearness and graphic that permit simple reading,
comprehension and quick surfing.
• Institutional information: presence of useful information about the firm (company’s structure, organizational roles, contacts etc.).
• Corporate image: mission and vision, key words, company’s identity as showed in the website (logo, graphical layout, language etc.).
• Customer services: provision of general services for customers (FAQ, newsletter etc.).
• Contents quality: complete, up-to-date and helpful information for users. • Community: devices able to foster communication and interaction among users
(forum, chat, guestbook etc.).
• Multimedia and entertainment: presence of multimedia, audio-video facilities (clips, music, virtual tour etc.) and entertainment instruments (games, competitions etc.) in order to boost continuous visits (Vescovi, 2007, pp.131-132).
71 In addition, after the analysis developed according to these characteristics, I am going to
point out if corporate website and mini sites make interactivity with customers possible. Interactivity, in the new media field, is seen as the ability to engage the audience,
communicate with users and influence each other. It offers clients the possibility of searching and soliciting relevant information (pull communication), according to a reverse advertising viewpoint, as well as establishing relationships with other users inside a community. Altogether, it enables the addressee to control message exposure in a more effective way than offline. Nevertheless, it is to underline that measure interactivity is quite complicated, as it is not quantifiable as a numeric value, but it comprehends mostly intangible elements. Moreover, at present there are only approaches, and not complete theories, to measure this aspect.
4.1.1 Where’s Everybody corporate website
A corporate website or corporate site is an informational website operated by a business or other kind of enterprise.
It is possible to make a distinction on the basis of the specialization level – general or specialist – and of the type of contents – informative or commercial (Chiarvesio, Di Maria, 2008, p.41). Where’s Everybody corporate website is generalist since it is oriented towards a wide and not specialized target of users, whereas a specialist site is addressed to a specific group of customers as identified by segmentation and positioning market strategies. In addition, due to the fact that the company produces media services that are not purchasable on line, as they are broadcasted on public television, the site is decidedly informative. This means that it focuses only on providing information about the firm on the Net, instead of offering online commercial transactions.
According to a recent study (April 2009) published by Financial Times website
experts Bowen Craggs & Company2, an exhaustive corporate website is made up of the
following elements. Most of them are easily reachable also in the WE’s website, as I am going to show afterwards.
2
72
1) A home page;
2) A navigation bar or other means for accessing various site sections;
3) A unified look and feel incorporating the company’s logos, style sheets and
graphic images;
4) An “About Us” section with some or all of these:
- A summary of company operations, history and mission statement;
- A list of the company’s products and services;
- A “people” section with biographical information on founders, board
members and sometimes an overview of the company’s overall workforce;
- A news section containing press releases and/ or links to articles about the
company;
- An investor section describing key owners/ investors of the company;
- A list of clients, suppliers, achievements, projects, partners and so on;
5) Pages of special interest to specific groups. These may include:
- An employment section where the company lists open positions;
- Investor pages with the annual report, business plan, financial statements and
so on;
6) Contact information;
7) Terms of use and privacy policy.
Navigation bars, a unified look and feel and a links section on the home page are evidences of easiness of surfing and use. In particular, the top bar refers to the corporate image, according to logos and graphical layout, while the middle one related to services refers to complete and helpful information and multimedia facilities.
As we can see from the picture below, these features are visible on this corporate website (www.we.com.mt). Moreover, every link connects the front page to the concerning TV programme own page within the corporate website. Every page refers to the programme mini site and to community tools that improve participation, as in the example below. This links section bar is at the end of every page.
73
Figure 1. WE’s corporate website homepage
.
Figure 2. Links to mini site and entertainment platform
Unified look & feel:corporate image
N a v ig a ti o n b a r News section Navigation bar Employment section Contact information Intellectual property Links section Mini site Discussion group “About us” section
74 Furthermore, user friendliness, institutional information and evidences of contents quality and completeness are easily approachable also in the “About Us” section, that comprehends “News”, “Services”, “WE firsts” and “Who WE are” pages.
Figure 3. WE’s News
Figure 4. WE’s Services
By clicking on the news headlines or on the titles (“Programmes”, “Events” and so on) in the page or in the side navigation bar, users are directly connected to related
News section
Multimedia
Simple to read and to surf by clicking on the titles
N a v ig a ti o n b a r: ea sy t o s u rf List of company’s products and services Easy to understand and complete information
75 pages, which contain information about the services and video clips. Here there is an example, referred to the bordered link (“Events”).
Figure 5. WE’S Events
Pages “WE firsts” and “Who WE are” pertain particularly to communicate institutional information, corporate image and show the quality of contents. They include mission and vision statement, biographical information on founders and a list of achievements and successful projects.
Figures 6. WE’s mission and vision
M u lt im ed ia d ev ic es Contents quality: clear, up-to-date and complete Achievements and projects M u lt im ed ia d ev ic e Clear and complete information
76
Figure 7. WE’s mission and vision
Altogether, it can be affirmed that Where’s Everybody corporate website complies with both characteristics and constituting elements, as defined by Vescovi and Bowen Craggs & Company.
With regard to distinguishing features, the site is easy to navigate and to use, thanks to navigation bars and links that guide to clear and concise contents, easily and quickly readable. The website also includes all the institutional information and shows a united corporate image, as the graphic and the layout are the same for every page. In addition, it contains complete and up-to-date information, as noticed in the News section, and several multimedia tools, as audiovisual clips. Moreover, this corporate website has complete visibility on the Web. After a research on the main search engines (Google, Yahoo!), I discovered that it results first on both.
