PROS & CONS OF EACH ONLINE MARKETING STRATEGY

Pros
Display ads - Instant
- Closest equivalent to booth or street fair.
(Can use animation)

Algorithmic Search
Sponsored
search
Social
media

Interactive
content

Online
distributors
A/B
Testing

Easily accessible
SEO possibilities
Budgetary Cost control can set budget
and limit how much you spend on a daily
basis
Targeting can control who is seeing
your ads making every dollar you spend
is accounted.
Easy access, daily usage
Large user, prospect consumers are high
Low cost, mostly free advertising
(testimonials,
Wallet selection guide to educate
consumers on wallet selection
Contests (high entertainment value,
increase visitor engagement)
Themes (Save the cows)
No additional hiring needed for
fulfillment expenses
Establish strong online retail platforms
Brand positioning
Get clear evidence
Test new ideas
Optimize one step at a time

Cons
- Distracting or annoying
- Users used to ignore display ads
- Google DoubleClick report 0.1%
only
- Doesnt comply with mobile devices
- Low click through rates + pay-perimpression pricing = risky
- No guarantee the site will appear in
response to particular search
- Slow search
- Complex management of campaigns
- Required keyword bidding strategy
and rates of conversion increased
competition in getting keywords
increased cost
-

Too much fake information

Time and cost consuming

Requires big banners

Need to pay commission

More competition
Less loyalty or trust

Instinctual choices
Consumes time and resources
Only works for specific goals

ONLINE VS OFFLINE MARKETING

Category
Similarity

Online Marketing
Offline Marketing
- Just-in-time delivery with integration of both online and offline activities
- Product demonstration available for both approaches
- Priority on brand development
Cost
Cheaper
Costly
Focus
Mass audience (Above The Line)
Limited audience (Below The Line)
Time
Fast
Time consuming
Positioning
7 listed in the case (prioritized) Printed materials, booths, retailers and
worldwide
wholesalers
Accessibility Internet connections (easy)
Tangible platforms (difficult)
Benefits
Convenient, cost effective, low manpower Product ready (creates brand loyalty)
Challenges
Abundance of tools, lack of knowledge in
High capital causing lower profit margins
optimizing each tool.
Customer
Manageable since many channels cater
Difficult since 1 to 1 intervention, requires
Care
more customers
time, cost, and locations

ONLINE MARKETING AT BIG SKINNY

Who
What

Kiril Alexandrov, CEO at Big Skinny.

Catherine Alexandrov, Marketing Director & Wife of CEO
Big Skinny Wallet- Design to overcome five major wallet problems:
o Size, Weight, Card pocket size, Slippery interior & lack of versatility.
o Made of fully nylon microfiber- tough and durable - Also offers leather
exterior with nylon microfiber interior.
o Product price is $20

Reaching consumers over internet Online Marketing Big Skinny

o Which medium best suit Big Skinny after the event of glitch which causes
Why
Big Skinny wallets were originally design by the CEO as he hates to sit on thick wallet
How
Produced after 2 year with dozens of designs trials and material combination to
produce this perfect product.
Where & When NA
STRENGTH
WEAKNESS
NO specific target market.
Product solve 5 main problems with wallet
Weak Online marketing strategy
(Exhibit 1)
1985, Porter competitive advantage strategy.
o Size & material
Differentiation
Overall cost
o Weight - Design
leadership
Slim thin wallet
o Price
although with 16
$20 for a lifelong
o Healthier
cards
investment on
Joyful and satisfied customer testimonial via
health and posture
video recording
Offline market promotion fairs, festival, retail
Focus Differentiation Cost Focus
stores and wholesale tradeshow
Using microfiber
Only $20
Sales Pitch Regular compared to big skinny
material rather
wallet with same 16 cards for only $20.
than leather
Beyond in-person sales advertising
billboards-postcards at restaurants adv. in car,
motor and fashion magazine
Negative reputation due to glitch
Strong Management
Pricing Power
Innovative Culture
Success in trade fairs
Unique products
THREAT
OPPORTUNITY

Intense Competition
Solely relied on offline market.
Social media and internet threat
Phishing, Fake web site, Link manipulation,
Spoofed website
Solution
Protecting personal privacy
using secured outsourced phishing-proof
services (CIMB Bank) using trade association
and online trust seals such as VeriSign
Recommended privacy setting, access lvl,
antivirus

