This module passed very quickly. During this time we have dealt with a large number of topics, from the use of social media and its relationship with marketing to the importance of the customer journey, in addition to the formulation of questions as if the end of privacy had arrived with the emergence of new technologies or if the assumption of this new trend had created a form of online culture.
Personally, there are certain points that I would like to highlight. In the first instance, I have found the deepening in the figure of Marshall McLuhan very enriching (a total visionary!). Moreover, the debate about the degree of disruption of the new digital environment seemed very important to me, even more if it is compared to former disruptive trends (e.g. printing press or TV before). It truly made me think about the real impact in our daily basis, which is rising to a colossal dimension.
Short video explaining one of McLuhan’s most brilliant theories: the medium is the message Source: Eudaimonia
As well, it was convenient to see the figures that certainly convinced me of how digital marketing is breaking through as opposed to the traditional one. Besides, the explanation about Big Data and its importance today has also been eye-opening, especially due to the video attached by Lisa Harris with her former student Florence Broderick. Examples provided such as the Cambridge Analytica case have also been important in anticipating and realizing about the capital importance of personal data in the current times.
After assimilating all the information given, I must say that I am much more concerned about the good usage of my digital identities, since I think that the need to cover my privacy has been accentuated during the course of the module.
My digital identities
From my past work experience as a journalist I believe that the part in which we have reviewed concepts such as Fake News and Post Truth have produced me a peculiar enthusiasm. The reason? I believe that those concepts are like viruses that must be eradicated, since they contaminate all strata of modern societies. At this moment false information or half-truths are bombarding us everywhere, does not matter the platform you are using. If we want to be ready and differ what is truth and what is a lie, our data literacy should achieve the highest proficiency degree possible to combat misinformation in a proper way. Therefore, our duty is to develop our ability to react and analyse what interacts with us in our digital environment.
Hence, I think that this module will help me a lot when it comes to assessing the importance of the digital market, not only as a complement, but as something essential in the 21st century marketer’s career. We live in times of change, constant disruption and a world of possibilities within the reach of a mouse click. The study of the digital environment in relation to marketing has clarified to me how holistic the technology is in the life of the consumer and has warned me of the responsibilities that we must have both as individuals and companies (e.g. CSR).
Last but not least, this module showed me that in the digital environment I am a total lurker! I hope our paths will cross again. I will be spying on you behind the bushes.
The video game industry has gained a lot of ground in the field of conventional entertainment. Not so long ago, this form of leisure was socially aimed as something childish, not that serious or useless. However, today the figures speak for themselves:
There are more than 2.5 billion video gamers around the world (Yanev, V. 2019).
Approximately 37.3 Million of UK population played video games in 2018 (New Zoo, 2018).
Only in UK, the industry achieved $3.7bn revenues in 2018 (Desjardins, J. 2017).
Gamers spend more than seven hours each week playing (LimeLight, 2019).
The video games market has contributed £2.87 billion to the UK economy only in 2016 (Batchelor, J. 2018).
Esports, i.e. video games competitions streamed via internet, are predicted to accomplish £1bn revenue and 600 million audiences by the end of this year (BBC, 2017).
Yeah, those numbers are totally mind-blowing! (source: giphy)
The impact of this industry is that deep that gamification has broken out as a resource in various fields. With the aim of significantly increase a user’s level of engagement in different spheres, gamification is the advertising activity whereby elements commonly associated with games are applied in non-game contexts. But it is more than a sociological phenomenon. Obviously, those huge amounts of money and users previously pointed out can be translated into advertising business. Video games have become a target channel that can be very beneficial due to the rising value of the sector. Thus, video game ads are already a reality, and attainable visibility is something that companies increasingly consider. It can be divided in two ways of developing the promotion: Advergaming and in game advertising.
The first mode is based on advergames. It consists of the creation of videogames to advertise a specific brand or product. This typology has been in the games since the early ’80s (Barton, 2017), although it grew exponentially in recent years as a result of the growth of the video game industry and the expansion of the number of players, as well as the crisis suffered by traditional media through the migration of audiences to digital media. They are video games that allow a continuous exposure of the user to the advertised brand, which can captivatingly and discreetly feel the values of said brand.