The only feature missing is the customer services section, meant as the provision of general services such as FAQ and newsletter. This may be considered a disadvantage. Devices enabling a sense of community among users will be found instead in the mini sites and in the social networking platforms, as I am going to analyze later on.
Lastly, with reference to establishing elements, the lacking is a section or a page dedicated to investors, but this happens because there are no other investors apart from the founders. In addition, annual report and business plan are not provided by law to be
Institutional information and corporate image Clear and complete information
77 published in Malta. On the contrary, clients, sponsors and suppliers can be found in every TV programme’s page, as proved by the following examples.
Figure 8 and 9. WE’s sponsors and suppliers pages
4.1.2 Where’s Everybody mini sites
A mini website is a site created on the occasion of a particular event, such as a new advertising campaign or the launch of a new product, and generally it is of limited duration (Chiarvesio, Di Maria, 2008, p.48). Compared to the management of the corporate website, this service allows to focus on specific contents, selecting a specific target and enabling potential communicative distinctions in respect to the main website. Where’s Everybody mini sites fall within this explanation mainly for the second aspect. As a matter of fact, they have been created in function of particular products, as each one is related to a TV programme, but they do not have short duration. Contrarily, they encourage interaction among users and participation in creating the programmes themselves, even because they are all constantly up-to-date.
The mini sites analysis uses the same effectiveness parameters of the corporate website analysis. It will be conducted for each of the programmes, as described and sorted in the second chapter, with the exception of Hadd Ghalik, the only one that does not have an own Internet mini site.
78 Xarabank
Xarabank and its presenter Peppi Azzopardi are very popular media models in Malta, as
I affirmed in the previous chapter, so the website (www.xarabank.com) is quite exhaustive.
Consequently, it is displayed as first on Google and Yahoo! researches and it has also
a stub on Wikipedia3, which results on the second position. Xarabank site is also easy to
navigate and to use, owing to navigation bars that connect to specific pages. Contents are arranged in order to be of immediate visibility, requiring little effort to reach them. News are constantly updated and the notice boards is an evidence of this fact. They are also helpful for users, as they are divided into sections, such as “The team” and “History”. These can be considered as equivalent to institutional information in the corporate website, for the reason that reflect the company’s mission and vision.
In addition, the corporate image is kept, because the graphic layout is maintained as the same in every page and there is also the possibility of choosing a language between English and Maltese.
Figure 10. Xarabank homepage
3 < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/xarabank> Constantly updated news Multimedia: promo clip N a v ig a ti o n b a r: e a sy t o u se a n d s u rf language Select Internal search engine
79 Still regarding contents quality, in the “Team” section there are a brief description of each members of the staff and some amusing questions. An internal search engine enables users to search information about past episodes.
Figure 11. Xarabank team
Finally, in this site community and multimedia services are present in a good quantity. There is a movie clip about the next episode on the homepage and through the sections “Xarabank online”, “Blog”, “Guestbook” and “Forum” is possible to enter interactive subjects. It is possible to link to the online streaming and YouTube channels and to the social and discussion groups. In addition, there is also the presenter’s blog in Maltese but, what is more, users can share and add user-generated contents by contacting and sending to the staff photos or filming.
The last interesting option of choice is the possibility of being part of Xarabank’s audience, booking a seat directly from the website by filling up an electronic form.
Figure 12. Xarabank community and multimedia tools examples
Update: 25/01/2010
80
Figure 13. Xarabank community and multimedia tools example
Figure 14. Xarabank online booking form
Watch Xarabank online Social networks H o st ’s b lo g
81 Bondiplus
As well as Xarabank, Bondiplus and its name sake presenter are renowned in the Maltese media field, so its website is well planned.
Unfortunately, at the time I am writing my research work, the mini site is not available online due to technical maintenance, so I am not able to analyze it in depth. This can be viewed as a weakness for the implementation of web marketing strategies, but it is only temporary. WE’s ICT team is working to improve the site and make it more attractive for season 2010, with more interactive contents.
However, I can affirm that the site is structured as that of Xarabank, but it does not outcome first on Google and Yahoo! researches. Similar to it, Bondiplus has also a stub
on Wikipedia4.
The site displays a top navigation toolbar in the front page that allows users to navigate with ease. It links to specific pages, such as those regarding “The team”, with description of the hosts and questions about their job, “History” and “Guests”. Layout colors and the graphic design recover the style of the logo, using black, yellow and white.
What is more, news are updated every week, according to upcoming episodes, as it can be noticed from the notice board and the promo clip on the homepage.
Ultimately, as in Xarabank mini site there are sections for guestbook and forum, where users can leave their comment and posts about the show.
Deal or No Deal
This programme is one of the most popular TV game show and it is an Endemol format, thus it has several details for its benefit, also with regard to its mini site.
First of all, the visibility on the Web. Looking up on the main search engines as Google and Yahoo!, you have to specify “Deal or No Deal Malta”, otherwise you will be connected to the international website. As a result of being a worldwide show, it has
also a thorough entry on Wikipedia5. This entry is related to the international format,
but it brings to the Maltese website.
4
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bondi_Plus> 5 <
82 The mini site (www.dealornodealmalta.com) is clear, concise and easy to navigate. With the help of a compact navigation bar, interesting contests are well connected to the front page.
