Interactive and Internet Marketing: of Napster - Case Study Example

Topic: Interactive and Internet Marketing: Napster Case Study Executive Summary One of the biggest brands within the digital music industry is Napster brand, which is a service that is normally subscribed and functions by enabling different fans all over the world to freely have a look at the largest and most miscellaneous online collection of different kinds of music (Arnheim, 2002). All members who have done a subscription normally have unlimited access to any kind of songs from all labels. Subscribers use this site to discover more, be able to share uploaded music and other digital media and also be in a position to acquire new music and other existing old favorites by using the already developed community features, such as the capability to share tracks with friends through email tracks and also having unlimited chances to surf other Napster members' assortments (Arnheim, 2002). Another product that is offered in line with this brand is the Napster Light, which is an integrated version that only allows people to buy different songs and albums. This Napster brand is currently available in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. It is based in Los Angeles which happens to be it’s headquarter but has many sales offices allover other regions of its existence, that is in Frankfurt, New York, and London (Baecker, and Buxton, 2006).. First, the building 0f the Napster Consumer Brand and ensuring that the awareness of the Napster brand identity is increased should be continued and be done effectively. This should involve the use of promotional techniques over the subscription service that is provided for the purpose of encouraging the innovation of new music and its related characters. Currently, the Napster service are being marketed directly to existing consumers and this is being done through an incorporated offline and online marketing program that is normally quite steady with the already presented strong responsiveness and discernment towards the Napster brand and its services. While selling the services to the market the focus is all about the subscription services, which are normally used with a purpose of differentiating the offering of Napster from other services that are being offered by other competitors within the same market. The offline marketing channels that are being used for the purpose of marketing Napster consists of television, radio and also the print advertising means. On the other hand, the online marketing program focuses towards the use of advertising posts on different web sites and also the use of the existing search engines, preferably Google engine. The second recommendation has to do with the innovation of the brand in relation with the new technologies that are being offered with the change in the global market on how people view things and hence changing their preferences. Enough investments are to be directed towards the new services and available new technologies. This is projected to give a profile that will be able to support or be compatible with different platforms from different portable MP3 players, vehicles, mobile phones, and also personal computers (Arnheim, 2002). In relation to this the Napster brand won’t experience more hardship in getting way to acknowledging new technologies and services as there is a large technical team that will probably foresee the effective and efficient realization of this objective. This will probably result to a case where the access to other forms of files will be offered without much hustle and the overall capability of the Napster brand to remain competitive in the market now depends on the company’s intellectual property, the ability to foresee and come up with more innovative ways of seeing the product through the market effectively and efficiently. A third recommendation is about the pursuing and executing the strategic partnerships with other affiliated companies, and for this Napster stated finding its way into entering working and effective strategic partnerships with most of the technology companies such as Microsoft and Intel Corporation. It has also found its way with hardware companies such as iRiver, Dell, Creative, Toshiba and IBM; and also with retailers for the purpose of getting down strenuously and get a clear cut in the market (Baecker, and Buxton, 2006). Therefore, since it appears as if the management has already started working on this, then more effort should be directed towards getting more partners all over the global market. A fourth and final recommendation is to continue in pursuing strategic acquisitions and also a variety of corresponding technologies which are supposed to assist the company to strategically move forwards in developing new services and also initiating new innovations with an aim of serving the market efficiently. Interactive and Internet Marketing: Napster Case Study Introduction Being an internet music file-sharing service, Napster has been able to take the whole world by surprise and storm. This is an attribute to its inventive anti-establishment technology that represents the new era of technology development in this vast moving and changing world. Napster is a popular peer to peer file sharing application which has greatly created a major furry over recent studies into its architectures. Therefore, this paper is made to give a highlight on various digital multimedia characteristics that are basically related to Napster and also make a number of recommendations that could see the services of Napster brand make a clear cut through the vast moving and stiff competitive global market. The following list is a highlight of the digital media characteristics that exists but the one to be discussed in this paper are in bold; Networked Linkage - Vanishing of fixed place Ubiquity Digital Space Binding and Distance Insensitivity Geographical Insensitivity Personalized Prothesis and Telepresence Virtuality, Virtual Community Hypertext Interactivity