Secondly, in game advertising is the insertion of advertisements in videogames, which are used as a promotional channel, unlike the first way in which the videogame is created specifically for the act of promotion. In some cases, advertising appears as part of the natural environment of the action (e.g. this Panasonic ads in FIFA series, where they appeared located on the stadiums’ banners). Other times, advertising is more invasive and can have effects on the gameplay (e.g. Candy Crush gives free lives by watching ads). The opportunities that the videogame platform offers are incalculable. As seen in the figures presented, their intensive use makes the incursion of promotional material inevitable. Even so, this publicity may seem excessive and sometimes certainly uncomfortable, as we can see in this entertaining video:
The inclusion of advertisements in video games faces certain challenges, since its use can create particular ethical dilemmas. A great example of this leads us to the 2008 US presidential election, when Barack Obama was elected president. His campaign was carried out in various games of the EA company, although only in the Xbox 360 console version (Sinclair, 2008). Obviously, the first thing that comes to mind is the manipulation of potential voters. In addition to being able to condition the free will of the user, if there is no regulation to those campaigns the process can lead to even worse events —e.g. advertisements for bookmakers or alcoholic beverages that can promote behaviours that threaten public health—.
Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign ads on EA games
What does the future hold?
With a billionaire industry that does not stop growing and those appealing revenues, it seems that the paths of advertising and video games are doomed to associate and understand themselves. Historically, the emergence of disruptive formats provokes the need of promotion channels to gradually transform. The same is happening with new technologies. These are exciting times for marketing production and will certainly bring creative ways to carry the message to the largest number of users.
Thus, advertisers are no longer spending most of their advertising budgets on traditional media purchases such as television or radio, as consumers are using alternative platforms more frequently. Moreover, promotional video game campaigns may be more effective due to the user’s repeated exposure to advertisements (due to the addictive nature of video games). Gaming will increasingly become a pivotal part of our culture, and greater accessibility to games combined with greater levels of immersion will lead to people more willing to spend their money on games. For that reason, we marketers must value and control the video games industry if we want to be at the forefront.
Video games break into all areas. It is a channel that should be exploited. (Source: Giphy)
I wrote two comments, but unfortunately the second one (made on Freya’s blog) is still awaiting for approval. For that reason, I attached an screenshot to prove the existence of the comment.
The label ethical have always seemed very tricky to me. Not only because I tend to be innately confused, but also because of the complexity of the matter. The term, related with the morals of each individual, has necessarily a subjective connotation. However, there are certain issues that are universally accepted as non-ethical or, at least, controversial. In this occasion I would like to give my opinion about the privacy that we are almost all allowing to sacrifice, either consciously or not, in recent times. The reason? Internet. Cause and solution of many of the problems that contemporary western man has.
Source: imgur.com
Is lack of privacy a contemporary issue?
Privacy has been a trending topic since our origins. It is not surprising that the underdeveloped primates that preceded us would have received the input of looking for a cave where they could shelter themselves and being able to be in a more personal, confidential place, somewhere even proto romantic (as romantic as a hominid could appreciate). Surprisingly for some, the right to privacy is historically a very recent concept firstly pointed out by Warren & Brandeis (1890). With the development of an established welfare state (always in the context of Western societies), social standards changed and privacy occupied a more important place in our lives. This is so to the point that online privacy is undoubtedly one of the issues that most concern and upset society, especially with cases such as the famous Cambridge Analytica scandal.
The compilation of personal data is currently a dangerous realty; thus, Big Data could be discussed as the concept of the century so far. All our movements seem to be annotated and the digital footprints we leave would highlight us in front of the most inept detective. But how does it deprive us of our right to confidentiality? Here are some examples:
Geolocation: Did you hear about Google Location History? Isn’t it quite creepy to see all the places you have been located every single day?
Speech: Mobiles phones, virtual assistants AI, etc. can hear your conversations,even when you are not using them, for advertising reasons.
