Tracking attitude is essential according to Beasty (2007, p 32). The dated practice of unique surveys that are discarded after use is being replaced by the use of templates in EFM systems. Beasty says that "by making previous templates and survey results accessible" companies can re-issue a survey and track how customer attitudes are changing. The old ways, where every survey had a different set of questions, had limited utility because analysts could not reference to previous work to identify trends.
Musico (2009, p 30) says that "predictive analytics" lets us do what-if analysis on future consequences based on current attitudes. This again is part of the feedback funnel enabled by EFM. He goes on to say that this is an absolute must. Who knows, maybe the distinct smell of Chapter 13 in the air will get senior management to ferry their attention through a slide presentation and then give their blessing to these techniques before the lethal swing of customer disatisfaction cuts them down.
References
Beasty, C. (February 2007) Feedback Mountain. Customer Relationship Management. Retrieved on September 4, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Musico, C (January 2009). The Feedback Funnel. Customer Relationship Management. Retrieved from EBSCOHOST on September 6, 2009.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
CRM and Market Communications
Markets are conversations among many players. So says the Cluetrain Manifesto. First published online and then as a book, The Cluetrain Manifesto (see 95 Theses ) is an apocalyptic warning. Things are unraveling. Systems are broken. The Internet has unleashed long-term trends that will assert themselves.
Cluetrain has nailed 95 theses to the door. Here are a few that caught my attention:
3. "Conversations among human beings sound human. They are conducted in a human voice."
12. "There are no secrets. The networked market knows more than companies do about their own products. And whether the news is good or bad, they tell everyone." (Customer Satisfaction Studies may in fact be an effective way of getting such feedback).
27. "By speaking in language that is distant, uninviting, arrogant, [companies] build walls to keep markets at bay."
On CustomerThink.com, Thompson (2007, p 2) says we need to become customer-centric by understanding customers and giving them "what they want." I think this could be the 96th thesis.
References
Thompson , B. (Jan. 22, 2007). Why "CRM" Must Die for Customer-Centric Business To Thrive. CustomerThink Corp. Retrieved on September 8, 2009 from www.customerthink.com.
Cluetrain has nailed 95 theses to the door. Here are a few that caught my attention:
3. "Conversations among human beings sound human. They are conducted in a human voice."
12. "There are no secrets. The networked market knows more than companies do about their own products. And whether the news is good or bad, they tell everyone." (Customer Satisfaction Studies may in fact be an effective way of getting such feedback).
27. "By speaking in language that is distant, uninviting, arrogant, [companies] build walls to keep markets at bay."
On CustomerThink.com, Thompson (2007, p 2) says we need to become customer-centric by understanding customers and giving them "what they want." I think this could be the 96th thesis.
References
Thompson , B. (Jan. 22, 2007). Why "CRM" Must Die for Customer-Centric Business To Thrive. CustomerThink Corp. Retrieved on September 8, 2009 from www.customerthink.com.
Tracking Customer Satisfaction Especially Important for New Products
Learning of and responding to customer dissatisfaction is especially important for newly introduced products or services. Gladwell (2002, p 278) asks what kind of people are willing to risk purchase of new products? His answer, mavens - the influencers who are information founts for others in the organization or network.
Getting feedback quickly and responding effectively can make or break such a new product. No one expects perfection but if we are not listening and fixing, that word quickly spreads throughout the network and the product is finished. With that in mind, CRM and EFM should be tuned and focused appropriately for customers using new products.
References
Gladwell, M (2002). The Tipping Point. Back Bay Books.
Getting feedback quickly and responding effectively can make or break such a new product. No one expects perfection but if we are not listening and fixing, that word quickly spreads throughout the network and the product is finished. With that in mind, CRM and EFM should be tuned and focused appropriately for customers using new products.
References
Gladwell, M (2002). The Tipping Point. Back Bay Books.
CRM and EFM Systems Compenstae for Bounded Rationality
EFM and CRM support good solid decision making in an unexpected way also. Psychologists and management theorists assert that bounded rationality confines our decision making (see Weick, 1979, p. 20 or Simon, 1960, pp 80-84). Bounded rationality means that all of us have perceptual and information processing limits. We may always intend to act fully rational but usually we act on easy to get to knowledge, use undemanding rules to search for a conclusion, and take shortcuts whenever possible.
EFM and CRM can extend the boundaries of our decision making through easy access to more and better information. In addition, they can impose rules on our account handling so we can't always take undemanding short-cuts. EFM and CRM define a process out of a chaotic void. A process can be changed and improved. Chaos remains chaos. Transparency demands that I reveal my profession is IT, one biased to processes.
Reference
Simon, H.A. (1960). Administrative Behavior: A Study of Decision-Making Processes in Administrative Organization. Macmillan.
EFM and CRM can extend the boundaries of our decision making through easy access to more and better information. In addition, they can impose rules on our account handling so we can't always take undemanding short-cuts. EFM and CRM define a process out of a chaotic void. A process can be changed and improved. Chaos remains chaos. Transparency demands that I reveal my profession is IT, one biased to processes.
Reference
Simon, H.A. (1960). Administrative Behavior: A Study of Decision-Making Processes in Administrative Organization. Macmillan.
Customer Communications
Scott (2007, pp 162-3) says that after a deal is closed with a new customer it is essential to keep a dialog with them. We need to give them ample opportunity to give us feedback, which helps us make the products better, as well as keeping them as customers. He goes on to review SugarCRM and concludes (p. 165) that to be effective, marketing must constantly measure and improve. This to me is what CRM and especially EFM systems are all about.
Musico (2009. p. 33) says we need to know our racket. This means it is crucial to have a comprehensive view of the customer, “because the only way to get that needed view of the customer …is through improved analytics.” Such an improved view of the customer can improve revenues. Musico speculates that feedback can also help improve efficiency.
References
Musico, C (2009). SERVING UP SERVICE STRATEGIES. Customer Relationship Management. Retrieved on September 9, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Scott, D (2007). The New Rules of Marketing and PR. Wiley.