Convergent Smart Server controlled functions Wired, Wireless, Terrestrial and Satellite-based Digital Characteristic Digital is a characteristic that describes any given system basing everything on alternating data or even events within a stipulated time frame. Napster is considered to be digital in nature as per its service delivery since at its most fundamental level it can be able to distinguish between just two values, which are Zero and One, which represents off and on (Baecker, and Buxton, 2006). Data is digitally encoded and processed through a series of zeros and one to give a meaning to the significant data. Being a digital media it is able to; Can carry out unlimited replication without being spoiled   By use of key-in instructions it can be altered in a way that is believed to less detectable than when using media that is analog Since it keeps data in a form that is machine readable, it is easy to retrieve such data and carryout other functions It normally uses optical surface to store data hence has a proven permanence Characteristic of Space Binding and Distance Insensitivity New media that are incorporated with new technologies normally investigate large distances and in the end they bind them together. Such digital media normally have a long-term storage memory. The encoded data can be kept for quite sometime without being destroyed unless the gadget is tampered with. Geographical Insensitivity Characteristics When exchanging data by the use Napster the distance between a person sending and a person receiving a given music file normally makes little or unnoticeable difference in the time to be taken, significant cost or speed of receiving the given information. This means that information can be exchanged over a long distance in between within a short time frame by use of standard cost. Characteristic of Personalization Personalization is an aspect of customizing a certain digital gadget to give individualized information for each given user. Therefore, new media exist in smart devices and networks that normally work with the key-in instructions and with the use of such digital media the overall idea of mass media is normally confronted as in such kind of environment there are different communication that are normally tailor made for each member of an audience on individual basis. When using Napster a person is supposed to login into his or her account and be able to access certain information or perform certain functions as per the users wish. This means that another person cannot access someone else’s account as it is password protected. Hypertext Characteristics This is a characteristic that focuses on providing significant connection transparently within documents or files being shared, hence being able to create highly diversified routes within a given body of content. Hypertext media are basically referred to as non-linear media, implying that; A person does not need to read contents in a prescribed order Authors, styles and permissible regulations of content are bound to change as a person reads linked contents Responsibility and control over given functions involved is definitely gentle. This is set this way as a person accessing a given account of membership has ownership to the content that is being read or exchanged The existing form and internalized structure can be easily changed, be composed on demand for individuals purposes. The Characteristic of Interactivity The word interactivity comes from the phrase interaction which means the connection and the happening between two or more parties. In this case, over digital media sources, number multi-media tools have been made available for carrying out interaction design and development. Such kinds of tools are easy to use, and normally require little or no skill to perform encoding the given content so that it can be understood by the other person receiving it (Arnheim, 2002). Most of the developed tools provide brilliant help for significant graphics, video, and sound. The only complication that may a rise with this characteristic is when designers or the person using it decides to be more creative concerning interactivity of which one has to use a scripting language for coding. Convergent Characteristic In this characteristic there are some terms that denote the merging of technologies together with the developing industry for amalgamating together with digital features. These terms consist of Merged Modal Capabilities, multimedia, the significant multiple media (Andersen, and Madsen, 2008). A part from this amalgamation feature this characteristic also implies that such components are able to cross with ease between or among different types of sensory forms. Smart Server Controlled Functions Characteristic Smart Server Controlled Functions consists of applications that are designed to make work be easier and more convenient. For instance, one can by a software locally or get subscription locally but the application basically gets updated automatically through the Internet. Within the same application privacy of a person’s confidential or personal information is assured and one is protected from possible frauds that can be generated by numerous electronic interruptions (Andersen, and Madsen, 2008). Facts about Napster and its Effort to Provide Better Services to its Brand Consumers The ability to introduce new consumers through subscription and also being able to do away with the churn has been a force behind the success of Napster service. The consumer software products venture is believed to have a higher margin as compared to the existing online music distribution venture. This is also shown in the case of costs that are experienced when distributing music through online means of which has been determined to be quite high when compared to consumer software venture, which is a former business venture. When involving a content of a third party its cost is high and is a considerable segment of revenues that the company receives from the existing subscribers and other product