4000 wallets ordered through online store,

o consumers are ready to buy wallets online
Potential customers could easily see differences
in thickness Straight forward sales
www.bigskinny.net website created to propel
online direct sales
Innovative market Online & New Markets

ISSUES / PROBLEM STATEMENTS / CASE STUDY QUESTIONS

Reaching consumers over internet Online Marketing of Big Skinny
Online marketing services offered to help but impose high cost
1. Due to a glitch in an online promotion, Big Skinny given 4000 wallets for free via their online channel
2. How should Big Skinny convince site visitors to buy Big Skinny ?
a. Convert Awareness & Interest into Consideration & Intention
b. Strong brand image Content of site or adv to attract to landing page photo, promotion of the day, offer of
the hour, Videos( Social buzz, hype, referral rebate (CRM), photo& video with artist & celebrities with

ONLINE MARKETING

Display ads = catching/distracting users on websites via banner adv.

i. Strength
stuffed wallets b4 & a4 switch thin and lightweight
Video of comparison of normal wallet to big skinny wallet
Rich colorful Graphical advertisements of big skinny wallet compared to normal
wallet with 17 cards
Effectiveness of Ad-Network target Direct Purchase on small scale
ii. Threat
Internet users have largely ignore display ads (Statistics of 0.1% success) low
click-through rates+ pay-per-impression = Apprhension. RISKY
iii. Weakness
Display ads sold on per-impression. Need to pay whether users interested/clicked
or not.
Need to choose where the ads would appear, specific or group sites. Ad-networks
or ad-exchange strategy
Algorithmic Search=search engine most preferred result due to algorithm and rank sys
How it works(google,yahoo,bing,baidu)
o Product feed with relevant keywords and tags mentioned frequently with relation to
location and product search & feeds
o Increase Search probability SEO focus targeting of image, geographic, video or
academic
Create additional sites to link to primary site
Repeat most important keywords in small font at bottom of every page.
Use relevant keywords for all filename
Use heading tags within each page
Strength/Advantage
o Algorithmic results based on high ranking search results most relevant to users
query frequency and location of keyword search
o Site submit systems submit new content to search engine database, alerts of
existence of new site.
Weakness/Disadvantage
o No guarantee that the site would appear in response to particular searches
o Based on select and rank system which takes time to grow
Solution
o Start with Google(88% market share) create & test algorithm used (panda 2011penguin 2012- hummingbird2013)
Sponsored Search = place listing within search result
How it works
o Based on specified key words by advertisers

o Search engine present the corresponding advertisement(two keyword-matching)

Exact-match = results exact match of a query on the precise keyword
Broad match=results a wide range multi-word query
o Ads were sold on per-click basis.
o Search engine sorted ads to prioritize ads with the highest bids and the highest
click-through rates(Strength & Threat)
Solution:
o 24 keyword search 1014 clicks with 66 sales
o Use analytical softwares such as Google Trends to identigy hypothesis
experiment and conduct cost benefit analysis

Social Media=crowd sourcing platform (facebook, twitter, myspace, dig, flickr,)

How Big Skinny used social media platform
o Maintained a FB page and Twitter feed to update its latest promotions
o Posted videos of satisfied customer testimonial (create brand fandom advocacy to
the brand)
o Reward those who actively(>1000) share and comment and talk about the videos
Weakness
o Video and blog post will only reach to customer if they visit the website
o Takes time to grow a fan base
Solution
o Plan & choose specific platform rather than all platforms.
o Learn about the customers target group geographic, demographic, psychographic,
behavior or product related
o Video maps, Calendar event, Mobile apps, Chat rebate of referral.
Strength:
o Solution to weakness: used AddThis applet to share this videos via social media
platform to reach to the mass market
o Shared information on product, events and promotion which was done via WOM
(word of mouth) not through sharing in social platform.
o Constant update on social media staff regularly logged into social media
Interactive Content
Interactive wallet selection guide Lifestyle & Asthetic question to recommend to best
suited wallet
Contest wallet haiku promote wallet minimalism for expressing the essence of
wallet in micropoetry
Essay contest save the cows replace leather wallets with thin microfiber models
Online Distributors (Amazon, buy.com, ebay)
Strength / Advantage / Benefit
Take over the challenge of finding customer bcz they run sponsored search adv campaign
for indv products due to existing large user database