Musico (2009. p. 33) says we need to know our racket. This means it is crucial to have a comprehensive view of the customer, “because the only way to get that needed view of the customer …is through improved analytics.” Such an improved view of the customer can improve revenues. Musico speculates that feedback can also help improve efficiency.
References
Musico, C (2009). SERVING UP SERVICE STRATEGIES. Customer Relationship Management. Retrieved on September 9, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Scott, D (2007). The New Rules of Marketing and PR. Wiley.
Situational Awareness with CRM and EFM
At the shore, Sandpipers walk in brisk and purposeful fashion in their pursuit of opportunities. There is a ridiculous joy watching them go about their business. As I move towards them they 
move away in unison to stay at a safe distance. When I move away, they likewise retake the territory. With their quick reaction time they appear to be reading the mind of a beachcomber like me. This is situational awareness and it makes them an apex survivor.
Customer Relationship Management and Enterprise Feedback Management systems are tools that help less capable survivors like us obtain such situational awareness. According to the Aberdeen Group, these “technologies have helped many [organizations] apply structure into the management of their customer relationships and improve customer sales, service, and profitability.” In addition, Doyle, et al (2003, p 1) report that people using these systems have the highest success rates in the business. Why? “The reason is simple: salespeople actually use it. It’s the solution they love….”
To answer the Discussion Topic posed in the WVU IMC 626 Course, I disagree that CRM/EFM are “not the way to go with large customers.” To be fair, the tool under comment was customer sat studies, but as Gartner points out, customer sat surveys are the tactical end of EFM (see Kolsky, 2006, pp 3-5). Vanides (2009, p 4) points out that CRM is the who, what, when, where and how of customers. EFM is the why. In addition, EFM provides the surveying framework for customer management. Vanides sums it up by saying (p. 1) that everyone in the organization needs sales analytics specific to his or her role.
She goes on to say (p. 4) “Measuring and predicting a customer’s attitude toward a company and/or its products, however, is still quite new, and represents the third piece of the customer
data trifecta when combined with behavioral and transactional information.” She mentions predicting. This predicting makes us quicker. We become just like Sandpipers and appear to be reading our customer’s minds.
Beasty (2007, p 29) says that companies now want to know what customers are thinking. They are turning to EFM systems for that answer. He also observes that EFMs have helped organize surveys and integrate them with the enterprise data so that the information they return can be used throughout the business (p. 30).
References
Aberdeen Group. Sovereign Bank: Improving Sales Processes and Customer Service with Salesnet. Retrieved on September 4, 2009 from WVU IMC 626 Week Three Readings.
Beasty, C. (February 2007) Feedback Mountain. Customer Relationship Management. Retrieved on September 4, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Doyle, M., Starr D., and R. Martin (2003). Salesnet: Change or Die. Retrieved on September 4, 2009 from WVU IMC 626 Week Three Readings.
Kolsky, E (May 6, 2005). Making the Transition from Surveys to Enterprise Feedback Management Systems. Gartner Research. Gartner ID# G00126781
Kolsky, E (July 5, 2006). How to Decide Which Enterprise Feedback Management Tool is Right for You. . Gartner Research. Gartner ID# G00140842
Vanides, Alexia (2009). Lesson 3: Developing OST for B-to-B DM Campaigns, About Lead Generation Management. Retrieved from WVU IMC 626 Week Three Lesson on September 4, 2009.
move away in unison to stay at a safe distance. When I move away, they likewise retake the territory. With their quick reaction time they appear to be reading the mind of a beachcomber like me. This is situational awareness and it makes them an apex survivor.Customer Relationship Management and Enterprise Feedback Management systems are tools that help less capable survivors like us obtain such situational awareness. According to the Aberdeen Group, these “technologies have helped many [organizations] apply structure into the management of their customer relationships and improve customer sales, service, and profitability.” In addition, Doyle, et al (2003, p 1) report that people using these systems have the highest success rates in the business. Why? “The reason is simple: salespeople actually use it. It’s the solution they love….”
To answer the Discussion Topic posed in the WVU IMC 626 Course, I disagree that CRM/EFM are “not the way to go with large customers.” To be fair, the tool under comment was customer sat studies, but as Gartner points out, customer sat surveys are the tactical end of EFM (see Kolsky, 2006, pp 3-5). Vanides (2009, p 4) points out that CRM is the who, what, when, where and how of customers. EFM is the why. In addition, EFM provides the surveying framework for customer management. Vanides sums it up by saying (p. 1) that everyone in the organization needs sales analytics specific to his or her role.
She goes on to say (p. 4) “Measuring and predicting a customer’s attitude toward a company and/or its products, however, is still quite new, and represents the third piece of the customer
data trifecta when combined with behavioral and transactional information.” She mentions predicting. This predicting makes us quicker. We become just like Sandpipers and appear to be reading our customer’s minds.Beasty (2007, p 29) says that companies now want to know what customers are thinking. They are turning to EFM systems for that answer. He also observes that EFMs have helped organize surveys and integrate them with the enterprise data so that the information they return can be used throughout the business (p. 30).
Enterprise Feedback management applications have three levels of functionality, (see Kolsky, 2006, pp 3-5), which are additive, the latter upon the earlier:
- Tactical: Feedback is collected through a single channel, and basic reporting is done to understand opinions and feelings on a specific subject. It lacks historical perspective, centralization, advanced analysis and integration with processes.
- Process: Feedback is used as part of a process to aid or improve profiling and interactions between the enterprise and employees, partners and customers.
- Enterprise: Feedback is accumulated and centralized from internal sources and third parties (such as market research agencies) to analyze information and reach conclusions to establish or modify a strategy, and using data mining to derive unanticipated conclusions.
References
Aberdeen Group. Sovereign Bank: Improving Sales Processes and Customer Service with Salesnet. Retrieved on September 4, 2009 from WVU IMC 626 Week Three Readings.