end users. This is projected to reduce significantly as percentage of revenue as time goes by. Probably, the firm’s revenue is assumed to be in turmoil if the management is unable to keep its existing high level of recognition in the digital music industry as most of the time the firm normally relies on the value of the Napster brand, of which is not a good idea. The company is facing stiff and significant rivalry from different traditional retail music suppliers. This has been accounted from already emerging paid online music services that are normally delivered electronically; just the same way as it is the case of Napster firm and also from free peer-to-peer services. Since technology is rapidly changing on daily basis, it has been found out that also the services for online music distribution have stated shifting and have become new and rapidly evolving. The problem is that such rapid change in services has not been proved to be better and may be profitable, or even just being a viable business form in the effective operation of business. The firm has been relying most of the contents that are made available by the third parties of which is believed to be unavailable to the firm on commercially practical stipulations or even not at all. Digital rights management solutions are supposed to be provided and be accepted by both the person providing the content and the final consumers of the service. Due to inadequate of lack of availability of the know content could drive the business into major complications. The music service’s interoperability with the available consumer’s music playback hardware is determinant for the success of the Napster firm. This means that the business will go down if the playback hardware is tampered with. With the current flow of the business it is assumed that at time the firm may not be that successful in terms of developing and implementing new differentiated products and services that are supposed to satisfy the existing consumer needs. For the business to be quite successful, then what is put down in the strategic marketing relationships is to be well maintained and/ or added. This will enable the firm to gain more fame and improve on its service provision to the consumers. With the increased use of the Internet for communications, product advertising, and also electronic commerce the business will have a positive growth. A change to such factors will reverse the growth of the firm. The company’s online services of music distribution are liable in failing to achieve the set goals and the broad market acceptance if the broadband technologies are not adopted or made available for a wide coverage. In the end this may turn out to have a negative impact on the overall operation of the business. The company’s network is ideally a subject to possible security and significant stability risks and threats that in one way or another there is a possibility of destroying the existing reputation of the firm. This may at the end expose the company to some liability or litigation. Management of the business is considered to be the most crucial thing that the management team is not willing to lose grip of it. If it fails to exercise better skills in managing the expansion of the firm effectively then it is liable of not meeting the set objectives which are supposed to connect them to the main goals of the firm. At the end, the people who will also be affected are the customers as their demand will not be met. The firm will also not be in a position of attracting more customers to use their products, and in turn it will greatly impact negatively on the overall revenue of the firm. Due to the state of venture that the firm is conducting it is bound to be subject to major claims such as the intellectual property infringement claims, which are believed to be quite costly inform of defending and this is believed to turn out and be a limiting factor for the firm to have abilities on using certain kinds of technologies, now or in the future. Recommendations and Strategies for Napster Napster has an overall objective that is to strive towards being a leading global supplier of most of the consumer digital music services and other related products. Therefore, the following strategic initiatives are recommended to help in achieving this objective; First, the building of the Napster Consumer Brand and ensuring that the awareness of the Napster brand identity is increased should be continued and be done effectively. This should involve the use of promotional techniques over the subscription service that is provided for the purpose of encouraging the innovation of new music and its related characters (Aho, Sethi and Ullman, 2006). Currently, the Napster service are being marketed directly to existing consumers and this is being done through an incorporated offline and online marketing program that is normally quite steady with the already presented strong responsiveness and discernment towards the Napster brand and its services. While selling the services to the market the focus is all about the subscription services, which are normally used with a purpose of differentiating the offering of Napster from other services that are being offered by other competitors within the same market. The offline marketing channels that are being used for the purpose of marketing Napster consists of television, radio and also the print advertising means. On the other hand, the online marketing program focuses towards the use of advertising posts on different web sites and also the use of the existing search engines, preferably Google engine. The second recommendation has to do with the innovation of the brand in relation with the new technologies that are being offered with the change in the global market on how people view things and hence changing their preferences. Enough investments are to be directed towards the new services and available new technologies. This is projected to give a profile that will be able to support or be compatible with different