Everyday issues: With the consolidation of wearables technology, personal data such as the physical effort we do on our daily basis or the expenses we make can be collected, which would be an interesting data for insurance and banking companies to target each potential client. That could lead to a more accurate approach to some of them, but also to the exclusion of others.
Example of Geolocation collected by Google (Retrieved from my personal Phone)
From the point of view of the normal internet user, the above information can be worrisome and generally negative. The following video provides some more examples:
Source: TEDxSeattle
However, and here is the dilemma, the digital trail is extremely efficient for marketing executives. The use of collected data is a very important competitive advantage in nowadays markets, as it is a very effective way to make visible the value proposition offered to the targeted individual. In fact, according to a McKinsey research (Brown, Kanagasabai, Pant & Serpa Pinto, 2017), those organizations that leverage customer behavioural insights outperform peers by 85% in sales growth and more than 25% percent in gross margin. The numbers then suggest that the use of Big Data for commercial purposes is something that the industry cannot renounce. Nevertheless, according to a survey published in Hubspot (An, 2016), 91% of respondents think that personalized ad campaigns are becoming more and more intrusive. Furthermore, users are trying to avoid those ads craftily, as more than 419 million people have installed some kind of mobile ad-blocking software only on their smartphones (Willens, 2016). It seems that although the value of privacy is on the rise and more and more attempts are being made to limit what is shared, the use of Big Data is being commonly accepted and it will continue along this path.
How should we marketers deal with the dilemma?
In my opinion, marketers must solve the quandary by giving the consumer the power, or at least facilitate greater individual freedom. If consumers have more control over their profiles and the marketing channels in which they participate, that is, if they have full control over what they prefer to share, it would be vastly approved by the majority. José María Álvarez-Pallete, chairman of Telefónica and one of the most influential CEOs in the world, shares this desire. He has already appealed to the responsibility of the industry and society to use data in an ethical, transparent way (Álvarez-Pallete, 2019). He also demanded a new Digital Bill of Rights that lays down fundamental rights in a digital future for all citizens (Lomas, 2018).
In the new data economy, people need to trust how personal data is being used and have control over the data they generate. That is the most ethical way to maintain a way of doing business that is highly profitable and even vital for many companies to keep going (Marr, 2016). I believe that the implementation of ethical patterns (translating this as the attainment of more personal rights and translucency) is fundamental in a digital world that, because it is so new, is not yet as regulated as it should.
Word Count: 843
References:
Álvarez-Pallete, J.M. [Telefónica]. (2019, February 25). Welcome speech #MWC19 with José María Álvarez-Pallete, Chairman and CEO of @telefonica [Video file]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0i6Z5FLKIE.
In recent decades we have assumed that technologies are changing our lives. However, at first we were reluctant, as if technology was something negative that was going to harm, perhaps because of the influence of the science fiction novels of the 60-70s (thanks to Asimov, Dick and company) or for the simple fear of the unknown (having its peak in the famous Year 2000 problem).
Retrieved from: Giphy
After verifying that after that event the Earth did not explode, there was no digital blackout and we do not need to hang on tree lianas like Tarzan, we have gradually created a more and more innate relationship with technologies. This connection has grown until the point of creating the digital environment that we currently have. The digital world is significantly shaping the way we act, communicate and interact. It is no longer a tool at our disposal, but an extension of ourselves.
Why?
According to the information provided by the Office of National Statistics, 95% of adults aged 16 to 74 years in the UK in 2018 were recent internet users, the third-highest in the EU. We embrace that digital consumption in such a natural way that sometimes we do not even realize about some things…
When was the last time you have used the Yellow Pages to find a Take Away? Come on! Just Eat is just one click away in your phone!
Can you imagine you were buying an encyclopedia in 2020? Even the prestigious Encyclopedia Britannicawent digital.
Do you remember when you were planning to go to a new place and you should ask your friends that had already been there about nice hotels or charming restaurants? I am sure that Booking and Tripadvisor are currently helping you to avoid many of those talks!
