INTERNET PRIVACY: WHAT IS THIS UNKNOWN?

Many would think that the concept of privacy on the Internet is considered to be exceeded. Recent studies* show that consumers-including young-pay close attention to their privacy on the net: 82% of young people is particularly worried that their data be used without their know, 75% that their identity be rebuilt using information taken from different sources and 69% that their behaviors are distorted.  Innovative technologies offer the possibility of private sector operators to profile consumers by collecting and using personal data: this leads to an invasion of their privacy, often without even knowing or have given their approval.

Data in my opinion are the gasoline of Internet and the new currency of the digital world.

A lot Directive over the world constitute the protection of personal data and the right to privacy such as fundamental rights, then it strengthens the protection. Furthermore, not be underestimated the role that the traditional legislation (the unfair commercial practices directive and the unfair contract terms) can serve to protect the privacy of consumers. It is known, for example, that many privacy policy do not respect basic requirements on transparency: most consumers (and I am part of this list) does not read often privacy list conditions in contracts because of their length, complexity of writing and consequent difficulty reading. This involves the unconsciousness of their rights by consumers at the time of signature of the contracts.

The fact that consumers do not exercise their rights does not mean that they did not care about their privacy. While it is important to consider the fact that there are many methods of monitoring the process of collection of personal data, on the other hand there are many cases of violations in this area which are not sanctioned.

All the recommendations that U.S. Federal Trade Commission made in his last preliminary report** are extremely useful to protect consumer privacy respecting today’s online environment.  

But in my opinion the best way to increase consumer protection shall therefore ensure that they can exercise their rights with ease and at all levels. Information campaigns concerning the protection of your personal should be organized by consumer associations and national authorities. However, if it is true that information and education increase management aware of their privacy is also true that they should not dump all the responsibility on the shoulders of the consumer:

• It should improve communication mode online privacy by companies
• It should introduce privacy so standard in design of computer programs, so as to facilitate the process of notification and verification by the supervisory authorities
• All stakeholders should have a shared responsibility in ensuring that the data in circulation have been collected and used in security and have rules for their management, not only in the field of electronic communication.
• Consumers should be compensated for any damage they have suffered by reason of any failure on the use of personal data or unauthorized use.
• Finally, it is desirable to introduce new rights specific to the digital world for improved consumer protection: the right to oblivion and to data portability.

 Have you ever heard news about the “Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act” (COICA)***,  a bill recently introduced in Senate that would require domain registrars, Internet Service Providers and others to block access to the web sites that the US contends contribute to copyright infringement? Or about another important bill call “Protecting Syberspace as a National Assect  Act” ****, proposed by Sen. Joseph Liberman?

Or, referring to the rest of the world, about the filter’s system generated by British Telecommunications named “Clanfeed” ***** that help the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) to compile, maintain and develop a blacklist of internet pages and address banned? Or about Australia currently regulatory regime****** in which the Australian Communications and Media Authority has the power to enforce content restrictions on Internet content hosted within Australia, and maintain a black-list of overseas websites which is then provided for use in filtering software?

Anyone who thinks that the era of privacy is now outdated, you've probably heard talk about privacy online still for a long long time.

Lorenzo

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SOURCES:

* http://www.altroconsumo.it/20100127/internet-e-neutralita-della-rete-Attach_s265803.pdf

** http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2010/12/privacyreport.shtm  

*** http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s111-3804

**** http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2010/06/20/lieberman-dismisses-concerns-over-internet-bill

***** http://www.bt.com/

****** https://www.cebit.com.au/news/government/conroy-announces-mandatory-isp-filtering

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WHO WANT TO COME WITH ME NEXT MONDAY TO THAT RESTAURANT....

..... I STILL HAVE FOUR VACANT SEATS”.

YOU ARE INTERESTED, GO TO GROUPON PLEASE AND.....!