platforms from different portable MP3 players, vehicles, mobile phones, and also personal computers (Aho, Sethi and Ullman, 2006). In relation to this the Napster brand won’t experience more hardship in getting way to acknowledging new technologies and services as there is a large technical team that will probably foresee the effective and efficient realization of this objective. This will probably result to a case where the access to other forms of files will be offered without much hustle and the overall capability of the Napster brand to remain competitive in the market now depends on the company’s intellectual property, the ability to foresee and come up with more innovative ways of seeing the product through the market effectively and efficiently. A third recommendation is about the pursuing and executing the strategic partnerships with other affiliated companies, and for this Napster stated finding its way into entering working and effective strategic partnerships with most of the technology companies such as Microsoft and Intel Corporation. It has also found its way with hardware companies such as iRiver, Dell, Creative, Toshiba and IBM; and also with retailers for the purpose of getting down strenuously and get a clear cut in the market (Aho, Sethi and Pullman, 2006). Therefore, since it appears as if the management has already started working on this, then more effort should be directed towards getting more partners all over the global market. A fourth and final recommendation is to continue in pursuing strategic acquisitions and also a variety of corresponding technologies which are supposed to assist the company to strategically move forwards in developing new services and also initiating new innovations with an aim of serving the market efficiently. The fourth recommendation looks into the impact of the Internet use towards maximum realization of high subscription level. With the increased use of the Internet for communications, product advertising, and also electronic commerce the business will have a positive growth. A change to such factors will reverse the growth of the firm. The company’s online services of music distribution are liable in failing to achieve the set goals and the broad market acceptance if the broadband technologies are not adopted or made available for a wide coverage. In the end this may turn out to have a negative impact on the overall operation of the business. Therefore, it is recommended that the firm should come up with a structure that will allow its technicians and other experts to determine possible technologies that could help in improving the services provision. The company’s network is ideally a subject to possible security and significant stability risks and threats that in one way or another there is a possibility of destroying the existing reputation of the firm. This may at the end expose the company to some liability or litigation. Therefore, it is highly recommended that the company find ways of securing its network from any risk that could be coming from the internal setup of the company or external surroundings. Management of the business is considered to be the most crucial thing that the management team is not willing to lose grip of it. If it fails to exercise better skills in managing the expansion of the firm effectively then it is liable of not meeting the set objectives which are supposed to connect them to the main goals of the firm. At the end, the people who will also be affected are the customers as their demand will not be met. The firm will also not be in a position of attracting more customers to use their products, and in turn it will greatly impact negatively on the overall revenue of the firm. Therefore, it is recommended that the management invest a lot in employee training and development programs which will help other staff members to remain updated with the current information about the technological advancement. A final recommendation is for the management to put down all that matters in the strategic marketing plan and such commitment is supposed to be well maintained. This will enable the firm to gain more fame and improve on its service provision to the consumers, hence improving on its image for better product marketing. Conclusion It can now be concluded that Napster, as I may believe, is basically one of the best and strongest Internet brands that has been experienced within the global digital multimedia market. This brand has always been more than a music delivery channel and this has enabled Napster to get more attention from the market, especially in such times of technology advancement. For this service to reach the market well so that more subscriptions can be realized then the management of the firm need to ensure that the building of the Napster Consumer Brand and ensuring that the awareness of the Napster brand identity is increased should be continued and be done effectively. This should involve the use of promotional techniques over the subscription service that is provided for the purpose of encouraging the innovation of new music and its related characters. Reference Aho, A.V., Sethi, R. and Ullman, J.D, 2006, Compilers: principles, techniques, and tools. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley. Andersen, P. B. and Madsen, K. H, 2008 “Design and professional languages”, In: P. B. Andersen and T.Bratteteig (Eds.) Computers and Language at Work, pp. 157-196. Oslo: SYDPOL, University of Oslo. Andersen, P.B, Holmqvist, B., and Jensen, J.F, 2005, The computer as medium. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Andersen, P.B, 2000, A theory of computer semiotics, Semiotic approaches to construction and assessment of computer systems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Andersen, P.B, 2001, “Computer Semiotics”, Scandinavian Journal of Systems Development, Vol. 4., pp. 3-30. Arnheim, R, 2002, Visual Thinking. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. 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