Figure 15. DOND homepage
As a result of being a television format, Deal or No Deal site has some aspects that are previously determined by the Endemol agreement with Where’s Everybody, but it is almost completely different. It maintains the logo, the same graphic and layout colors (black and yellow) and virtual devices, such the online game, as it can be seen below.
Constantly updated news
Multimedia: videogame Navigation bar: concise and simple
83
Figure 16. DOND international website
The quality of information is verified by the presence of continuously updated news, the history of the programme, rules about how to participate and how to play, information about the presenter and the contestants who have won the higher prize and those who have not got anything. There is also a FAQ section with the frequently asked questions about the game and the possibility to visit other Deal or No Deal websites, by clicking on the “DOND around the world”.
Figure 17 and 18. DOND helpful tools
Same layout colors
Same online game
84 Moreover, in order to involve users in taking part in the show, there are available promos, highlights and a online video game to test their abilities. In the “Contact” section is specified how to contact the production team, but there is not any link to the social networking platforms and this can be viewed as a drawback.
X’Qala l-Bahar
The sea life and maritime documentary is considered by the management as the only programme meant for a niche target audience, as well as the one that registers the lower audience share amongst all the WE’s productions. Thus, it is ordinary that this mini site (bahar.we.com.mt) is the less exhaustive.
Nevertheless, as well as the other WE’s programmes, it results first on Google and
Yahoo! explores and it has a stub on Wikipedia6 too. On the principal search engines
the mini site outcomes first, while on second and third position result respectively the corporate website related page and the Wikipedia entry links.
Figure 19. X’Qala l-Bahar homepage
6 < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X'Qala'_l-Bahar> Corporate image: logo and colors E a sy t o u se a n d s u rf Multimedia: videoclip Clear information
85
X’Qala l-Bahar site is also easy to navigate and to use, thanks to a side navigation bar
that brings to specific pages. Contents are arranged in order to be of immediate visibility, requiring little effort to reach them. The corporate image is well reflected in the logo and in the layout colors, which make reference to the underwater world. The “Team” page is structured as those of Xarabank and Bondiplus, with a brief description of the presenters and some funny questions about why they love the sea.
Figure 20. X’Qala l-Bahar team page
Anyhow, it is to be underlined that, compared to the other mini sites, there is a significant defect: the fact that a real “News” section is missing. Here the “News” section is displayed as the homepage. This section would be relevant to bring users up to date about the new episodes.
Ultimately, referring to community and multimedia tools, it is to be said that there are two pages full of audiovisual clips, one about diving and the other one about recipes. Here the user can find promos and highlights. As Deal or No Deal mini site, also this one has the disadvantage of not indicating any link to the social networking platforms. An interesting point is that the diving clips are available both in low and high resolution, so users have two possibilities of choice. In addition, on the “Recipes” section, other than the videos that explain how to make a recipe, there are helpful information, such as the ingredients list and how to execute the cooking method.
Through “Contact Us” section, users can share user-generated contents by sending their own shoots to the staff, or by writing comments, advices or criticisms.
86
Figure 21 and 22. X’Qala l-Bahar multimedia devices: video clips
4.1.3 How to measure interactivity?
As I affirmed in the paragraph above, one of the basing characteristics of Web 2.0 is the interactivity, which can be both synchronous and asynchronous. It can even be less expensive than communication via phone and more effective than face-to-face one. According to what I mentioned before, the main problem is that it is hard to evaluate perceived interactivity, because it is not only a mere number but it indicates also if and how a company is able to operate with mutual influence and interconnect with users through Web instruments.
Multimedia and fun: video clips Double choice of resolution Useful information
87 As a consequence, Vescovi suggests to analyze interactivity according to its founding elements, which are the following. They are present schematically in figure 23.
• Mutual influence: how communication is perceived as reciprocal by users and enables to share connections.
• Meaningfulness: how answers and responses in a communication process are recognized as appropriate, relevant and exhaustive.
• Speed of answer: whether an answer to a communicative event is perceived as instantaneous and without delays.
• Involvement: the condition of sharing contents and information in the activities of a group.
• Nonverbal communication: multimedia and multi-channel communication.
Figure 23. Functioning interactivity model in Internet7
Owing to these attributes, it is possible to distinguish between different level of interactivity.
With regard to mutual influence, the most relevant site is that of Xarabank, where users can take advantage of online multimedia services, a blog, a guestbook and a forum. Secondly, information and answers can be took as appropriate, relevant and instantaneous especially in the corporate website and in Xarabank minisite, which both show an exhaustive and updated informative section. I do not take into account
7
Source: adapted from T.Vescovi, Il marketing e la Rete. La gestione integrata del Web nel business, Il Sole 24 ore, 2007, p.126 PERCEIVED INTERACTIVITY Mutual influence Meaningfulness Speed of answer Involvement Nonverbal communication
88
Bondiplus as the mini site is temporarily unavailable, so I cannot state precisely if it
permits a valuable interaction, according to these parameters.
About the involvement ability, it can be observed that both Where’s Everybody site,
Xarabank and Deal or No Deal allow users to share contents and get involved in the
activities of the programme. In particular, Deal or No Deal permits to play the match online. Finally, Xarabank and X’Qala l-Bahar site are those that allow a wide multimedial communication, with the sharing of several video clips.
In outline, it can be observed that the most interactive site is that of the leading TV production of the company, namely Xarabank.
The concept of interactivity will be deepened even in the paragraph related to social networks features and usage.