Beasty, C. (February 2007) Feedback Mountain. Customer Relationship Management. Retrieved on September 4, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Doyle, M., Starr D., and R. Martin (2003). Salesnet: Change or Die. Retrieved on September 4, 2009 from WVU IMC 626 Week Three Readings.
Kolsky, E (May 6, 2005). Making the Transition from Surveys to Enterprise Feedback Management Systems. Gartner Research. Gartner ID# G00126781
Kolsky, E (July 5, 2006). How to Decide Which Enterprise Feedback Management Tool is Right for You. . Gartner Research. Gartner ID# G00140842
Vanides, Alexia (2009). Lesson 3: Developing OST for B-to-B DM Campaigns, About Lead Generation Management. Retrieved from WVU IMC 626 Week Three Lesson on September 4, 2009.
Differentiating Fungible Products Through Brand Alliances
Brand alliances can be an effective method for differentiating especially a fungible product, say like bananas. In a commodity war of declining profits and upstart retail chains, one tactic a marketer and distributor like Chiquita Banana can use to differentiate itself is by co-branding its wares with Gerber baby food, Ben & Jerry's, or Mrs. Smith's Banana Cream Pies.
Keller (2008, p 289) says that co-branding can both broaden the meaning of a product and increase its access points. Co-Branding can (p. 290) create "compelling points of difference" and create access to a higher profit margin category. Spiller and Baier (2005, p 320) note that often a manufaturing intermediary has an inelastic demand for the price of a banana in comparison to shoppers at Wal-Mart (be nervous about any 800 pound gorillas in a closet with you). This is because the cost of a banana in a Cream Pie is a small part of the total cost of the ware.
References
Keller, K (2008), Strategic Brand Management. Pearson/Prentice-Hall.
Spiller, Lisa and Martin Baier (2005). Contemporary Direct Marketing. Pearson/Prentice-Hall
Keller (2008, p 289) says that co-branding can both broaden the meaning of a product and increase its access points. Co-Branding can (p. 290) create "compelling points of difference" and create access to a higher profit margin category. Spiller and Baier (2005, p 320) note that often a manufaturing intermediary has an inelastic demand for the price of a banana in comparison to shoppers at Wal-Mart (be nervous about any 800 pound gorillas in a closet with you). This is because the cost of a banana in a Cream Pie is a small part of the total cost of the ware.
References
Keller, K (2008), Strategic Brand Management. Pearson/Prentice-Hall.
Spiller, Lisa and Martin Baier (2005). Contemporary Direct Marketing. Pearson/Prentice-Hall
Symbiotic Co-Marketing Expenditures Increasing
Duncan (2005, p 510) reports that symbiotic, co-marketing expenditures have increased over the past decade at the expense of traditional consumer promotions and advertising. The reason? Several factors he says: lost effectiveness of traditional advertising, economic changes have forced marketing managers to be accountable, and finally there has been a power shift from manufacturers to retailers. Sounds like Wal-Mart and Chiquita Brands.
Duncan does say (p. 507) that a sales team must take precautions with the hippos in the channel, however. Retailers especially are often more interested in building their own brand and use co-marketing funds to subtlely do that. How to counter this misuse? Manufacturer sales teams produce their own ads or tv spots for the retailers/channel to use. The local retail outlet has a time slice to give name and address.
Reference
Duncan, T (2005). Prinicples of Advertising & IMC. McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Duncan does say (p. 507) that a sales team must take precautions with the hippos in the channel, however. Retailers especially are often more interested in building their own brand and use co-marketing funds to subtlely do that. How to counter this misuse? Manufacturer sales teams produce their own ads or tv spots for the retailers/channel to use. The local retail outlet has a time slice to give name and address.
Reference
Duncan, T (2005). Prinicples of Advertising & IMC. McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Using Equivocality in Sales Team Interaction with the Channel
Equivocality in the information a sales team presents to the channel should be varied depending on the relationship with the individual channel intermediaries. For someone not in our fold, we may be able to capture their attention and involvement by increasing equivocality in the information we exchange with them. In his work “The Social Psychology of Organizing”, Weick (1979, p 174) describes equivocality as inputs or messages that have multiple significance.
He notes that if we enter enough equivocality into the information we send to a group, that group must deal with our messages in a non-routine manner because that information will not make immediate sense and will not fit neatly into the classifications understood by the group. In other words, they question their retained beliefs about their environment, which is what we want if they are not a card-carrying, loyal customer. On the other hand, for one of our loyal customers, we would instead want our messages to erase all ambiguity in their retained beliefs about us. The information we send should re-enchant them with our offering, and reduce equivocality.
As a marketing example of a sales team using equivocality, in the late 90s, Sun Microsystems used it by raising doubts about the Air Force directory system. In turn, this impacted Microsoft Exchange, which relied heavily on the existing directory approach. Sun did not compare its messaging solution with Exchange but instead created doubt about a more fundamental USAF process that Exchange needed. Sun's proposed solution: Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI). Sun's questions about the fundamental USAF process resulted in the USAF discarding their retained beliefs about how to identify both people and resources, the essential purpose of a directory. Then Sun stepped in with the solution, which happened to use their offering, with implications for other more valuable systems downstream like Exchange messaging. This is from my own experience on a Microsoft sales team.
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. and Borland, reported in the Neale-May (2005, p. 2) article, also used equivocality. They did not first talk about the characteristics of their offering. First they raised doubt by highlighting the organizational vulnerability to obsolete software. The vehicle was a survey to C-level execs. The survey had the intended effect of challenging the orderly world view that these execs had about their information systems. As the equivocality, the little recognized discontinuity, worked its powerful wreckage on retained beliefs, Cognizant steps in and offers expertise for a solution.