Groupon in my personal opinion is one of the biggest success stories of recent times of Internet. With 20 million subscribers in 29 countries of Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia, Groupon has inspired hundreds of clones (Living Social* just to make an example) and despite dozens of initial entries about possible acquisitions by Yahoo and eBay, Groupon has always tried to maintain its independence; ok but now Google is enter in the game, and Google is Google! “Nothing compares to Google”, mention a famous song of Sinead O’Connor.

The acquisition, if true, brings enormous benefits to Google, giving him a wonderful opportunity to merge Groupon with Google Place, its local business directory. On the other hand, under the protective wing of Google, for Groupon will be much easier to dismiss all those competing services.

But what is the business model of Groupon?

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO **

The concept is to purchase things all at once to tick a price reduced. These then are offered to registered users that can order them for a period of 24 hours. When you registered on the website you will choose the city, email notice for the offers in your area, choose your product or service (food, health, beauty, theatre, museum), and buy with your credit card if you find something for you. The purchase will be perfected only when we reached the minimum numbers of users for that particular deal, only then the system will charged on your credit card, and an email will be sent to show you the link where print the coupon. This coupon has usually a validity of 6 months.

Wow, the idea is simple but genial. That’s the reason probably because Google desires to buy all the packet, and because Groupon is almost every everywhere in the world (in Italy, just to make an example where I live, the company has recently buy CITYDEAL***, our leader and previous inventor of the market).

This kind of services born with the vacations, when at the end of the millennium, aggressive tour operators (always on line) organized tours, holidays and trips at cheap costs for people that, maybe alone, was interested to take part of the “adventure”. If the minimum number was reached, the holiday can start, otherwise no charge for you; just the disappointment.

In my opinion service like Groupon is a wonderful way to explore the possibility of internet, make a funny surprise to someone, share some moments with new people that have has the same desire that you, and generate continue advertising within the website, with your contacts and posting news on social network (Facebook**** is an example).

It is safe also to say Groupon, for the retailer, is a powerful way to get customers in their door. Along with other marketing trends such as mobile marketing, and social media retailer don’t have to spend or throw money at advertising hoping something will work that produces even the smallest return on your investment.

Groupon uses collective buying and the power of social media to drive customers by the hundreds or in some cases thousands of new customers overnight retailer’s doors; also because by requiring a minimum number of customers to make the offer active, customers get a great deal and retailers will get an avalanche of new business.

And, as in the fairy-tale, “everybody would live happy and glad”.

But we are not in a fairy-tale, that’s real life.

Thanks,

Lorenzo

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Sources:
* http://livingsocial.com/
** http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xgPtqT0XBY
*** http://www.groupon.it/sites/www.citydeal.it/lp/cinema/index.php?CID=IT_SEM_2_0_0_0
**** http://www.facebook.com/#!/groupon

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The news is floating on the net for several days but still has not been made official. It seems that Google is about to buy the portal online discounts Groupon (link groupon sito). Groupon is a start-up who burned the stages since it was founded in 2008 (its revenues amounted to $ 50 million per month) and is valued 5.3 billion. According to the agreement being signed, the giant Mountain Wiew would be willing to pay more 700 million if results were in line with their expectations, for a total of 6 billion dollars.

Respect the game, respect the rules: online social media is a new powerful game for marketing strategy. But is a winning tool to small business success?

“If you want to play, you get to pay”

Bruce Springsteen, “Raise your hand” – The River, 1980 -

Companies as Constant Contact* have already understood that “Social (media) make it simple” and, proposing herself as expert partner for winning marketing strategy, they include in their never-failing strategy also the area of the online social media as part of the marketing mix to propose.

An example? ** : WE LOVE BOLOCO BURRITOS (click to watch the video)

And they don’t lie because online social media ARE new tools (and for someone even not so new) to insert in a marketing mix plan; yes, exactly as advertising and promotions. Who believe that online social media are not useful channels to make advertising or promotions? Raise your hand if you don’t believe and say thanks that I can’t watch you.