4.1.4 Competitors’ websites
Without forgetting that Where’s Everybody main competitors are party-owned companies, from the corporate site perspective One, NET Televisions and WE are almost on the same quality level, both for marking features and components. Moreover, they have both generalist and informative website for the same reason of Where’s Everybody, that is due to the fact that they do not sell products online.
With regard to visibility, One’s website (www.one.com.mt) results as the first rank searching on Google and Yahoo!, as well as WE’s one, whereas for the NET’s one (www.nettv.com.mt) it must be specified Malta, otherwise the foremost outcomes are related to Internet TV stations.
Moreover, One and NET’s sites are easy to navigate and to use, with the help of a top navigation bar that connects to clear and complete information, easy and quick to read. Similar to WE’ homepage, One’s front page has a middle navigation bar which leads to complete and helpful contents about TV primetime programmes, while, different from WE’s website, in both cases the links section is missing. It is possible to have access to a TV programme own page within the corporate site only using the navigation bar. So, for this aspect, surfing Where’s Everybody site requires a less effort. Still different from WE, both sites have multimedia clips on the front page.
89 With regard to contents quality, One TV shares another point in common with WE, that is the fact that TV programmes own pages contain up-to-date information and clips, whereas NET’s pages are static, they only show text and pictures. In addition, in One’s website information are divided for television and radio services, while the news are put on the homepage. Instead, on NET’s front page there is a news section and TV shows are separated both for schedule and subjects (current affairs, entertainment, game show, sport and so on.).
Both websites also include institutional information and display a unified corporate image, as the graphic and the layout are the same for every page. Pages “Corporate” and “About NET TV” refer particularly to communicate mission and vision, biographical information on founders and a list of achievements and fortunate projects.
Besides, there is a “Contact” section in both, while the “Employment” one is missing. All the features described are noticeable in the following figures.
Figure 24. One Television corporate homepage
Multimedia: clips S im p le n a v ig a ti o n b a r News section L in k t o T V s h o w s p a g es “About us” section Contact information
90
Figure 25. NET TV corporate homepage
At the end, the only element lacking in all the three websites and that can be considered as a general disadvantage is the customer services section. On the contrary, neither of competitors’ websites refer to community tools that could enable participation, and this is certainly an advantage for WE’s marketing approach.
The last difference regards the language. While Where’s Everybody and One websites are totally in English, with no section in Maltese, in order to give a more formal look, NET’s one has some pages written in Maltese, such as the news and the contact information.
Briefly, with regard to the site structure the three websites are essentially on the same level. Instead, concerning multimedia facilities only One Television can compete with Where’s Everybody, in terms of interactive services as promos and clips, but surely not in terms of devices able to enhance interaction among users.
On the other hand, looking at mini sites, it is not possible to assert nothing, as it exists only a mini site of a competitors’ programmes, that is one about L-Evangelisti on One
Multimedia: video clips N ew s se ct io n Contact information Simple navigation bar “ A b o u t u s” s ec ti o n
91 TV, a direct competitor of Bondiplus. As I examined in the second chapter,
L-Evangelisti is a renowned Maltese drama that goes on air on the same time slot of Bondiplus. This site (www.evangelisti.tv) is arranged more or less as that of Bondiplus,
with a navigation bar that connects to specific pages. Contents are arranged in order to be of immediate visibility, easy to read and to navigate.
News are constantly updated and the notice board on the front page is a clear example of this fact. They are useful for users because they are separated in sections, as “Story”, Characters”, “Behind the scenes” and so on. Likewise Bondiplus mini site, this has an internal search engine for searching information, but it is not possible to choose a language, as the site is only available in English.
In addition, there is the presence of a good amount of community and multimedia services, maybe more than in Xarabank site. There is a promo clip of the next episode on the homepage and through the sections “Gallery”, “Watch the show”, “Chat”, “Comments” and “Downloads” is possible to have access to interactive subjects. Differ only registered users can see the photos, watch the show or download contents.
Nevertheless, a good and interactive mini site is not enough to judge a web marketing strategy as effective, compared to that of Where’s Everybody, which holds four sites out of five TV show. Therefore, from this communicative point of view of encouraging participation and customers retention, Where’s Everybody is surely a step forward.
Figure 26. L-Evangelisti mini site
Multimedia: video clip N a v ig a ti o n b a r News section Multimedial aids for registered users
92 4.2 Social networks: features and usage
Owing to what I stated in the chapter about web and social media marketing, social networks represent a particular type of community.
In the particular instance of Where’s Everybody, the typology which the company refers to is the virtual consuming community, considered as a crucial marketing tool in order to manage interrelated relationships between the firm and the customers. Thus, consuming communities can play a significant role in enhancing users empowerment. A virtual consuming community is established by a network of users which participate in a combined process in order to share knowledge about a topic through an electronic interface. This matter is somehow related to consumer goods (Prandelli, Verona, 2006, p.278). Then, communities can become active subjects in the innovation processes, taking advantage of users’ experiences, where the membership is conveyed by participants commitment.
There are various kinds of classification of virtual consuming communities, according to the subjects and the established relationships: in this case, communities have a mutual interest towards a television programme, so they are communities of interest. A community of interest is a group of people who share a common interest or passion. These people exchange ideas, thoughts and experiences about the given passion, but may know little about each other outside of this area. Participation in a community of interest can be compelling, entertaining and create a cohesive community where people return frequently and remain for extended periods (Prandelli, Verona, 2006, p.290). In this circumstance, community reputation depends as on the wideness of contents, as on their updating and relevance.