You definitely do not remember the last time you wrote a letter to a friend. Say thanks again to Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp etc… they have helped you save a lot of money on stamps!
Those are few examples of how our daily basis have evolve to what we have nowadays. The digital environment influences and conditions our way of thinking and reacting, as individuals and as a society. In addition, academic and labor fields are also affected by this evolution. In the first aspect we have our institution, University of Exeter, as a clear example. The implementation of digital platforms in the academic field is evident, as certain courses such as the Marketing Master we are studying are based 100% on an online interface. Furthermore, the use of digital tools such as podcasts, e-books and webinars have evolved as much as they are beginning to replace conventional methods.
We have the same in labor terms. Our communications are integrated with the digital world within the use of individual devices, such as computers, servers, mobile phones, and other personal digitally-based devices. As well, digital environment is installed in an essential way through organizations and I am sure that almost all of us cannot conceive our jobs without systems of email servers, data storage servers, accounting software programs, etc. From another point of view, the emergence of new ways of producing and selling products and content has been so influenced that even we as consumers are producers of those goods by sharing, evaluating and, ultimately, advertising what we consume.
Is it counterproductive?
We can say that it depends on our point of view. This era has brought something that had not been enjoyed in the past: instantaneity. Almost everything we need is just a click away. However, it is clear that technology exercises control over us, both innate (have you ever heard the term nomophobia?) and deliberately (geolocation, exposure of private information). An almost science fiction example of this real control is the idea of introducing microchips into individuals, something that have created rumours about the possible monitoring by governments. Such a Orwellian idea:
Scary, ain’t it?
What I find very interesting about the appearance of disruptive technologies is the anthropological point of view that has inevitably emerged. This digital interfaces are extremely evolved and have set some kind of social norms, practices, storied history, associated collective memory, special language terminologies, etc. Also, it is remarkable the existance of communities built around online platforms such as forums (4chan worldwide, Forocoches in the Spanish speakers countries or niche forums such as videogames ones) or politically motivated groups like Anonymous. These groups give the possibility of creating digital identities, sometimes totally fictional, whose use is certainly a double-edged sword.
Retrieved from: Knowyourmeme
We live exciting times. Everything seems to be more simple and accessible. We have facilities never thought forty years ago. Almost any doubt can be resolved by asking Mr. Google. We can even be who we are not with using our digital persona.
Hi everyone! as I did a year ago, I would like to introduce myself to you. As all of you can read the previous post, and to avoid redudances, I would try to be dynamic. Has anything changed? Are there any differences? well, I am a year older, so you can imagine…
I am a little fatter.
I am a bit more estressed.
Those stairs are increasingly steep…
Buuuuuut… having an update from the last year to this lovely rainy Wednesday, I will say that I am currently 26 and I am still living in Manchester, United Kingdom (after 1230 days out of my homeland, the summery Spain). I am doing the same job, but with more responsibilities. I surprisingly continue being able to speak the four languages I pointed out in my last year post and well, I also have the same degree of motivation as I showed last year, when I was innocent and naive.
Retrieved from giphy.com
The main reason I am writing here is because we just started a new module in our MsC Marketing Master’s degree at the University of Exeter. After having a great experience working in WordPress in a previous module, Digital Business Models, I must say that I am looking forward to start writing articles again. This new subject, Digital Marketing Strategy, is without a doubt one of the most exciting marketing topics to me. Digital Marketing is nowadays an essential concern when having a business, not only as a complement of traditional marketing, but also as an opportunity to do things in a different way. In addition, it is vital when it comes to creating brand visibility and scope, capturing customers and gain their loyalty, since in the times that are running the creation of a social community is the biggest tendency to grow your company’s sales.
I hope you like the future posts that I will make in this blog. I assure you that I will read all the blogs that I find with great interest. I cannot wait to start as soon as possible!
After seven remarkable weeks, the Digital Business Models module is (almost) finished. It is time to draw up a reflection with what I have learned!
