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E-business Marketing Plan of Oxygen and iVillage. com Introduction The Internet has become increasingly popular. The number of Internet users is estimated to reach approximately 300 million by the end of 2002. (http: // web) With widespread acceptance and low-cost entrance, it is changing the world's economy. Developing business opportunities in the Internet has grown considerably. "The impact of the Internet on business is akin to previous innovations that transformed not only one business sector but every business sector. " (Jaworski and Report, 2001) These significant changes in the environment require new approaches to think about business strategies. The Internet greatly impacts on the media industry in recent years.
In the wake of Internet environment, traditional media are going through a shakedown. The Internet can combine all the functions of traditional media such as newspaper, magazine, radio and television, as well as offer new functions of e-commerce, distribution and interactivity. "There are strong grounds for believing that contemporary media are undergoing particularly dramatic technologically driven change, ... This will be an era characterized by media interactivity, accessibility and diversity, with new freedoms for the customer. " (Briggs and Cable, 1998) The rules of competition have changed in the new economy. Therefore, it is necessary to explore the business strategies of media companies on the Internet. In this essay, iVillage. com and Oxygen.
com are chosen to analyze their e-strategies from a customer's point of view. Backgrounds of iVillage and Oxygen iVillage Inc. , established in 1995, is recognized as a leading women media company and the number one source for women's information online. iVillage. com is organized into branded communities across multiple topics of high importance to women and offers interactive services, peer support, content and online access to experts and tailored shopping opportunities.
Content areas include Astrology, Babies, Beauty, Diet & Fitness, Entertainment, Food, Health, Home & Garden, Lamaze, Money, Parenting, Pets, Pregnancy, Relationships, Shopping, and Work. (http: // web) Oxygen Media is an integrated media brand that combines the best qualities of cable television and the Internet to serve women. Founded in 1998 by Geraldine Laybourne, Marcy Case, Tom Werner, Caryn Mandabach and Oprah Winfrey, Oxygen consists of web sites including oxygen. com and Oprah. com, and a 24 -hour cable network, available in 42 million homes, featuring music, talk, comedy, movies and sports. (http: // web) Target market: Women Both iVillage. com and Oxygen. com focus on a specific niche market - women aged 25 to 49.
According to the Women's Consumer Network, women control 85 percent of all personal and household goods spending. Women also consume more media than men per day (8. 8 hours versus 8. 2 hours), and they currently account for 43 percent of Internet and online service users. As Jewish businessmen conclude: do business in children and women's market. Furthermore, according to an iVillage Women's Net Monitor poll taken in February 1998, the Internet is no longer a place to gather information passively. In fact, women are using it to solve problems in real life. 77 percent of women go online primarily to explore, but 86 percent stay because they find information that helps them get through their daily lives.
In addition, more women rated the online community as an important part of their life. The Internet is going to be the mode of discourse for the 21 st century... If women stay with the telephone, which is too costly, and letter writing, which is too slow, we will be left behind and we will be left out of the discussion, decisions and conversations. (Tucker, 1995) Thus, we can understand why women's websites have grown and flourished. iVillage and Oxygen Media have attempted to occupy this powerful niche market.
Each company develops a special strategy to attract more consumers. Internet business model The Internet business model is the system - components, linkages, and associated dynamics - that takes advantage of the properties of the Internet to make money. (Afuah and Tucci, 2001) A company's business model gives it a competitive advantage and enables the company to make more money than its competitors. Business model indicates what value a company offer to its customers and what strategy to choose in providing the value. iVillage makes most profits by selling banners, text-links and sponsorships from other business. This business is known as the "volume-based" model because volume is a vital factor to attracting advertising clients.
However, more and more websites are competing for the advertising business, advertisers are unwilling to post ads on pages that are full of other ads. According to Jupiter Communications, Internet advertising is expected to approximately 1 percent of the total advertising spending in US. In order to survive in the fierce competition iVillage ventures e-commerce business model. Thus, this combined business model offers iVillage greater competitive advantage as well as provides more value to the customer.
Oxygen media combines the television and the Internet to create interactive websites. It plans to raise money through charging operators license fees and by attracting advertisers. Oxygen's business model is unique and innovative. "The combination of Oxygen online and Oxygen cable is a futuristic and visionary approach that will shape the future of the new media industry. " (http: // web) Each business model is the basis of company's strategy. A simple definition of strategy is "How to beat the competition. " (Ries and Trout, 1986) iVillage and Oxygen are competitors in terms of same target market and on-line service. The more value they provide to the customer, the more attractive their websites are.