Strong brand value creates customer confidence drives huge traffic

Run robust platforms marketplace infrastructure
o Can handle and volume of transaction
o Structured and secured charging to cust and payment to Bigskinny
o Able to manage fulfillments packaging and mailing
Disadvantage/Threat/Weakness/Challenges
o Price varied according to services
o Monthly fee & 7-15% sales commissions on each item sold
o Integrated A/B testing may cannibalize our item if our commission agreement is
not attractive to distributor
o Low conversion rate from visitor to customer due to wide range of options Strong online competitors for the same product type
Solution
o Maximize visual appeal
o Do no solely rely on online distribution
o Ensure price on online distribution is higher than on own website to attract traffic
advertisement lead to buying on own website cheaper tunneling the traffic
concept
o Take a monthly contract with different online distrubutors such as Zappos,
shiptiques rather than just one.

A/B Testing= A marketing technique that showed different advertisements to different

users in order to compare response rates
Implementing A/B Testing Refer to page 171 ( IT Architecture & Infrastructure)
To manage A/B testing refer page 213 (IT portfolio management)
Valuing IT Investment refer Figure 7.10 Valuation methods (Ouput)

Opportunity
Modify Big Skinny site so that different site users would see different material(SEO
consultant suggested)
Variants in text , layout, pricing options, images, content, call to buy actions, sign-up
options, subscrive RSS feeds option, Logo and strapline,
use of trade association and online trust seals such as VeriSign
Challenge
Need new variation and tracking systems the site did not support
Complexity of full-scale A/B testing(even though the system is free) would
require hiring a software engineering consultant of a full time employee
Other Options (3 options)
Affiliate marketing = let any interested sites even blogs send traffic to Big Skinny in
exchange for commissions
Email marketing = in touch with existing customers
Coupon sites (Groupon or LivingSocial) = promote Big Skinny in daily emails to their
members offering large discounts to entice/induce/lure purchase

Next Step Solution to 4000 orders due to system glitch

Cancellation of orders that ended up with zero or near-zero prices(just like Dell or
Amazon)
Looking Ahead Where to focus
New consumer or Existing consumers?
Social and interactive media or WOM(tradeshow and fairs)
Retail portals (Amazon, Ebay,Buy) or own website.
Allignment between Vision, Human Capital, Infrastructure, Process, IT system

3. How should Big Skinny convince those site visitors to buy wallets?
a. Powerful & engaging marketing video
b. Satisfied customer testimonial video who strongly suggest this product with rating
system(star award) when in comparison on other online distribution platforms such as
Amazon or Ebay
c. Highlight the health implication of using thick wallets and use the strength of product
to create awareness converting into interest and intention to purchase.
d. Highlight the only wallet in the world to provide 1 year warranty and money back
guarantee within 30 days if not satisfied.
4. Leather Wallet ??
a. Big skinny does not sell or manufacture leather wallets but does sell a leather like
material wallet
5. What is the Priority for Big Skinny
Lowest priority

Testimonial
Online shop
Channels
A/B testing - costly

Highest Priority

Define target group customer

segmentation
Positioning creative advertising
USP/UAP (unique selling
proposition/unique advertising
proposition)
Online Distributors
Expand partnership
Handle advertising
Prepares and delivers product to c

SOLUTIONS
1. Narrow target market
a. Men & women18-30 still active in social scene
2. Improve traditional media
a. Focus target market print magazines- how wallet blends well with watches or pants or
shirt(new style launch)
b. Character role with celebrities & socialist save the cow - in return for advertisement and
sales via environment friendly product.
c. Door-to-door marketing : department storess and nightclubs to demo products collaborate
with designers (H&M, zara, forever 21)
d. Design a more attractive logo
e. Evolve impulse purchase with attractive customer service
Delivery
Warranty
Material care
Privacy policy RFID block
Exchange and return
Trade in old wallet for certain price.
3. Increase digital engagement & social media presence
a. Brand Engagement :
Content rich website( young, fun, sleekly, sophisticated and classy look)
Gift ideas or customize wallets on request as a respond to signature look.
b. Brand awareness
Lifespan of each product trend analysis using Data Collection Tools
creating buzz youtuberadioworld sensation measuring metric through Data
Analysis softwares which provides model and statictics
c. Assessment & metric:
Review-analyze-expand on display ads & SEO Search (algorithm & sponsored)
Weekly special coupon on website
Trending key phrases : clutch, purse, organizer, best gift for dad
Increase Hastag marketing & sharing incentives
4. Minimal presence on Amazon and buy.com