I think this module has helped me to become aware of how important digital scenaries are. An online master, with digital resources (iExeter, FutureLearn…), doing assignments on Blog platforms, taking references from online newspapers… Now explain that to my grandfather!
I challenge you!
My grandfather’s brain listening to your explanations
Before starting I must say that the structure of the module, and especially the use we have made of the blog, seemed pleasant and original to me. Without a doubt, it has been very positive when dealing with assignments.
The content of the module has been very varied and interesting. During these weeks we have studied many subjects of vital importance and discuss them, taking as a starting point the future of business with the incidence of digital spaces. From our current situation to the assumptions about the future of companies with the presence of disruptive technologies. We have also emphasized the importance of integrating this digital change in our cities and the appearance of new business models, such as circular (Brady, 2017) and sharing (Miller, 2018) economies.
However, this is not a summary of the course, but of our blogging’s performance.
My first post was related to my professional background: journalism. It was a curious reflection, because it made me understand better the delicate situation that the profession is going through. I would like to accentuate how I highlighted the paradigm shift of the consumer’s relationship with the profession. I have no doubt that journalism has been one of the most affected careers by these disruptive digital models. In addition, it was particularly interesting to see the posts of my colleagues, whose considerations on their professional fields were very enriching.
In my second entrance I wrote about one of my favorites companies nowadays, Xiaomi. In my post I tried to do an analysis on how this company addressed the opportunities and challenges presented by operating in both digital and physical locations. The deepening on Xiaomi’s business model has been very valuable, since it has taught me a very solvent financing strategy for a start-up using digital media.
This short interview is a good summary of what was said in my 2nd blog entrance
Finally, in my third entry I discussed the situation of Hawkers, and the ways in which its digital business model has contributed to its success. As with the previous post, I learnt a lot analyzing its business models and the ways in which they had interacted with digital media when developing their product. Even more knowing the fact that both companies (Xiaomi and Hawkers) would hardly have existed without the huge technological expansion.
I must say that the part I enjoyed the most was commenting on my colleagues’ articles, whose quality impressed me. It was incredible to read their points of view. God bless the collaborative intelligence (Isak, 2015). Moreover, the comments I received in my blog seemed very constructive.
Now what?
Now the module it’s almost done 😦
The completion of this module has given me guidelines to consider in my future career. Times are changing, and with them, business models. This will entail the need for continuous training in new subjects and challenges that we still cannot imagine. Only one thing is for sure: we must take advantage of the situation. We have to adapt to succeed.
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change”
As we all know, digital environment has penetrated so deep into our way of doing business that, recently, we have found many cases where technology underlies to the point of standing the business on its shoulders. It is a utopian fact that thirty years ago would seem to be impossible! It has become, rather than an update, a Copernican shift. A change in the way of doing business, in the client-company relationship and their behaviour. As an example, in the following article I will write about the Spanish start-up Hawkers, a company that owes its massive success to its digital business model.
So far, everything looks like a Hollywood script. A bunch of young Spaniards, in the middle of an economic crisis, making an investment of € 300 to start a business. Soon they become millionaires, having more than $60 million revenue by the end of 2017 (Berman, 2017), selling in more than 50 countries (Forbes, 2017) and competing face to face with the market giants. Do you still believe it is just luck?
In fact, it is not. The company’s success does not lie in luck. Not even in the quality of its products. The main factor of the absolute triumph of Hawkers lies in the use of digital models. However, to begin with we must know what the main objective of the company is. As they say in their KickStarter website:
“Hawkers Co. wants to disrupt the market and put an end to the monopoly by creating the most awesome quality sunglasses at a fair price”.
To carry out its mission, Hawkers has developed its business by valuing the huge importance of social networks nowadays. The company has also not been as publicized as its competitors, but it took a different approach to advertise itself: Individual targeting.