I think this a useful marketing tactic with big customers, B-to-B or B-to-C. More is needed than a comparison of our offering with our competitors. Creating a point of pain that challenges retained beliefs is a better first step. Then step in with a solution. Neale-May says:
"Winning companies today go well beyond the trumpeting of product features and functions. They are now putting their solutions and services into context by mapping the market landscape to identify pain points and little-recognized vulnerabilities, risks or costs."
An equivocality is something that causes our perception of the environment to no longer make perfect sense, and it creates a need to rethink things. It can be fear, uncertainty, doubt, vulnerabilities, risks, costs and the like. Weick calls them Equivoques. They can create big reversals in the status quo.
Cognizant and Borland are a perfect example of using equivocality to create favorable change for themselves. Their survey introduced the worry over the risk and cost of obsolete software. It was information that did not fit into the orderly worldview of the C-level execs. Instead it challenged that view with a sense of vulnerability that caused them to rethink their retained beliefs about their organizations.
Wallace (1960, pp 146-52) describes the stages we go through in such a transformation.
1. Orderly Steady State
2. Increased stress in individuals
3. Organization distortions in attempting to deal with the issue and reformulate beliefs
4. Period of Revitalization - some solution is reached, communicated and the organization transformed to reflect it
5. New Steady State
The PC revolution was another like the Cognizant and Borland effort.
References
Neale-May, Donovan (September 12, 2005). Using intellectual capital to build market capital. Retrieved 9/1/2009 from http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050912/FREE/509120725
Wallace, A (1961). Culture and Personality. Random House.
Weick, Karl (1979). The Social Psychology of Organizing, 2nd Edition. McGraw-Hill.
He notes that if we enter enough equivocality into the information we send to a group, that group must deal with our messages in a non-routine manner because that information will not make immediate sense and will not fit neatly into the classifications understood by the group. In other words, they question their retained beliefs about their environment, which is what we want if they are not a card-carrying, loyal customer. On the other hand, for one of our loyal customers, we would instead want our messages to erase all ambiguity in their retained beliefs about us. The information we send should re-enchant them with our offering, and reduce equivocality.
As a marketing example of a sales team using equivocality, in the late 90s, Sun Microsystems used it by raising doubts about the Air Force directory system. In turn, this impacted Microsoft Exchange, which relied heavily on the existing directory approach. Sun did not compare its messaging solution with Exchange but instead created doubt about a more fundamental USAF process that Exchange needed. Sun's proposed solution: Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI). Sun's questions about the fundamental USAF process resulted in the USAF discarding their retained beliefs about how to identify both people and resources, the essential purpose of a directory. Then Sun stepped in with the solution, which happened to use their offering, with implications for other more valuable systems downstream like Exchange messaging. This is from my own experience on a Microsoft sales team.
Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. and Borland, reported in the Neale-May (2005, p. 2) article, also used equivocality. They did not first talk about the characteristics of their offering. First they raised doubt by highlighting the organizational vulnerability to obsolete software. The vehicle was a survey to C-level execs. The survey had the intended effect of challenging the orderly world view that these execs had about their information systems. As the equivocality, the little recognized discontinuity, worked its powerful wreckage on retained beliefs, Cognizant steps in and offers expertise for a solution.
I think this a useful marketing tactic with big customers, B-to-B or B-to-C. More is needed than a comparison of our offering with our competitors. Creating a point of pain that challenges retained beliefs is a better first step. Then step in with a solution. Neale-May says:
"Winning companies today go well beyond the trumpeting of product features and functions. They are now putting their solutions and services into context by mapping the market landscape to identify pain points and little-recognized vulnerabilities, risks or costs."
An equivocality is something that causes our perception of the environment to no longer make perfect sense, and it creates a need to rethink things. It can be fear, uncertainty, doubt, vulnerabilities, risks, costs and the like. Weick calls them Equivoques. They can create big reversals in the status quo.
Cognizant and Borland are a perfect example of using equivocality to create favorable change for themselves. Their survey introduced the worry over the risk and cost of obsolete software. It was information that did not fit into the orderly worldview of the C-level execs. Instead it challenged that view with a sense of vulnerability that caused them to rethink their retained beliefs about their organizations.
Wallace (1960, pp 146-52) describes the stages we go through in such a transformation.
1. Orderly Steady State
2. Increased stress in individuals
3. Organization distortions in attempting to deal with the issue and reformulate beliefs
4. Period of Revitalization - some solution is reached, communicated and the organization transformed to reflect it
5. New Steady State
The PC revolution was another like the Cognizant and Borland effort.
References
Neale-May, Donovan (September 12, 2005). Using intellectual capital to build market capital. Retrieved 9/1/2009 from http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050912/FREE/509120725
Wallace, A (1961). Culture and Personality. Random House.
Weick, Karl (1979). The Social Psychology of Organizing, 2nd Edition. McGraw-Hill.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Push-Pull Strategies in Symbiotic Relationships
In symbiotic relationships in nature, one party provides an instrumental service to another that benefits both. The great Canadian anthropologist Anthony Wallace (1960, pp 31-8) analyzed in
strumental and consummatory acts to model symbiotic relationships between groups or even individuals. His work applies really well to push/pull strategies.
By using an immersive mix of both push and pull strategies, you can revitalize your intermediary channel from a disorganized gang of the living dead, zombies clothed in rotted medical bandages to a crisp and professional new face for your company, one that ultimate customers hold dear. This, however, requires you to perform an instrumental act of training the channel intermediaries on the advantageous differences of your offering: Symbiotic on your part.
You may also need to create awareness of these advantageous differences with the ultimate consumer, another instrumental act. This will motivate the channel to become a better partner. Both intermediary and end consumers will also perform the consummatory act of buying your offering. Voila!
The alternative is to die a horrible death at the hands of the zombies and let them turn you into one of them when they eat your tissue or worse, turn your offering into a commodity that competes on price. Our assigned comment captures with attractive eloquence the purposes of push and pull strategies.