More generally, there are two important significant principles for analyzing and interpreting virtual communities, which reinforce the Web feature of being an informative and entertainment tool: the informative and the participative dimensions. On the one hand, the former can be defined as the importance that users give to the information owned by the community and the attention focused entering a shared basis of contents. Sharing interests of social, cultural or economical nature associates users that want to obtain relevant information for their jobs, their uses or other activities (Chiarvesio, Di Maria, 2008, p.91).
93 On the other hand, the latter refers to the intensity with which users participate in community activities and the dedication that they put into fostering and renewing internal discussions. A high number of involved users guarantees the survival and the continuous renewal of the community (Chiarvesio, Di Maria, 2008, p.93).
Consequently, the only practicable way for transforming virtual consuming communities in effective marketing tools and means of shared learning consists in creating and managing users gatherings in order to combine both functions, as described above. It is the balance of the two dimensions that converts consuming communities in learning devices useful for a company. The wider will be the information exchange among users, the greater will be the reliability and the intensity of interactions. Besides, the bigger will be the emotive involvement, the broader will be the sense of awareness in the group (Prandelli, Verona, 2006, p.296).
The analysis of social networks usage from Where’s Everybody will be developed, rather than of on the basis of singles TV programmes, depending on the intensity of use. The analysis order is the following: Facebook, YouTube, Hi5, Flickr and MySpace. In addition, for each social network application will be considered if and how it respects the rules for an effective use, according to what Di Bari says, that is:
• How tight is the focus on the relationship among users;
• Interaction tools that enable share and engagement (Di Bari, 2007, p.93).
Lastly, I am going to study how and if it is possible to evaluate the social networks membership, still according to Di Bari’s assertions, and how competitors apply these interactive devices.
4.2.1 Facebook
It is not simple to explain what Facebook is and how it works, even if it has become the most popular social networking site in the world and at present everyone is discussing about it.
Facebook is a social networking website that is operated and privately owned by
Facebook, Inc8. Users can create profiles with photos, lists of personal interests, contact
information and other personal information. Communicating with friends and other
8
94 users can be done through private or public messages or a chat feature. Users can also create and join interest and fan groups, some of which are maintained by organizations as a means of advertising. To combat privacy concerns, Facebook enables users to choose their own privacy settings and choose who can see what parts of their profile. Users can add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. Additionally, users can join networks organized by city, workplace, and school or college. In fact, Facebook was initially founded with the intention of helping students to get in touch and to know each other better, but
nowadays it ranks as the most used social network worldwide9.
It works quite similar to Youtube for two reasons, as I am going to explain in the following paragraph, even if practically they are different type of social platforms. On the one hand, Facebook has become so widely known in the last couple of years among Internet users that it does not need to be promoted. This reveals to be a fundamental advantage for Where’s Everybody, which can reach a huge amount of users without costs. Therefore, it can carry out a viral marketing strategy in order to involve users to participate in creating the programmes themselves, taking part in discussion groups, following updated news and watching videos and pictures.
Where’s Everybody manages a page on Facebook for each of its TV programmes. In addition, there are an unofficial group of Deal or No Deal and a fan page of Hadd
Ghalik. Official group pages were created a few time before I started my work
experience. As I am going to explain below, The company makes good use of almost all the Facebook services and potentialities.
First of all, the function of inviting people to join a group. It works as a circle: the more friends add your, the more others will do the same, so the page will get a lot of visibility and obtain cost-free promotion. It is not by chance that pages with more members are those of the most watched programmes of Where’s Everybody, such as
Xarabank and Bondiplus.
In addition, the fact that fans and participants have created two unofficial pages about two of the renowned programmes of Where’s Everybody puts the company in an inside track. On the one hand, it is an evidence that these shows are constantly watched and well appreciated by the public. On the other hand, thanks to these applications the
9
95 management can observe which are the feelings of the users about the transmissions and see if there can be done some improvements, or get in contact with them in a more informal and friendly way.
Secondly, the possible action of starting discussions. Members can talk about relevant topics regarding the various shows. Discussions on Xarabank and Bondiplus pages can be considered as starting points to involve users in creating the programmes themselves, proposing topics or ideas that could be handled in the following episodes.
Figure 27. Xarabank page on Facebook
Particularly, Lou Bondi himself often takes part in discussion about Bondiplus potential subjects, as he affirms on the Facebook page: “The Bondiplus group is for real people who have something real to say to other real people. If this is your approach to discussion, I am very interested in your views, questions and, of course, criticism of
Bondiplus”10.
Thirdly, posts on the board. Every week, on each page, members can find the synopsis of the upcoming shows. On Deal or No Deal board, the staff invite people to 10 < http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=11100569764&ref=ts> Join a group Start a discussion
96 book a seat in the studio as viewers or to attend an audition to apply as contestants. In this manner administrators offer users helpful and complete information and remind them the most important events. It is surely an inventive way to promote its products.
Figure 28. Bondiplus page on Facebook
Figure 29. Deal or No Deal official page on Facebook11
11 <
http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=35350316711&ref=ts>
Posts on the board
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Furthermore, Xarabank and Hadd Ghalik pages work as a kind of newsletter, as members receive weekly on their private messages box the latest news and matters relating the shows, both in English and Maltese. In this way Hadd Ghalik teams try to compensate the fact that the programme does not have an own Internet site.
Other than these services, in order to attain customers retention administrators upload frequently photos and videos about the outstanding moments of the shows on all the Facebook pages. Sharing these type of audiovisual contents, if interesting and appropriate, is useful behavior to catch users’ attention and to involve them to participate in the activities I mentioned above.