Thus, the company who owns a large number of customers would have greater competitive advantage. Evaluation of competitive strategy Web site as a Brand For the Internet business web site is the most important brand because the web site is what everyone can remember and access with a simple browser. "From there on you need to guide your customers to the particular places they are allowed to go and to carry out the transactions they require. " (Amor, 2000) Web site is the basic marketing message on the Internet. It is an important feature of the Internet business because the brand can grow customer loyalty on web. Name value iVillage.
com has an implication of women society. Today's women have much pressure than before. They play more roles such as mother, wife, daughter and employee. Moreover, women's sensitive and dependent character enable them willing to share experience each other. iVillage comes from my village.
When women see this sweet name she would imagine that place is leisured and comfortable. This name would attract women's attention. As iVillage describe "a global neighborhood engages women a safe, supportive environment. " In fact, iVillage evolved into an online community where members exchange advice and develop relationships. In this respect, iVillage has learned most women's psychology and established the good reputation among women Internet users. While Oxygen. com is a little strange name compared with iVillage.
Oxygen has an implication of life. "The brand brings to mind certain attributes and says something about the product's values. " (Kotler, 2000) Oxygen. com represents the revolution of the media company on the Internet because the name is so unique. Oxygen media has infiltrated its innovative spirits into the name. It stimulates people's curiosity and tempts them to surf on its web. However, traditional women may not interest in this name or accepted it after a long time.
According to the intuition of women iVillage is quiet, safe and peaceful, while oxygen if full of adventure and exciting. Therefore, most women would prefer iVillage to Oxygen in terms of name value. Web design The design of web site is very important; as it is the first thing the customers are going to see. Both companies' main business purpose is to attract and maintain women customers. "Web page is from a marketing point of view like the business card of your company. " (Amor, 2000) Attractive design of web page would definitely interest customer. The differences in web sign between iVillage and Oxygen will be explored from two aspects: one is the color schema, and the other is content. Color has certain effect on the users.
Color should support the message of the web page. Opening the web of iVillage, its color schema is light green, yellow or orchid that is the color of tranquil, intuitive and trustworthy. However, the colors chosen by Oxygen web page are red and black. Red is a very aggressive color, full of energy, determination and passion. Black is mysterious. Generally, the color schema to some extent indicates the style of the Internet business.
IVillage is a comfort community where you can entertain, release and communicate. While Oxygen is an exciting place where you may experience interesting and modern life. However, the color schema of Oxygen may offend some customers who want to enjoy easeful life on the Internet. After all the red and black have the imagination of heavy topic. In this case, iVillage provides more value to the customer than Oxygen.
The most important thing on the web page is content. It is impossible to attract customer to return to look for new information if you let users leave the web page without giving them information. Entering the web sites of iVillage and Oxygen, you may find that iVillage compromises a large amount of information than Oxygen. Firstly, iVillage uses changeable picture that gives the customer a vivid impression. Secondly, iVillage has more items channel than Oxygen. This provides the customer more choice.
Thirdly, the pop-up of Oxygen is too many compare with iVillage. Pop-up provides information to the customer, but sometimes the customer, who is not interested in this kind of advertising, may feed up this service. Finally, iVillage has established good feedback systems than Oxygen. For example, I registered on both iVillage and Oxygen. I received a confirm e-mail from iVillage, which contain a lot of information about the company.
While until today, I did not receive any feedback from Oxygen. Differentiation strategy "A firm differentiates itself from its competitors if it can be unique at something that is valuable to buyers. " (Porter, 1985) A successful differentiator finds ways of creating value for buyer. For the Internet media company, it creates value by raising customer performance, which "involves raising their level of satisfaction or meeting their needs" (Porter, 1985) In order to cope with fierce competition, both iVillage and Oxygen develop the differentiation strategy. IVillage. com iVillage. com is the world's largest online business for women.
Candice Carpenter, CEO of iVillage, summed up the goal of iVillage's offerings: "We strive to help women navigate through increasingly busy lives and maximize their potential in their various roles as parents, friends, spouses, partners, career women, breadwinners, employees, and individual. " Its differentiate strategy can be evaluated on three points. Firstly, iVillage provides women with comprehensive information on the Internet. IVillage's current channels and sites include Better Health, Career, Relationships, Food, Parents Place, Shopping, Fitness & Beauty, Work From Home, Travel, Pets, Astrology. net, Book Club, and Money Life.
Each channel also includes many specific topics...
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