Spending time on individual people on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, the company has managed to attract a loyal following and created a buzz that has ignited word-of-mouth advertising. The first company mentioned, Facebook, played a main role in the very first days. The social network created by Mark Zuckerberg allowed them to reach many people with a small budget. They started using their advertising tool (Facebook Ads) which at that time few people used. Starting with a moderate budget, they reached a point in which they were investing €10,000 per day (Doofinder). Their Facebook Ads page let them reach their target audience by showing different styles and attributes depending on the potential buyer’s characteristics.
Images taken from Hawkers‘ social media profiles
It was also vital the use of retargeting techniques, such as promotion codes. One of the techniques that Hawkers uses is based on the insertion of a code in a website that generates a discount voucher for the user that visits the website. There is a well-known example this the Spanish Forum Forocoches, which has a partnership with the brand. They offer discounts for users of the forum, which it is semi-private (You can only access to the whole content if you are previously invited by other user). This colaboration provides a great expansion of the brand, since Forocoches has a monthly traffic of 17 million users approximately (Libre Mercado, 2017). The alliance has become that strong that Hawkers has even created a line of glasses with special Forocoches design (El Economista, 2015).
Hawkers glasses – Forocoches edition
In addition to that use of Social Media and sponsorships previously mentioned, Hawkers’ marketing strategy is also to use celebrities and influencers to promote its products (Living Room 128). Thus, the company uses the impact of celebrities to achieve millions of online followers. It is necessary to think about how many million people received the influence of the brand, as the list of notorious people that work with Hawkers is not small. Some examples are Lionel Messi (Prnewswire, 2017), who has 109 Million followers on his Instagram account, or Steve Aoki (Manintown, 2016), with more than 8 Million followers on his Twitter profile.
Luis Suárez, International Uruguayan football player, is another good example of this use of Celebrities and Influencers (Social media adverts)
Although these techniques are not innovative (they are not the first to do so) they have managed to obtain an excellent performance from their use. Nevertheless, it is great to see how many alternative paths to promote the brand have used, as the creation of Hawkers Parties, which took place in different Spanish locations and were broadcast via Streaming (La Razón, 2015). In spite of the fact that social networks factor exists, Hawkers also succeeds because its products are easy to understand and to buy: everyone knows what sunglasses are and how easy to adapt to trends are. Moreover, it is a product that is sold with an almost impulse price (around 20-30€), so people do not have to think much to buy them.
– Do I need it? – No, but it is cheap. – Give me ten!
Its business is based on digital media, both in its distribution, production and promotion. Thinking about this company without a digital business model would be just an illusion. Therefore, and taking Hawkers as an example, I am convinced that with these disruptive models the way we do business has changed. It is not a 2.0 model, but a new way of creating business…
…and it is there, waiting for us to take advantage of it.
Time ago the search for physical space to start a business led to certain problems: it was very expensive, it was necessary to find a privileged location… That is why online markets have proliferated so much, being key factors for the success of massive businesses such as Amazon, Rakuten or Aliexpress. However, the ease of creating an online business has made the competition greater than ever. New terms like SEO or SEM are playing a leading role the new advertising tactics of the businesses.
It is an evidence that online businesses are growing exponentially. As consumers, we are updating ourselves as technology evolves and, as a result, the proliferation of this type of business is increasing unstoppably. The reasons are obvious and varied (The Telegraph, 2016): Larger variety of products; Total availability: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; usually lower prices; possibility of knowing the opinions of other clients…
The traditional economic model has normalized that the big brands have retail stores. With the arrival of the digital world, most of these stores have developed online platforms to sell also through e-commerce. This format is already more than a trend, as the majority of consumers in UK prefer to buy online (Empathy Broker, 2018). However, there are times when the business seems to take the opposite direction: instead of starting as a physical store, they find its origins on the internet. This is the case of my favorite brand, Xiaomi. Or almost.
Just a short introduction:
Its evolution from start-up to one of the leaders in its sector is very meritorious. It has been considered as the fastest growing smartphone company last year (IDC, 2018), it has come to overtake its competitors in important markets such as India (India today, 2019) and it is foreseen that its sales development will be put to the same level than Apple (My Online Ca, 2015). For that purpose, Xiaomi began its journey by selling in its own digital store. In fact, in 2012 it sold 72% of its mobile devices online (Tech Crunch, 2012). After drawing the attention of innovators and early adopters on Internet with undeniable success, the firm wanted to take a step forward. Therefore, since 2015 Xiaomi authorized stores have appeared, from China (Android Headlines, 2015) to United Kingdom (Xiaomi Today, 2018).