Spiller and Baier (2005, p271) give a more academic explanation of the concepts. In a push strategy, our sales efforts are directed at the channel to encourage intermediaries to buy our products. This is the “how [our] offering satisfies existing business customers’ desires….” A push strategy is part of supply management, making sure the channel provides our offering to the end users.
Vanides (2009, p 7) says that a serious barrier in reaching the “right prospects” is time deficit disorder. Proper preparation and understanding is a must for all would be Oxpeckers. In our readings, Omniture (2007, p 3) tells how to establish understanding through profiles or personas of our various intermediaries. So does Wallace but in 1960 personas were called modal personalities.
To continue with Spiller and Baier, a pull strategy is marketing activities directed at the ultimate consumer with the purpose of creating destination demand that pulls our offering through the intermediate channel. This is the “Sometimes demand patterns must be modified for the business customer…” in our comment. A pull strategy is demand management, making sure the end consumer demands the unique characteristics of our offering from our channel.
Two pull campaigns come to mind. “Intel Inside” and DuPont’s “Miracles of Science.” Or in a prior age, before having a chemical halo was unsightly, DuPont’s “Better living through chemistry.” Vanides (2009, p 2)
lists general DM campaign objectives including money but also responsibility to community. DuPont has something to say about this.
According to Butler (2001, p 2), DuPont’s objective in this pull strategy is to inform the buying public “what products we make and how they are used, to demonstrate that these do improve the quality of life, and therefore that DuPont is a good and useful institution that deserves political consent and business patronage.” It is an umbrella for numerous product campaigns also.
The goal of these push/pull strategies is to make it easier for our intermediaries to sell their products by accepting our support from both ends, a symbiotic relationship. Here we are now with a few of our channel intermediaries trying to keep them healthy and presentable for the viewing pleasure of our ultimate consumers.
strumental and consummatory acts to model symbiotic relationships between groups or even individuals. His work applies really well to push/pull strategies.By using an immersive mix of both push and pull strategies, you can revitalize your intermediary channel from a disorganized gang of the living dead, zombies clothed in rotted medical bandages to a crisp and professional new face for your company, one that ultimate customers hold dear. This, however, requires you to perform an instrumental act of training the channel intermediaries on the advantageous differences of your offering: Symbiotic on your part.
You may also need to create awareness of these advantageous differences with the ultimate consumer, another instrumental act. This will motivate the channel to become a better partner. Both intermediary and end consumers will also perform the consummatory act of buying your offering. Voila!
The alternative is to die a horrible death at the hands of the zombies and let them turn you into one of them when they eat your tissue or worse, turn your offering into a commodity that competes on price. Our assigned comment captures with attractive eloquence the purposes of push and pull strategies.
Spiller and Baier (2005, p271) give a more academic explanation of the concepts. In a push strategy, our sales efforts are directed at the channel to encourage intermediaries to buy our products. This is the “how [our] offering satisfies existing business customers’ desires….” A push strategy is part of supply management, making sure the channel provides our offering to the end users.
Vanides (2009, p 7) says that a serious barrier in reaching the “right prospects” is time deficit disorder. Proper preparation and understanding is a must for all would be Oxpeckers. In our readings, Omniture (2007, p 3) tells how to establish understanding through profiles or personas of our various intermediaries. So does Wallace but in 1960 personas were called modal personalities.
To continue with Spiller and Baier, a pull strategy is marketing activities directed at the ultimate consumer with the purpose of creating destination demand that pulls our offering through the intermediate channel. This is the “Sometimes demand patterns must be modified for the business customer…” in our comment. A pull strategy is demand management, making sure the end consumer demands the unique characteristics of our offering from our channel.
Two pull campaigns come to mind. “Intel Inside” and DuPont’s “Miracles of Science.” Or in a prior age, before having a chemical halo was unsightly, DuPont’s “Better living through chemistry.” Vanides (2009, p 2)
lists general DM campaign objectives including money but also responsibility to community. DuPont has something to say about this.According to Butler (2001, p 2), DuPont’s objective in this pull strategy is to inform the buying public “what products we make and how they are used, to demonstrate that these do improve the quality of life, and therefore that DuPont is a good and useful institution that deserves political consent and business patronage.” It is an umbrella for numerous product campaigns also.
The goal of these push/pull strategies is to make it easier for our intermediaries to sell their products by accepting our support from both ends, a symbiotic relationship. Here we are now with a few of our channel intermediaries trying to keep them healthy and presentable for the viewing pleasure of our ultimate consumers.
References
Butler, Steve (10/08/2001). DuPont. Chemical Market Reporter. Retrieved on August 28, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Omniture (February 2007). Online Marketer‘s Segmentation Guide. Retrieved Retrieved from WVU IMC 626 Week Two Readings on August 29, 2009
Spiller, L and M Baier, (2005). Contemporary Direct Marketing. Pearson/Prentice-Hall
Vanides, Alexia (2009). Developing OST for B-to-B DM Campaigns, About Lead Generation Management. Retrieved from WVU IMC 626 Week Two Lesson on August 29, 2009.
Wallace, AFC (1960). Culture and Personality. Random House
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Mad Men
Yeah, I watch Mad Men too. The cigarette smoking going on is not dramatic hyperbole. My dad smoked 3-4 packs a day back then. The Mad Men have mini-bars in office and drink freely all times of day. This was considered the golden age of sex – after the curative effects of penicillin had been discovered, and with a wide-ranging comfort and confidence in present and future outlooks. It was before religious revival in the 70s and there seemed to be a lack of concern about consequence.
The show also brings to mind “The Lonely Crowd,” I read in high school in the mid-sixties. The various characters in the show are tradition-directed, inner-directed or other-directed but regardless of type all of them seem to be breaking apart before our eyes, to me the picture of an unhealthy society. Change was inevitable and that is the real curative to potentially deadly defects. “My station will change after while.”
The show also brings to mind “The Lonely Crowd,” I read in high school in the mid-sixties. The various characters in the show are tradition-directed, inner-directed or other-directed but regardless of type all of them seem to be breaking apart before our eyes, to me the picture of an unhealthy society. Change was inevitable and that is the real curative to potentially deadly defects. “My station will change after while.”
