Free «Digital Marketing» Essay Sample

Introduction

Marketing is always changing, moving from one state to another. Nowadays, digital commerce is the reality that every business faces. Digital marketing is similar to the Internet marketing, but it has developed some techniques that allow reaching the target audience even in an offline environment. Comparable with another type of marketing, digital commerce helps to achieve maximum business results in an optimal way, notably allows saving money and avoiding unnecessary, inefficient spending. Therefore, companies must develop in the appropriate direction digital technology studying. The most prominent examples of companies established in digital sphere are retailers Net-a-Porter and Fenwick.  Companies operate differently, conducting business over the Internet and in the traditional way respectively. Every year, many people visit the websites of the corporations, which boosts the income to million pounds. Thereby, using different digital marketing theories, it is crucial to study such sites, to know their peculiarities, how they form and function. Thus, this paper describes and compares the Net-a-Porter’s and the Fenwick’s web pages, conducts analysis of the provided information and explores how retailers represent the image of their shops. Moreover, there are recommendations, concerning digital marketing theories to make a better understanding of the companies which conduct business over the Internet and in the traditional way and e-commerce in general.

Question 1

First of all, both Net-a-Porter’s and Fenwick’s websites were very easy to find in the browser. It was enough to type the company’s name, and the site appeared at the top of the search list. However, the Fenwick’s web page was the second in the search.

Even though both retailers have their pages on Facebook, Fenwick also has pages on Instagram and Twitter.  Here can be applied the ZMOT concept from Google, which fundamentally changes the system of understanding how modern buyer examines the goods market and how it comes to making a purchasing decision. According to the ZMOT idea, the product search process takes place online by studying the set of Internet resources from various devices (Lecinski 2011). In such a way, customers can find useful information and read feedbacks on the retailers’ pages which can help make the decision of buying. Fenwick also publishes Facebook, Twitter and Instagram posts on the web page for the customer to follow the link to the social networks directly. Besides, the Net-a-Porter has an interactive global map on its website that highlights consumer purchases and the adding of an item to the shopping bag in real-time, which helps customers see what other people prefer and form own decision (Lamb 2012). Additionally, here can be applied the network theory based on the influence that consumers have on each other's decisions. In this regard, social networks are useful, as they allow marketers to listen to what customers are saying and to leverage the power of influential users to spread messages throughout their networks (Uhlig n.d.). Therefore, the Fenwick is more developed than the Net-a-Porter in this sphere as it implements less social networks.

Both websites are well-structured without unnecessary data. The information provided by one language – English. However, at the Net-a-Porter’s website the customer can also select Chinese, French or German language. It helps to navigate and reach the appropriate page of the information by two or three clicks, according to the rules of the internal linking (Kent 2016).

The Net-a-Porter website includes all information about the company, the delivery and returns terms and the payment methods. Moreover, there is an available information about novelties, designers, types of clothing, shoes, bags, accessories, lingeries, sportswear and gifts. Each item describes useful information: the price, the size (the size guide provided), the material, elements and cleaning advice. The website provides many zoomed photos different foreshortenings, as well as suggestions how to wear the item and other things that the customer may also like. Such unexpected was to find on the website the two kinds of magazines that the company publishes and that can be ordered right from the web page. Moreover, the corporation has links and four apps on the site. The website does not have the latest information about fashion (this service is available on Fenwick’s website) which can be useful for consumers and can attract their attention. Apart from this, it also lacks the link to the Facebook page. However, the digital and typical magazines provide that company issues.

Contrary to Net-a-Porter, the Fenwick provides all information about the enterprise, as well as its story, information about stores, as well as their location on the map. Furthermore, there is a list of brands that one can find in the particular store, information about provided services there, and about gift cards. It was unexpected to find on the website the “daily muse” which presents different news about beauty, fashion and other issues that can inspire the customer to purchase. Apart from this, there is a great social section where all information is in some social networks. In contrast to the Net-a-Porter, the website lacks the live chat, as well as information not only about services but products and prices. Although the answer to the questions one can find in three clicks, it was complicated to find them.