Xiaomi authorized Store
Xiaomi‘s strategy with retail stores is certainly smart. The company does not create its own spaces but gives licenses where they can sell their official products. Therefore, Xiaomi Stores (also known as Mi Stores) are places where Xiaomi products are sold, but they are not owned by the proper company. Thus, this chinese company has a system of distributors that act as a franchise (Xataka, 2018). There are some examples, like the first Mi Store in Qatar, which was launched in partnership with its local distributor: Intertec Group (Gulf Times, 2018).
This way of acting has obviously reduced the overall expenses of the company. Added to this, there is the company’s famous 5% profit margin rule (Asian Review, 2018). In this way the company tries to spread the idea that the product will have great quality for reasonable prices while saves costs in other areas (ownership of physical places, online selling, capping profit margin in favor of quality).
As I mentioned before, the innovators and early adopters provided a great reception to the brand. The expansion from digital market to physical occurred when the number of early adopters had evolved to early majority (that is, those who are predisposed to take something new when it is mature enough). With this, a community that loved the product appeared.
Example of the Mi Community visiting Xiaomi’s office in Madrid
According to Olandres (Yugatech, 2015), there are reasons for the creation of these physical stores that consequently have received positive feedback by Xiaomi users. I would like to highlight the following ones:
Low online adoption
Consumer Confidence
Better Availability and Customer Reach
Thus, the firm faces several factors, such as provincial fulfilment (couriers do not deliver to some remote areas), low credit card penetration, and low internet penetration. In other cases, potential customers can be afraid of online transactions (SC Media, 2014) or simply want to inspect the gadgets before buying. With this strategy, Xiaomi ensures that its market also reaches the late majority and the laggards.
Even seeing how much it has expanded, Xiaomi is essentially a result of the digital age. This is demonstrated in its beginnings and in the huge amount of sales it continues to have in the digital market. It seems that with the rise of technology, the importance of the digital medium will remain outstanding. So, mixing online sales with projects to continue selling in retail spaces like IKEA (Android Pit, 2018), the future of Xiaomi is presumably fascinating.
While writing this article I have asked myself several questions. In a world vastly digitalized, large companies still find gaps where traditional media are still valid. As a conclusion, my question would be the following:
Will online commerce really destroy physical stores?
Smartphone Rankings Shaken Up Once Again as Huawei Surpasses Apple, Moving into Second Position While Overall Market Declined 1.8% in Q2 2018, According to IDC, (2018). IDC. Retrieved from: https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS44188018
In this post of my blog I am going to explain how the digital economy has changed the journalism sector and to examine from an analytical point of view what the future of the profession will be like under the influence of digital environment. I have worked most of my short career in this area, from reporter to editor. So, I think that I can reflect my concerns about this subject in an accurate way.
I have the feeling that in recent years journalism, as it was originally conceived, has suffered one of the most radical changes in terms of professions. Moreover, I would say that since the creation of the first newspaper in 1594, the Mercurius Gallobelgicus (Fletcher, 2014, p. 3), there has not been a more disruptive event. That first change of channel, from oral to written transmission, has been renewed with its 2.0. version: print newspapers to the digital newspapers.
