EOC Week 4: Avon

Old methods are proving not to work for the door-to-door make up company, Avon. The company has fallen behind in technology and is not updating their customers on what’s new and coming to them.

“AvonProducts Inc., famous for sending its representatives door to door, islosing traction in the U.S., where many time-stressed consumers areincreasingly buying their cosmetics on the Web.”

They are currently not networking and need to get their head in the game. 

What Avon needs to do to present themselves as a serious competitor and invest is to become more active online. They believe today’s women are still those who stayed at home and took care of their family back in the 1950’s and ’60’s.

Today it is not the case. Women are going back to work, going back to school, running around taking care of their families, and trying to maintain a life outside of all that while trying to juggle it all.  Knowing that is important, so Avon can evolve to marketing to those women.

Majority of women are on the go, they’re at work, running errans, picking up the kids, and most likely have a smart phone. Avon needs to become a dominant force though modern technology.

“Avon's door-to-door sales force in theU.S. is competing against a growing online channel plied by rivals...”

Becoming more web active will surely increase their sales. We are always online and ever so busy. No one has time to sit down and chat or run to the store. Buying online is instant and easy to do.

“The New York-based beauty company hasdabbled with iPhone and Android apps for smaller brands like Mark and hasdeveloped e-catalogs, but sales representatives say it isn't doing enough tohelp them win customers through new tools like social media, smartphones andtablets.”

Avon needs to be centered and whole, instead scattered all over the web, thus will not confuse present and future customers.

EOC Week 3: Spotify

Spotify is a new type of 'library' that you can share music and stream it live AND it pays the artists for every time users listen to their material.  
"Spotify is projectingthat it will generate $889 million in revenue this year, TechCrunch reports .That's pretty impressive. It's a real business."

It is a new way for people to find and discover new things, which vary from musicals, comedy, to actual music. Users can access it through both computer OS, and on your mobile phone.

I believe Spotify is important because it is slowing growing. They have already set up new users to make a new account through their Facebook.  Not only does it help Facebook gain more users, but Facebook users learn about Spotify through their friend's posts and learn about it through that way on it's own. 

Spotify is also joining the fight against online piracy. It is paying artists each time their music or other work is listened to by its users. It is a great and easy way for artists to generate funds, but also helps them get discovered by the world since Spotify not only hosts music, but comedy and other audio as well.

"Check out what'shappening to Spotify's daily Facebook-connected users. Spotify connectsdirectly to Facebook. But  Spotify's DAUs(daily active users) drop as low as 4 million users and go as high as 9 millionwithin the course of a few weeks."

Don't have a Facebook? That's okay, because when you sign up for Spotify, they lead you to Facebook so you can make an account there. Not only was it smart for Spotify to partner up with Facebook to get out there more, but now Facebook can gain more users from Spotify. 

Although it is not as popular in the United States yet, the number of users is growing daily.

Week 2 EOC: Privacy

 

Privacy. Some of us value it, while some of us could care less. On the Internet, we can control what we put out there which can be a scary thing.

 "The Internetenables us to improve communication, erase physical barriers, and expand oureducation. Its absorption into our society has been extraordinary."

Sharing personal information can be a good thing or a bad thing, whether you post how much you hate your job, or how your cat means everything you, everyone has his or her own opinion on what you share with the world. Most websites and applications allow users to control how public we make our lives known.  For example, as an artist, I use an alias and a few different pennames (each name varies on the website), and I filter how much of my personal life I ‘leak’ out into the Internet. Of course I become friends with a few of my clients, and only then I am comfortable sharing my personal life.

"Determine who you want your audience to be.  If you are writing only for friends andfamily consider making your blog accessible only by password.  Using a pseudonym can help hide youridentity..."

 I feel very safe and comfortable with how much I let out and tell others. Even though I have nothing to hide, I know what is and isn’t acceptable to blurt out for the whole online world to see. I think most people take their privacy for granted, as of late there have been discussion of laws to allow the government to control the Internet and what citizens can do with it.

 "But theInternet remains largely unregulated and the policies governing itunderdeveloped.  Laws concerning onlineprivacy are still being developed."

 Privacy can be controlled, and others should learn how to properly filter their personal information and opinions.

Week 2 BOC: Instagram

 

As we all know, Facebook is already a high-valued company, created to connect and share with everyone around the globe very easily and fast. Now the popular social networking site has acquired a fast-growing application called Instagram, an app that allows you take photos from your mobile phones and edit them to share instantly.

Instagram is a very new company that was created less than two years ago. It has grown rapidly over the past several months due to it’s popularity and user friendly interface.  More ‘artistic’ users will enjoy it’s easy editing and adding effects to their photos and sharing their work with friends and family for all to enjoy.

"Facebook announcedtheywould purchase popular photo-sharing app Instagram Monday for amind-blowing $1billion. Once the acquisition is complete, people are wonderingwhat will happento the two-year old app that took smartphones by storm."

Although purchasing the app for one billion dollars seems like a lot of money, the real is in the users who have downloaded Instagram. Many users have started a ruckus over the purchase of the company and its app.

“Naysayers have legitimatereasons for concern. Instagram is the most popular product that Facebook haspurchased.”

Instagram users are concerned whether if Facebook will make any changes to the app, and worry it might become something they use less if any major changes are made. Some users have even quit using Instagram in protest to Facebook purchasing the company.

“Instagram, the popularmobile photo-sharing app, has only been available on Android smartphones forone day, but the apphas already garnered over 1 million downloads.”

Whether or not Facebook makes any changes to the userface of Instagram, many people will continue to download and use the app due to it’s easy way to take photos and posting them online for speedy sharing. The purchase of Instagram hopefully will not drive users away as it is continuing to grow.

Week 1 EOC

What is the modern internet? I'm sure Facebook and Twitter ring a bell, the internet as of now is connecting and sharing news and information with each other. But from personal experience, I believe the modern internet now is through art and creativity. I found many connections and clients through deviantart.com, a website dedicated to sharing art. Art comes in many forms, photography, digital imaging, traditional media, crafts, fashion, and much more, that deviantArt allow it's members to upload for all of us to enjoy.