Figure 30. Hadd Ghalik page on Facebook
98 As for the other multimedia devices, the documentary X’Qala l-Bahar page is the less considered and enhanced also on Facebook.
Here are the data of Facebook implementations by Where’s Everybody in the space of almost a year. This information, provided me by the company, is related to the end of December 2009. It shows, starting from the beginning of the year when the company started to carry out this pervasive strategy, the increase and the effectiveness of Facebook usages, to which I have contributed to. Instead, the data about latest posts on boards have been checked by me at the beginning of February 2010.
Figure 32. How WE uses Facebook to advertise its programmes
Members Active discussions Latest post on board Photo albums Videos Xarabank 2705 12 20/01/2010 46 24 Bondiplus 2522 31 21/12/2009 15 2 Deal or No Deal 576 - 01/02/2010 45 3 Hadd Ghalik 2253 - 31/01/2010 30 17 X’Qala l-Bahar 187 - 11/06/2009 3 5
Active discussions means that they are updated by members more than once a week. Thus, from these data about the number of functions applied in a year it can be inferred that Facebook is used in a spreading way in order to reach all kinds of audiences. Members’ affiliation reflect which are the most watched programmes on TV, with the exception of Deal or No Deal, but this may be due to the fact that it has also an unofficial page.
Besides, the number of active discussions is related to current affairs programmes,
Xarabank and Bondiplus, in which arguing about a topical issue is more relevant than in
variety shows. On the contrary, the number of photos is bigger in those of entertainment.
Below there is a graph that shows the trend of groups during 2009.
Figure 33
4.2.2 YouTube
YouTube is a video sharing platform on which can upload and share videos. In 2006 it was bought by Google Inc. and is now operated as a subsidiary of Google.
wide range of user-generated contents, including movie clips, TV clips and music videos, as well as keen contents such as video blogging
YouTube have been uploaded by individuals, although media production houses including Where’s Everybody, offer some of its materials in
can watch the videos, while registered users are permitted to upload an unlimited
number of videos12.
Therefore, it is aimed at a wide segment of customers, that every kind of walk of life. Moreover,
necessity to invest at its’ cost in placing advertisements in such a manner that these forms of promotion are not n 12 < http://www.youtube.com/t/community_guidelines 2705 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 Xarabank In c r e a s e o f m e m b e r s i n 2 0 0 9
Below there is a graph that shows the trend of Facebook joining to Where’s Everybody
33. Facebook members of WE’s group in 2009
YouTube is a video sharing platform on which can upload and share videos. In 2006 it was bought by Google Inc. and is now operated as a subsidiary of Google.
generated contents, including movie clips, TV clips and music videos, as well as keen contents such as video blogging. Most of the contents on been uploaded by individuals, although media production houses including Where’s Everybody, offer some of its materials in the site. Unregistered users
, while registered users are permitted to upload an unlimited
Therefore, it is aimed at a wide segment of customers, that is all Internet users of every kind of walk of life. Moreover, as well as Facebook, YouTube does not have any
its’ cost in placing advertisements, because it has become in such a manner that these forms of promotion are not necessary. They
http://www.youtube.com/t/community_guidelines> 2522
576
2253
Bondiplus Deal or No Deal Hadd Ghalik
99 Facebook joining to Where’s Everybody
YouTube is a video sharing platform on which can upload and share videos. In 2006 it was bought by Google Inc. and is now operated as a subsidiary of Google. It display a generated contents, including movie clips, TV clips and music t of the contents on been uploaded by individuals, although media production houses,
Unregistered users , while registered users are permitted to upload an unlimited
is all Internet users of YouTube does not have any , because it has become famous They two social
187
100 networks also work in conjunction, as videos on YouTube can be easily linked to Facebook profiles.
On these pervasiveness dynamics rests a viral marketing strategy: the more the platform is popular, the more users upload contents to get known. This turns out to be a decisive advantage for Where’s Everybody, which can exploit YouTube potentialities on no account.
Where’s Everybody exploits some services offered by YouTube, such as the internal search engine and the creation of channels.
In the first place, the search engine allow to look up for the key words of interest. In this way the user is in condition to navigate nimbly in the site, maybe after have received suggests from other websites or platforms.
In the second place, creating a video channel is the most used function, as it is a virtual space where users can communicate among them. Registered users can enter personal information in a profile, while other users can watch public contents as videos, favorites, comments, friends, statistics on the owner (that is a YouTube member itself) and so on. A channel is a mean, for a registered user, for receiving communication such as messages and comments, for adding friends and sharing videos with other customers. Here there is an example of a Where’s Everybody channel on YouTube.
Figure 34. Xarabank YouTube channel13
13 < www.youtube.com/user/xarabankonline> Upload videos Internal search engine Choices for selection
101 The use of this service has certainly the aim of achieving users retention, that in this way are motivated to participate in generating video contents and to visit the pages to control new updates. If a channel is frequently updated with good quality videos, then users are also less motivated to visit competitors’ pages.
Uploaded videos can be displayed on the right side bar as grouped by date, most clicked or most viewed, as it can be noticed also from the pictures above and below.