Online social media should be part (almost if your company has a website) of every marketing strategy. Be part doesn’t mean be successful, because as every tools it should be studied, verified, tested and “understood” before invest on it time, money and goals. Online social media are the most fast “interactive” world existing, and consequently it could be a boomerang even fastest if not utilized following their rules. Just to make a simple example, we should never forget that people use social network (any kind of social network) with different purpose, and also these purpose could change over time; consequently a company has to pay a lot of attention how to communicate, and to who communicate avoiding at maximum standardization of message and situation. Online social media is the real new form of

‘Word of Mouth Communication”, and (like happen in the outline way) is the most powerful way of persuasion on the web. In simple, if you have good image or you have act well someone will probably don’t believe on the positive world about you, but if have a bad image or have act bad EVERYBODY will believe on this and sometimes FOREVER; this simple concept is empathized in the online social media environment, where the comments, the criticism and the gossip are very fast, very deep going EVERYWHERE and to EVERYONE. If you are a big company with a strong brand you can sustain the weight of this bad publicity, but if you are small company with a small business this bad publicity could became really dangerous for your affairs, and sometimes when you have undertook the wrong road just make a u turn to the right could be almost impossible.

People tend to heavily rely on negative information about small business, while people tend often to ignore negative information about companies able to establish in the past strong brand image: the arena of the online social media are the best place EVER, in my personal opinion, to generate this situation. This should be an issue for a psychology class/forum, but the fellowship, the confidence, the faith and the harmony that are generating by the online social media are something really scary for how big and solid those things are.

If you have a small business you need to be present in the online social media environment for your correct marketing mix approach, but in the same time you have to understand since the beginning that your risks are bigger. Obviously situations are different depending on the type of business (the risk are different if you produce and sell bubblegum compare to a cruise company for example, and also the strategies to communicate utilizing the social network are different), more the consumers expects from your product/services, more they can talk on the social network, more questions they can ask you, and more consequently, if not satisfied about your product/service, can fells betrayed and so spreads of bad image. However there are small business, are fore example sport association, cultural association, event’s agencies, cinemas, theatres that can optimize at the best the goals of their main activity (for example a sport association could raise the number of the associate or fans) using the online social media. I have created and managed, in my past experience, successfully and without too much pain a social network profile for the sport organization I worked; I have studied for this, nothing “born over the plant”, but the final result has deserved all my previous efforts.

   

Obviously the social network is a total different arena compare to other form of communication, they have their rules, they choose the game and companies have to take care of it. If you are a company, before choosing your social network strategy, you have to understand the rules of the game; no other way. Is like a tennis game, you could be the best one playing on the clay, but if you are playing at Wimbledon and you never played before on grass, you are next to have some really big trouble. And the same happen to the company that, operating in small business, doesn’t understand the rules of the game that the online social media have decided.

Thanks also to my past experience, I think that the world of the online social media is like the sea; but it could be a Mediterranean Sea, quiet and full of fish, as it could suddenly transform in an stormy and full of dangers Ocean if a small business company doesn’t know how to manage the ship. Those are mine suggests for swimming in this sea in the most quite possible way:

1)    Choose the best tool

Social media are not all the same, they differs one from the other. Small business company has to choose the ones that seem more efficient and on line with his strategy.

2)    Find a leader

Even if social media are a new phenomenon, there are in the market some experts than better the other know this subject (and the opening of this blog is a proof of this). Is better to invest time and money in those people, before waste more money and time after trying maybe also to solve a problem.

3)    Follow the flow

A company can’t control all the events that occur inside a social media. Best than try to have control on the social media, a small business company has to be prepared for manage the unforeseen and the exceptions, that should be over time like routine utilizing the social network.

4)    Always be prepared to the stormy

Suddenly, as mentioned before, could happen that a comment, a campaign or an initiative provoke a tide of bad comments and reactions. In the online social media word a company has not to be afraid to make a mistake, but at the same time it has to be prepared to react against every dangerous situation.