This irruption into the online world has created certain ambivalence between the public and professionals. There is no doubt that new technologies have become great allies, but also great enemies with which the professional must deal with every day. Digital journalism has changed the information paradigm, since it provides a broader and more pluralistic range; something essential for any democratic society. The current journalist must face four major challenges:
Immediacy
Selection procedure
Quality
Capital
The arrival of the digital age is making the human being becoming the homo ipso facto: everything must be done quickly. Therefore, the journalist must incorporate this new need with other principles of traditional journalism, such as the rigour and contrast of information, where the “time factor” is fundamental. The chance that digital environment gives millions of sources without hardly any effort makes the news reader tend not to read the full articles. In fact, 55% of digital readers spend less than 15 seconds on each news article (Hayle, 2014). Moreover, digital media has changed the system. Before, the journalist selected the news that he/she considered interesting for the reader. However, now the reader has the option to use their criteria when choosing. This liberalization, combined with the profusion of the digital environment, has led to a greater diversity of sources (mainly scattered in Social Media) that in most cases are little contrasted. Thus, the result is misinformation.
With this scenario, there is a factor that makes the difference: quality. Digital media has diminished the quality of the product by this lack of maturation that I mentioned before. Consequently, it is interesting to see how the journalistic style is changing. The creation of journalistic niches in which the product is treated in a more careful way is progressively increasing. As Filloux (2013) pointed out, “magazines have done a lot better job than newspapers capturing readers’ preferences”. This is presumably visible in the average reader, who can recognize a certain rejection of the most outdated standards of journalistic writing and be attracted by the more rejuvenated journalism showed in magazines.
Is immediacy the only culprit in the decline of quality?
Absolutely not, the main reason is money. We are all used to neologisms like clickbait. The new route that the profession is taking goes round a rugged road where the headline is more important than the content and where the importance of the news is measured not by its journalistic value, but its profitability.
How will the situation change in the future?
I think the situation of journalism as we know will change a lot in the coming years. Print newspapers will hardly survive over the years (Sambrook, 2017), with exceptions to certain market niches, such as exclusive cultural magazines. Subscription systems will be more widespread than now (Gingras, 2018) and the personal value of each brand will play a crucial role in gaining readers. Unfortunately, the essay articles will lose strength due to the lack of focused reading of the clients. Although my point of view is somewhat pessimistic, I think the solution will be brought by the readers themselves. We must put more effort in selecting and contrasting the information we read. If we know that there are vested interests in the news, we should suspect. Here I attached a video in which the renowned journalist Nandagopal Rajan gives useful advice on how to fight against misinformation.
If you want to know more about this topic, click here to learn how to fight disinformation!
In short, having worked as a journalist and considering myself an avid reader of newspapers, I understand that immediacy is something desirable in the media. Nevertheless, it should not become its main objective, since it leads to errors that destroy the main values of journalism: credibility and trust. If we manage to use the digital resources appropriately, we will have an excellent tool for the propagation of news.
First of all, I am going to introduce myself. My name is César Martín de Consuegra. I am a 25 years old professional from Asturias, Spain. In spite of my peninsular origin, for more than two years I have been living in Manchester, UK. After finishing my studies at the University of Oviedo (Modern Languages and their literatures + communication specialization) I decided to come to improve my English level by coming to England. Since then I have grown a lot as a person and I have created a big moral debt with my host country, where I adapted from the first moment and I have learned to love.
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Since I moved, I have managed to develop my professional career as Assistant Data Specialist in a company considered as a major publisher of business information. Here I deal with private company data combined with software for searching and analysing companies. The entry into the business world has made me understand that in the 21st century professionals must be versatile, flexible and dynamic. So, I decided to study a master’s degree in Marketing at the University of Exeter. My background has given me a professional profile in which communication skills, languages (I speak Spanish, English, German and Italian) and my experience in journalism stand out. However, I had the need to complement my profile with something different.
As a result of the study of this master I created the blog. Here I will present the activities related to module number three: Digital Business Models. Since I started the master’s degree in September 2018, I have strongly believed that Marketing is one of the most creative business specializations.
To be honest I will say I that I am highly motivated, as I think that I am a person whose creativity abounds. In fact, this module previously named is one of the most interesting in the first instance. I would also like to highlight the importance of the topic I am deal with. The world in which we live is fully digitized and interconnected, so we must take full advantage of the opportunities that networks offer us.
In conclusion, I will say that I am willing to maintain contact with all of you and obviously that I am very keen to hear from you. I look forward to sharing my experiences.
Cesar MarKtin 