Figure 35. Bondiplus YouTube channel14
Figure 36. DOND YouTube channel15
14 <
102 Thus, creating a YouTube channel is an effective promotional strategy to obtain more visibility, that turns in more site visits. The channel has several vantages, such as the possibility to organize videos and sort them by date or votes. Furthermore, the company can create a personal profile that can be linked to the URL of the website, as Where’s Everybody does for all its YouTube channels. It is also important to select the appropriate category for collecting the video and choose the suitable tags for label them. In this case, it is not a difficult thing to do as WE’s programmes have singular names that any others have.
The interaction tools at disposal are the same for every channel, aimed at activating and encouraging contents sharing. Promos of next episodes, outstanding highlights and inherent comments can be added and rated by both registered users and channel’s owner. In particular, every week WE’s staff uploads a promo for each TV programmes that is different from the commercial one.
Figure 37. Hadd Ghalik YouTube channel16
The only TV programme that does not have an own official YouTube channel is X’Qala
l-Bahar, as I observed also in the second chapter. Despite that, there is an unofficial
channel managed by fans and experts that have taken part in the documentary. 15
<www.youtube.com/user/dealornodealmalta>
16
103 Whatever, this is a sign that users are favorable disposed towards sharing ideas and experiences about this programme as a community, but unfortunately the management has not realized the potentiality of this programme yet.
Figure 38. X’Qala l-Bahar YouTube channel17
In conclusion, here is a summarizing table where are displayed the data about WE’s YouTube channels. They count the number of views, subscribers and video posts of each of the shows. They are of public knowledge and they are findable on YouTube related pages. They are referred to January 2010. YouTube channels were already online when I started my job experience.
I decided to leave out X’Qala l-Bahar channel because it is not managed by the company, so it cannot be regarded as a direct marketing tool.
17 <
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Figure 39. Data about YouTube channels usage from WE
Xarabank Bondiplus Deal or No Deal Hadd Ghalik
Channel views 23986 2501 542 1603 Contents views 903104 51702 1065 16293 Subscribers 292 35 12 12 Uploaded videos 392 57 21 47
Concluding, from these data it is possible to gather that the strategy of attaining customers retention through special video clips is implemented on each TV programme site. The two on which the company insists more on are the leading shows of Where’s Everybody, namely Xarabank and Bondiplus. Therefore, the focus on the relationship among users is of greater importance with regard to the most viewed programmes, while the others are less considered. Unexpectedly, the Sunday programme Hadd
Ghalik ranks on the third position according to views of contents. I supposed this is due
to the fact that in the show there are various fun games, so there can be several amusing highlights to be posted on YouTube.
4.2.3 Hi5
This is a social networking website, quite similar but as much different from Facebook. It was launched in 2003 and according to Alexa, a subsidiary of Amazon.com that is known from analyzing web traffic through collecting data from toolbars, in 2009 Hi5
ranked 51st in the social networks of the world18. Although created in the United States,
it is more popular in other countries, particularly in Latin America, and it seems also to be appreciated by Maltese users.
In Hi5, users can create an online profile in order to show information such as interests, age and hometown and upload pictures where users can post comments. Hi5
105 also allows the user to create personal photo albums and set up a music player in the profile. Users can also send friend requests via e-mail to other users. When a person receives a friend request, he may accept or decline it, or block the user altogether. If the user accepts another user as a friend, the two will be connected directly. The user will then appear on the person's friend list and vice-versa.
Some users opt to make their profiles available for everyone on Hi5 to view, that is the strategy of Where’s Everybody. In addition, it is possible to distinguish between personal profile and discussion group pages. WE uses this social network for creating discussion groups about Xarabank, Hadd Ghalik and X’Qala l-Bahar and a personal profile only for Xarabank. There is also the possibility to add video clips, but only on the personal profile and this can be done only by the profile creator, not by related friends.
Instead Bondiplus, one of the most relevant programme produced by WE, does not fall within this promotional strategy because it sticks to its image of show more designed for the middle-upper class than Xarabank and Hadd Ghalik, for people interested in issues of a certain account. Where’s Everybody management prefers to place its promotional strategy on social networks of higher profile, as Facebook and YouTube.
Figure 40. Xarabank group19 on Hi5
19 <
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Figure 41. Xarabank profile20 on Hi5
Thus, retention tools are the same of Facebook: possibilities of share photos and videos, discuss about topics, add comments and have friends in common. Friends are added by users in order to get known and popular, while comments and posts can be of service to contribute to animate programmes’ discussions.
Figure 42. Hadd Ghalik21 discussion group on Hi5
20
<http://www.hi5.com/friend/p266742668--xarabank_malta--html> 21 <
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Figure 43. X’Qala l-Bahar22 discussion group on Hi5
Considering only relevant posts, below there is a summarizing table that shows the data about Hi5 usage about Xarabank, Hadd Ghalik and X’Qala l-Bahar discussion groups. They include number of members, discussion topics and latest posts. They are for the general public and they refer to January 2010.
Figure 44. Data about Hi5 usages from WE
Xarabank Hadd Ghalik X’Qala l-Bahar
Members 598 665 107
Discussion topics 34 72 6
Latest post 19/01/2010 26/01/2010 02/01/2010
Generally, it can be observed that the most interactive among all is Hadd Ghalik discussion page. It has more members and relevant discussion topics compared to
Xarabank, that is one of the most watched TV programme in Malta. This happens
because Hadd Ghalik does not have an own Internet site, so people who want to talk
22
108 about it and share experiences and multimedia contents about this show have to use social network platforms, as Facebook, YouTube and Hi5.