Both Net-a-Porter’s and Fenwick’s websites have the section where the customer can subscribe to the news of the company. Here can be applied the relationship marketing theory that seeks to build client loyalty. The regular and frequent, interactive and personalized communications improve customer loyalty (Sarkissian n.d.). Therefore, by subscribing, clients receive information based on their needs, hints on what improves service quality perceptions and increased reliability. However, the subscription on both websites differs from each other. On the Fenwick’s website, it is easier and faster to subscribe – the customer needs only to enter his or her email. However, the customer will only receive the latest news, events and offers from the company on email. In contrast, on the Net-a-Porter’s website the subscription is longer because the customer needs to enter personal details, email address, password and choose the location. However, by doing this, the customers have the possibility rapidly to sign in and checkout plus delivery updates by SMS and receive fashion, beauty and fitness emails from the editors. Furthermore, there is an opportunity to create and save wish lists of items people would like to receive invites to sales, offers, as well as alerts when items arrive from the customer’s favorite designers.

Thus, the Net-a-Porter’s website is a little bit more developed than the Fenwick’s, because it provides almost all necessary information and is easier to navigate. However, Fenwick’s web page is more socially oriented.

Question 2

The Net-a-Porter company trades only online and is called a pure play. The Fenwick sells only from bricks-and-mortar locations and does not facilitate online sales. By this, their websites are also different (Charlesworth 2014). Each web page is oriented to a different segment of people of different age and from a different place.  Here can be applied the generational theory. Generational digital marketing approach means that people born in that period, in the same generation, have the same attitudes and behaviours. The generational theory connects with the digital commercialization in the online places where companies can reach the customers (Uhlig n.d.). Thus, the younger generation is more likely to buy online, the older generation is more likely both to search for a product online and buy offline or to search and buy offline (Grewal & Levy 2013). According to this theory, the Fenwick’s website orients to the older generation and the Net-a-Porter’s to the younger. Thus, at Fenwick’s website, customers can look for the provided services and brands, and choose the shop they want to visit, and then they will buy there, thereby encouraging to visit the real store. At Net-a-Porter’s website clients can look through the available items, choose the appropriate one, find all useful information to form the buying decision, and finally buy it, thereby not encouraging to visit the real store as there is no such, but inviting to stay on the website and ultimately purchase the product.

Additionally, as the Fenwick’s website has traditional shops only in the UK, it orients to UK citizens. Thus, all information is provided only in English and mainly about the events in the UK. The Net-a-Porter operates only online, so its website adapts to people around the world. Consequently, the information there is in the most common languages in the world, which already mentioned above.

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Moreover, talking about the differences of websites that have traditional bricks-and-mortar shops from those that do not, it is possible to apply the segments of one digital marketing theory. According to this approach, technological achievements provide the ability to advance from mass markets to segments of one. The interactive technology makes the customers provide personal information and receive customized products and services (Sarkissian n.d.). In this case, the Net-a-Porter’s website is more developed than Fenwick’s. When the customer makes a purchase at the web page, he or she is required to provide the email, name, location, address, and telephone, as well as to choose the payment method, thereby, already giving the information about himself to the company. The client also provides personal data, when subscribing to company’s news, mentioned above. In contrast, on the Fenwick’s website segments of one theory is not widely used. The customers provide personal information only when subscribing to the company’s news, and this data is limited only by the client’s email.

The general design of both websites is also different due to the nature of companies. Operating online, a website of the Net-a-Porter has to compete with many rivals in the e-commerce. Thus, the web page must offer as much useful information for customers as possible, as well as advantages that other competitors do not have (Mcferrin 2014). Therefore, the website presents the customer with many options, deals, and incentives, it highlights multiple products and casts a wider net on what the consumer may like. Tabs focus on various product categories, with a little attention while paying to the information about the Net-a-Porter and why it is a superior product company. The client has come to purchase the items, so he is the center. On the contrary, the websites with traditional shops, as the Fenwick’s website is, must be less enthusiastic focusing on quickly establishing a strong rapport and demonstrating that the company can solve the customer problems (Mcferrin 2014). Thus, the Fenwick’s announcements offer as much accessible information as it can. Besides, in comparison to the Net-a-Porter’s website, on the Fenwick’s page, there is the whole story of the company.