Social Capital and Channel Loyalty
An important aspect of strong channel loyalty is social captial. Social capital is existing, defined relationships that make transactions easy to accomplish (see Buchanan, 2002, 201-204). Microsoft, takes care to understand how to market to each information technology segment. The intent of such understanding is to help Microsoft establish more powerful social capital than its competitors.
They especially focus on “Strategic Buyers.” Las Vegas calls them whales. These are customers who follow the 80/20 power rule - the 10% of customers who buy 90% of the goods. Microsoft sales teams visit “strategic buyers” periodically and promptly answer phone calls. Microsoft is very good at relationship marketing. Every sales team has an architectural engineer assigned to it with the mission of understanding the information technology plan of assigned corporations, their enterprise architecture and how to advantageously apply Microsoft technology to affect solutions.
Social Capital is an important advantage for Microsoft when competing with Google or Open Source. It's easier to do business with Microsoft because Microsoft has made an effort to make it so. There is someone a strategic buyer can call at any time. There are agreements and understandings from repeated meetings. Microsoft has researched and understands each customer. They know how to do business with them, they have done business with them, and have set up a repeatable process for doing business.
People may say that IBM had this social capital when Microsoft started out. The difference between Microsoft and Google is that Microsoft partnered with IBM for a decade while it learned the ropes. That's why I think Microsoft will survive Google and Open Source.
References
Buchanan, Mark (2002). Nexus: Small Worlds and the Groundbreaking Theory of Networks. Norton.
They especially focus on “Strategic Buyers.” Las Vegas calls them whales. These are customers who follow the 80/20 power rule - the 10% of customers who buy 90% of the goods. Microsoft sales teams visit “strategic buyers” periodically and promptly answer phone calls. Microsoft is very good at relationship marketing. Every sales team has an architectural engineer assigned to it with the mission of understanding the information technology plan of assigned corporations, their enterprise architecture and how to advantageously apply Microsoft technology to affect solutions.
Social Capital is an important advantage for Microsoft when competing with Google or Open Source. It's easier to do business with Microsoft because Microsoft has made an effort to make it so. There is someone a strategic buyer can call at any time. There are agreements and understandings from repeated meetings. Microsoft has researched and understands each customer. They know how to do business with them, they have done business with them, and have set up a repeatable process for doing business.
People may say that IBM had this social capital when Microsoft started out. The difference between Microsoft and Google is that Microsoft partnered with IBM for a decade while it learned the ropes. That's why I think Microsoft will survive Google and Open Source.
References
Buchanan, Mark (2002). Nexus: Small Worlds and the Groundbreaking Theory of Networks. Norton.
Personalized URL's - PURLS
A personal landing page fashioned around a specific customer is a great integration of a customer database with online technology. Offers of interest and meaningful incentives can be presented rather than the "one size fits all" approach. According to Andrus (2008, p1), a PURL "creates a one-to-one dialogue with consumers...." She goes on to say that activity tracking can be used to "contiually refine the content or offer to that specific individual."
Andrus quotes David Rosenthal that over 30% of direct mail recipients prefer to respond online. I know that's true for me. One concern that people have about PURL is the publication of PII, personally indentifiable information. Rosenthal recommends using pass codes to protect the Web page in such cases.
References
Andrus, A (09/01/2008). Personalized URLS. Marketing News. Retrieved on August 26, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Andrus quotes David Rosenthal that over 30% of direct mail recipients prefer to respond online. I know that's true for me. One concern that people have about PURL is the publication of PII, personally indentifiable information. Rosenthal recommends using pass codes to protect the Web page in such cases.
References
Andrus, A (09/01/2008). Personalized URLS. Marketing News. Retrieved on August 26, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Differences between B-to-C and B-to-B
The character of the product is different. Industrial goods are used as raw materials or other types of input to further production. Spiller and Baier (2005, p 318) inform us that B2B is marketing and sales to “industrial market intermediaries.” Such sales usually involve the sales teams of the seller visiting the buyer, whereas with B2C sales the customer visits the seller (p 319).
Furthermore, the buyer is different. Unlike with B2C, the buyer is really the buyer team. It’s more than the purchase agent. As Spiller and Baier observe (p. 331), it is more likely that “engineers, chemists, architects,” and other specialists will make the decision. The purchase agent is the liaison between the real buyers and procurement.
Another difference is the nature of the market. Industrial markets are much smaller in number (see Spiller and Baier, p. 326). In addition, there is a greater diversity of activities in each market so market segmentation is more important in B2B than B2C. This naturally brings us to the customer database. Cluster analysis (p. 330) using statistical techniques such as correlation and regression, are an essential part of the B2B marketing effort.
References
Spiller, Lisa and Martin Baier (2005). Contemporary Direct Marketing. Pearson/Prentice-Hall
Furthermore, the buyer is different. Unlike with B2C, the buyer is really the buyer team. It’s more than the purchase agent. As Spiller and Baier observe (p. 331), it is more likely that “engineers, chemists, architects,” and other specialists will make the decision. The purchase agent is the liaison between the real buyers and procurement.
Another difference is the nature of the market. Industrial markets are much smaller in number (see Spiller and Baier, p. 326). In addition, there is a greater diversity of activities in each market so market segmentation is more important in B2B than B2C. This naturally brings us to the customer database. Cluster analysis (p. 330) using statistical techniques such as correlation and regression, are an essential part of the B2B marketing effort.
References
Spiller, Lisa and Martin Baier (2005). Contemporary Direct Marketing. Pearson/Prentice-Hall
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Studying Schaeffer in the field of Humanities Enriches our Understanding of Consumer Behavior
Religion is a study in communication, but more than that, it is a study in human behavior. This article is an analysis by one of the most powerful minds of 20th century Christian apologetics. Dr. Schaeffer presents a clear justification for the Christian faith and explains the demise of its nemesis during the past few centuries, Rationalism. He is considered a founder of the Christian right (see Wikipedia, 2009, p. 1) and is often compared to C.S. Lewis or Michael Polanyi (see Burson, 1996, p. 1). Studying Schaeffer enhances our understanding of Consumer Behavior in three ways.