5)    Act as a tem

Social media successful strategy is the combination of a team work. Editing, customer care, and selling people have to speak the same language so that the company’s communication could be the most homogeneous and coherent possible.

6)    Take advantage of the quite moment

Always in the business there are quite and shake moment. In the quite moment a company has to invest all the possible energy in his social media campaign, because after we would have no time to study and realize correct strategy.

7)    Be brave

As a ship, companies that never left the port hardly will be able to take the opportunities the sea propose them. The word of the social media can be scared, and even if some other small business company has failed in their social media campaign, remember that however at the end we would pick up more than if we wouldn’t do anything.

Because remember, “If you want to play, you get to pay”

Thanks, Lorenzo

*Source: www.costantcontact.com

**Source: www.youtube.com

 

Neuromarketing

From the fidelity card to the loss of our free will; welcome to our time marketing. Welcome to the Neuromarketing.

“Times they are a changing”, Bob Dylan’s famous song, is absolutely relevant talking about our days marketing’s strategy. In marketing doesn’t exist an absolute answer, everything is so different and unique because born and grew following the different company’s goals and market desires. Everybody of us think to be a “marketer” that judge, analyze and take distance from flop strategy as he could operate better if just wishes; I grew up in a country where soccer is a religion, everybody is the coach of his team, of others teams, of the national team, people judge, often disagree, and could operate better that coaches do. Or however they can operate differently, like in marketing.

Our brain has a “BUY BUTTON”?

Big part of the traditional concepts of “product logic” and “free willy product” (consumer buy a product to satisfy a personal need) seem really to be drive by our primary and deep brain system, following the theory that our conscious activities represent just 10% of our cognitive activities. So our conscious brain does nothing else that shows the actions that come from our unconscious processes. This is training concept of the Neuromarketing, marketing strategy that utilize methods refer to new discovers of Neuroscience to improve the consumer’s purchase. Neuromarketing’s studies measure consumer’s sub-conscience reactions, as brain waves, sweating, hears - eye or skin tracking to understand what the consumer is thinking about a particular motivating force (like a product, a service, or in general something to purchase can be). This is not a joke, and a lot of big multinational company as Coca Cola, Pepsi, Ford, Delta Airlines and Daimler-Chrysler are continuatively using and developing this new strategy. Coca Cola is so sure to be able to work inside the brain of a consumer and to push his “buy button” before Pepsi. A lot of film studio utilizes neuromarketing to verify the trailer’s effect inside the brain of the cine-viewers.

That means that even when I’m watching a movie in a cinema’s room I can be observed and deeply analyzed?

Marketing’s experts will never admit, but their boss probably asked them to find out our brain’s “buy button”, no other possible solutions. They really believe we have one? Or maybe, on the opposite way, they have just found a new (and in those times) fashion way to justify the budget that the boss provide to the marketing’s department; maybe following the motto that in the field refer to neuromarketing  is the science who speaks.

Neuromarketing is a new bridge between business and science, a new era talking about marketing’s strategy. And the traditional market’s surveys about impressions, or intentions, of the consumers? The present (part of….) and the “next future” will be based more on the study of spontaneous and unconscious reactions that our brain will have for particular products or services. This because the biggest part of our brain is still not known….

Always more researches, academic books, articles and video are very cautious and worried about the utilization of the neuromarketing as useful marketing strategy.  

But the times are going to change soon and neuromarketing ‘s strategies are going to loss importance in the next years, otherwise:

-          We have to believe that we will not have spontaneous decisions in our future?

-          We have really to believe that, in the future, decisions would not be made from our free willy, but will born from a series of chemical’s cause outside of our control?

-          The era of the fidelity cards is definitively died?

And if our free willy, at the end, could results no more than just a sum of chemical’s causes?

If Hollywood should be interested, a script could be almost done…