Question 3

Big brands are dominant on the market and strongly influence the consumer behaviour. Forming of a strong brand presence bases on the following message has an impact on every company’s contact with potential and existing customers. The company needs to build awareness and focus on the salience of its message. Here can be applied the Keller’s pyramid. It demonstrates the establishment of a brand identity, how it builds the awareness and transmits this into resonance by using the customers’ judgments and feelings, and, thus, creating a link between the client and the brand (Parameswaran 2006). Therefore, at the top of the Net-a-Porter’s website, there is the name of the company and the phrase that it is the world's premier online luxury fashion destination. In addition to this, all the tabs are elegant, and everything shows loftiness and luxury. For instance, near the description of the company, there is the image of the luxurious signature packaging with items, which makes the brand salient. On the Fenwick’s web page, there is the logo, but it is complicated to understand what attracts the company. Applying the second step of the Keller’s pyramid, the Net-a-Porter’s and Fenwick’s websites identify and express what their brand means, and what they symbolize (“Keller's Brand Equity Model. Building a Powerful Brand” n.d.). Thus, they provide useful information about the products to make the customers see whether it satisfies them. The Net-a-Porter company is also more developed than Fenwick because it does not provide information about its products, only about services without any prices.

Brand identity can also apply the Aaker’s brand personality, according to which the brand identity is the perception of the brand image as a whole by the target consumers, which is necessary to achieve (Güse 2011). The identity of the name is a unique set of associations that a brand developer aims to create and maintain. According to Aaker, any company which wants to build a brand should consider goods, the organization, personality and a symbol (Güse 2011). Thus, when examining the websites, Net-a-Porter associates with luxury products and the Fenwick with the department stores. Brands Net-a-Porter and Fenwick orient on the client, as they follow what customers’ preferences and do not produce products, but resell them. The Net-a-Porter identifies with the rich and confident personality, and the Fenwick with personality, which has the best reputation and prestige. However, both companies do not have a particular symbol that can provide recognition and spontaneous brand recall such as golden arches of McDonald's or the image of Bill Gates (Microsoft).

Moreover, both retailers have their pages on Facebook. However, Fenwick also has pages on Instagram and Twitter, and the Net-a-Porter also has four different apps and two magazines. Through this social networks and tools, the companies also express the image and peculiarities of their shops. Here can be applied the ZMOT theory, according to which customers prefer to search the information about the products in different networks by using various gadgets (Lecinski 2011). Thus, busy, fashionable Net-a-Porter clients who work long hours and have several devices can find the information about the brand conveniently in every form by using apps (Moore 2015). Besides, the name reveals through the online and offline magazines that expose it to an entirely new audience. The Fenwick does not have developed such tools, but it also describes its image not only through Facebook but through Instagram and Twitter, and by providing links to them on its website.

Question 4

The Net-a-Porter is a leader in digital and content marketing, and it is hard to say what the web page lacks or to recommend changes or improvements. However, the website does not use the collective intelligence theory which will be very sufficient. The collective intelligence approach involves groups of people who are smarter and more productive than anyone (Uhlig n.d.). Such Internet phenomenon as crowdsourcing relates to the collective intelligence, as it brakes the projects into small, separate tasks that spread among many people for completion. Crowdsourcing provides the ability for a company to attract customers and make them part of its campaign (Uhlig n.d.). Thus, the Net-a-Porter can invent a tool on its website where clients can create new looks, and then the company may see what items customers would prefer.

Fenwick should use more ZMOT theory and provide apps for its users that are very attractive and demanding now. Therefore, the customers can find the information in any form, from various devices, and at any time. The Fenwick can also use collective intelligence theory by providing different polls or by conducting an action.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Net-a-Porter’s and Fenwick’s websites are well-developed in the digital marketing sphere. The well-structured information on the both sites is easy to navigate – all one can reach in two or three clicks. However, the Net-a-Porter’s web page is more developed, as it has almost all necessary information, except the link to the Facebook page. The Fenwick’s website lacks the product description, as well as prices of the goods and services. The Net-a-Porter works only online, and the Fenwick only offline. It means, their websites are entirely different in this regard. The customers on the Net-a-Porter’s website can not only search for the product and choose it, but also buy it. The web page encourages clients to stay online. The customers on the Fenwick’s website can only search for a brand or service they want and go to the real shop, as only there they can take what they need. Moreover, the Net-a-Porter better describes its image and features than the Fenwick. Observing the Net-a-Porter’s website, it is obvious that company sells luxury brands, and it is easy to make associations. The Fenwick’s website, on the contrary, has an unclear vision what attracts the business, but it is clear that it is some department stores. Both sites should use collective intelligence theory; Fenwick could concentrate more on ZMOT theory.