First it is a fundamental characteristic of a significant group of consumers in the United States and gives us understanding of that group’s behavior. According to Hawkins, et al (2007, p. 181), 79% of Americans believe in God, more than 50% say religion is an important part of their lives and 36% say they regularly attend services. Secondly, religion provides insight about human behavior. Finally, marketing is itself a religion with a commercial ratio that parallels traditional religion.
First it is a fundamental characteristic of a significant group of consumers in the United States and gives us understanding of that group’s behavior. According to Hawkins, et al (2007, p. 181), 79% of Americans believe in God, more than 50% say religion is an important part of their lives and 36% say they regularly attend services. Secondly, religion provides insight about human behavior. Finally, marketing is itself a religion with a commercial ratio that parallels traditional religion.
Marketing is a religion in that it is a meaning making process. Marketing creates an identity and negotiates its meaning and therefore its image with a target audience (see Drewniany and Jewler, 2008, pp 36-45). Marketing breathes life into the image in the imagination of the audience through communications based on a model of self-concept and perception for the audience (see Hawkins, 2007, pp 434). Redemption for those of us who worship the marketing image is through consumption rather than faith.
Schaeffer’s article analyzes the essence of the meaning making process: self-concept and perception. He tells us that the failure of Rationalism and its attendant secular humanism should not be a concern for Christians, or by extrapolation to marketers, because the presuppositions, the fundamental assumptions, of Rationalism were flawed. He argues that we can know each other, or in other words, we can know an audience. He further, convincingly, asserts that meaningful communication is possible.
Christians formed early science with the perspective that a reasonable God created the universe so therefore our communication and interaction to understand it is reasonable as well. Do we find the same perspective in early marketing, advertising and consumer behavior? According to Twitchell (1996, p. 36), there is what he calls a preponderance of “evangelical con artists” in the formation of modern marketing. He lists a dozen of the leading apostles of the then new science 
who were Christian preachers or sons and daughters of preachers, some founding agencies that continue to dominate today. One luminary is Helen Lansdowne.
who were Christian preachers or sons and daughters of preachers, some founding agencies that continue to dominate today. One luminary is Helen Lansdowne. She was the daughter of a Presbyterian minister and she studied three years at Princeton Theological before devoting herself to advertising (Twitchell, 1996, p. 33). Wikipedia (2009a, p. 1) notes that while Stanley Resor was the executive during the rise to prominence of J. Walter Thompson, Helen Lansdowne was “the creative genius behind JWT's ad campaigns.”
Pope (2003, p. 8) relates that Lansdowne’s first innovation was to advertise to the consumer’s concerns rather than about a product’s qualities. Based on her consumer findings, (p. 9) she developed the catch phrase “A Skin You Love to Touch” that she added to “gauzily romantic paintings of elegant young ladies, happily receiving the admiring attention of dashing young gentlemen.” This was not the life situation for most of the audience but she had found it to be their aspiration.
She was also the first to use sex appeal in advertising.
Schaeffer’s argument is important, postmodern despair is not any more correct than failed Rationalism. Reason can be applied to our endeavors, rather than resigning ourselves to the overwhelming effect of randomness. The consumer behavior model initiated by bible thumpers has worked and is still in use, much enhanced today by the application of reason from both academia and practice.
The self-concept of an audience can be discovered sufficiently. Meaningful communications can be made. This requires research but there should be optimism it will succeed. Hawkins, et al (2007, p. 434), like Schaeffer, divide self-concept into inner and outer spheres, they designate as the private self and the social self. They further categorize self-concept and establish relationships with it and life-styles (p. 441). This implicitly reaffirms Schaeffer’s point that although Rationalism failed as a basis to explain such actions, Christian epistemology does support the concepts of categories, self-concept, and associations between subject and the world that can be communicated.
Another area of consumer behavior that Schaeffer’s article can illuminate is an understanding of the 79% of the American public that is Christian (see Hawkins, 2007, p. 181). Hawkins, et al go on to say (p. 183) that Catholics and Protestants represent a significant subculture in the United States. They also note (p. 84) that Christians tend to be more conservative in beliefs and are active in action against non-Christian proposals such as liquor, gambling, pornography and other marketing activities. This is consistent with the activism promoted by Schaeffer, especially his later work A Christian Manifesto.
This has resulted in actions by some Christians such as boycotts. One such boycott (see Hawkins, 2007, p. 184) is against Disney. This was not only because of Disney’s support for gay and lesbian life-styles but also for a continuing practice of sexual messaging. In addition to Hawkins, et al, see Vitigliano (1997, pp 1-2), Tucker (2008, p. 1), and Anomalies Unlimited (2005, p. 1). Representative is the penis subliminal messaging in the Little Mermaid.
This caused concern, as did Disney’s misrepresentations about the relationship with the artist who admitted doing this in other work for Disney as well. It illustrates the extent some Christians pursue a company once it becomes part of their activated consciousness.
Implications for Consumer Behavior of Schaeffer’s Work
Schaeffer emphasizes the vital importance of imagination in the experience of human beings. The advertising consultant Roy Williams (2001, pp 20-1) suggests that reality begins with imagination, quoting the master philosopher Henri Poincare. Here Williams suggests that imagination becomes reality when we put energy behind it. He goes on (p. 68) to say that powerful marketing communications with the consumer begin by first engaging their imagination, “and take it where you will.” When reviewing the work of Dr. Jorge Martin de Oliveria, Williams (p. 18) extends Oliveria’s findings to marketing communications by asserting that the central aspect of all efforts in human persuasion is “the fact that people can only do what they have first imagined.”