4.2.4 Flickr and MySpace
Despite their substantial differences, in this analysis I decided to put together Flickr and MySpace because they are the less exploited by Where’s Everybody. Flickr is used to promote Hadd Ghalik, while MySpace for Xarabank.
Flickr is an image and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community. In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers to host images that they embed in blogs and social media. It was launched in 2004 and nowadays it is property
of Yahoo!, claiming to host more than four billion images23. WE staff uses a Flickr
account to show users photos of Hadd Ghalik performances. They are mostly pictures regarding the funny matches. Registered users can comment and share photos, but unluckily this site is not much monitored, so photos and posts are not very recent. Last updates go back to end of 2008. Consequently, WE usage of Flickr cannot be considered as a convincing web marketing tool.
Figure 45. Hadd Ghalik on Flickr24
23
<http://blog.flickr.net/en/2009/10/12/4000000000/>
24
109 Instead, MySpace is a social network service. It was launched in 2003 and it is owned by News Corporation. MySpace became the most popular social networking site in the United States in 2006, but it was overtaken internationally by its main competitor
Facebook in 200825. Profiles contain two standard sections: "About Me" and "Who I'd
Like to Meet". They also contain an "Interests" section and a "Details" section. In the "Details" section, "Status" and "Zodiac Sign" fields will always display. There is also a blog with standard fields for content, emotion, and media. MySpace also supports uploading images. Below the User's Friends Space is the "comments" section, where the user's friends may leave comments for all viewers to read. Videos and flash-based content can be included and users also have the option to add music to their profile pages.
Likewise Flickr, MySpace is not used by WE in an appropriate manner to promote
Xarabank and to share multimedia devices, as the page is not brought up to date and
there are only few photos and videos. However, with regard to this transmission the viral marketing strategy has been moved to the main renowned social network sites, that are Facebook and YouTube.
Figure 46. Xarabank on MySpace
25 <
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4.2.5 How to measure social networks membership?
For a company, the main difficulty connected to work on social networking sites is estimating a potential value of their employs. At the moment, only approaches and proposals have been elaborated.
According to Di Bari, a probable approach is that of building a complex indicator for measuring the intensity and the economic value of member’s affiliation to a social network. The membership function tells about how deeply a member can be conceived as part of a social network. This function is made up of quantitative indicator, as frequency and duration of visits; value and active participation level in the transactions; place and moment of the daytime during which the member is connected. The more intense will be the membership function, the higher will be the probability of estimating value. Social networks models characterized by high affiliation and sense of collaborations are usually those free to use, such as those I have examined above.
In conclusion, from the companies point of view, these tools are a crucial source of efficiency and costs reduction, as they are an comprehensive and participative force, source of cooperative richness.
4.2.6 Competitors’ applications of social networks
Even Where’s Everybody competitors use social networking sites to enforce web marketing strategies, but evidently in a little manner. This allows Where’s Everybody to derive benefits and consent about its joined efforts on working on promoting all TV programmes via social network platforms. Hence, the Maltese company is ahead of the fame compared to other production houses.
Firstly, with regard to NET TV, I did not find any social network site concerning WE’s contenders, as delineated in the second chapter, except for Kontra l-Hin, that is
Deal or No Deal main competitor. This programme has a fan page on Facebook26 which counts more members than Deal or No Deal group (2005 instead of 576), but it displays less photos and videos, so, differently from Deal or No Deal, multimedia modalities of interaction are not promoted.
26 <
111
Figure 47. Kontra l-Hin (DOND competitor) page on Facebook
Secondly, One TV operates on two sides: Facebook and YouTube. Regarding the former, One TV Productions has created the fan pages of X’Hadd Maghna, the main competitor of Hadd Ghalik, and of L-Evangelisti, a direct contender of Bondiplus.
X’Hadd Maghna fan page27 has more friends than Hadd Ghalik one (420 instead of
404), but not so much.
As a matter of fact, Hadd Ghalik has also a discussion group on Facebook, which counts more than 2000 members, that is more than five times those of X’Hadd Maghna. All to the good of Hadd Ghalik, in addition there is the fact that the competitor’s page shows only a photo album, while the former has nine photo albums in the discussion page and there are also some video clips available.
27
112
Figure 48. X’Hadd Maghna (Hadd Ghalik competitor) page on Facebook
Lastly, One’s production L-Evangelisti, direct contender of Bondiplus, other than handle an own mini site, has a Facebook page. It is organized in a comprehensive and complete way: it is updated frequently, with more than 4000 “fans”, compared to 2522 of Bondiplus, but differently from that page it has only three photo albums and no video. Thus, even in this case the employ of audiovisual aids is not properly implemented.
113 With regard to Youtube, One Productions manages only one channel on this platform, where administrators and members can upload promos and videos about all the One programmes, differently from WE that has an own channel for each show. Competitor’s channel has the same characteristics and tools of those of Where’s Everybody: promos of next episodes, outstanding highlights and comments can be added and rated by both registered users and administrators.
It registers more than two millions of views, due to the fact that in one channel are collected all the videos of all the shows of One Productions. This data cannot be compared with Where’s Everybody channels outcomes, as members registered to each channel are not unique, but they can be also registered contemporaneously to other channels.
Figure 50. One TV channel on Youtube28
28
114 Concluding, it can be affirmed that Where’s Everybody operates and proceeds in a more exhaustive way in the social networks usage setting, meant as a web marketing strategy, compared to its competitors. The company has the right skills to manage a promotion strategy on these platforms, as it is able to cover, even if in substantially different ways, all of its five TV shows.