WALLACE SAYS THAT CREATIVITY IS MOTIVATED BY THE NEED TO REDUCE THE DISONACE BETWEEN IMAGINATION AND REALITY.
A prominent example of imagination in marketing and consumer influence was by one of the most extraordinary persons of the 20th century, Greta Garbo. She captured the imagination of women in the 20s and 30s and is now considered the first new woman by feminists (see Fischer, 2001, p. 90). Both the style of her screen persona and the facts of her personal life inflamed the imaginations of her audience, primarily women. I have seen most of her movies and there is a theme in them all, a triangle – she is married to an older, overbearing man and having an affair with a younger man (see for example Vieira, 2005, p. 8). When discovered in the act, she is neither embarrassed nor repentant but instead is contemptuous, weary or angry with her older man. Conveniently for her character and to the relief of the audience, he is killed or dies off, leaving her to her virile suitor. She played her characters as women with mastery over their own image.
In her personal life, after her first films proved extremely popular and profitable, she challenged the MGM power structure. She ignored studio dictates, refused to participate in staged publicity and premiers, did not wear traditional foundational garments beneath her clothes, and was in general insubordinate, all of which created a growing tension. It reached the tipping point when she demanded seven times her salary to become the highest paid professional in the business and refused to do the film Women Love Diamonds because she thought it foolish (see Paris, 1994, pp127-8).
MGM finally detonated, finding her in breach of contract, and issued her a cease and desist letter. She went over their heads to Loews Inc., the parent company, and focused on the factual errors in the letter (see Vieira, 2005, pp 45-8). It was also observed that had MGM listened to her they would not have lost $30,000 with Women Love Diamonds (MGM went on with it using a different actress). Loews agreed, and MGM was forced to capitulate to the 21-year-old girl. The humiliation of the best brains in a place like MGM rocked Hollywood (see Paris, 1994, pp 129-30). She was given the salary and creative license and for the next decade produced a series of extremely profitable films.
In addition to her mastery of the moviegoers’ imagination, her own imagination played an important role in her success. Paris (1993, p. 9) quotes her reflecting back on her life alone, “Even as a tiny girl I preferred being alone….I could give my imagination free rein and live in a world of lovely dreams.” He also reports (p. 19) that she received intense religious training from her Lutheran church when young and later in life worked at converting to Catholicism.
Not one of my textbooks in the WVU IMC program has an index topic of imagination. Of course, I did find some by practioners such as Williams cited above. This seems to be an oversight in current academic thinking about consumer behavior. Imagination is a critical aspect of people. People of Garbo’s stature have used the imagination of their audience to create a world that could be but isn’t. Imagination is fertile ground for an aspiration that people may not have thought of or considered. Marketing that creates an imaginary world that engages the imagination of the consumer can also have the towering success that someone like Garbo achieved.
Another implication is Schaeffer’s reference to Chomsky’s Basic Grammar categories to make a point. After an exhaustive literature search on it, I found only one article not imbued with extensive mathematical symbolism, Talmy’s The Cognitive Culture System.
Talmy (1995, p 4) says there may be a correlation between Chomsky’s linguistic categories and the universals of cultural structure that Murdock reported in 1966. Murdock found the following seventy-three cultural categories in every culture:
age-grading, athletic sports, bodily adornment, calendar, cleanliness training, community organization, cooking, cooperative labor, cosmology, courtship, dancing, decorative art, divination, division of labor, dream interpretation, education, eschatology, ethics, ethnobotany, etiquette, faith healing, family, feasting, fire-making, folklore, food taboos, funeral rites, games, gestures, gift-giving, government, greetings, hair-styles, hospitality, housing, hygiene, incest taboos, inheritance rules, joking, kin groups, kinship nomenclature, language, law, luck superstitions, magic, marriage, meal times, medicine, modesty concerning natural functions, mourning, music, mythology, numerals, obstetrics, penal sanctions, personal names, population policy, postnatal care, pregnancy usages, property rights, propitiation of supernatural beings, puberty customs, religious ritual, residence rules, sexual restrictions, soul concepts, status differentiation, surgery, tool making, trade visiting, weaning, weather control.
I think this is the start of a useful taxonomy to organize our understanding of a culture, especially differences. I am not suggesting that cultures are the same in these categories as far as marketing communications is concerned. I do suggest that these seventy-three common categories would be a way of organizing culturally relevant information.
A less mathematic, more up-to-date and more actionable study in this area could benefit consumer behavior. One area that comes to mind is avoiding embarrassing cross-cultural marketing mistakes. As examples, three of the cultural cognitive categories are mourning, numerals, and athletics. The category mourning would store the aspects of mourning in different cultures, aspects such as symbolic colors, white is Asia, black in the west, and brown in India; also numerals - 13 bad luck in the U.S., and 4 is bad luck in Japan; as well as athletics - use local sports stars - Nike wasted years pushing American sports stars in Europe to no effect.
List of Figures
Figure 1 Francis Schaeffer, retrieved on April 11, 2009 from http://www.rationalpi.com/theshelter/
Figure 2 L’Abri Retreat, retrieved on April 11, 2009 from http://www.labri.org/swiss/photo.html
Figure 3 Jose Ortega y Gasset, retrieved on April 11, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Ortega_y_Gasset
Figure 4 Resor and Lansdowne, retrieved on April 11, 2009 from http://adage.com/century/people014.html
Figure 5 Woodbury Soap ad by Lansdowne, retrieved on April 11, 2009 from http://www.paperboynews.com/links.asp?catagory=4&sub_id=528
Figure 6 Disconcerting Disney Artwork, retrieved on April 11, 2009 from http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/Disney/Mermaid.html
Figure 7 Greta Garbo in Mysterious Lady, digital rights owned by George Ray
(these images are incorporated according to the Fair Use provisions of the copyright laws for educational purpose)
References
Anomolies Unlimited (2005). Well, it does look like one. Retrieved on April 10, 2009 from http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/Disney/Mermaid.html
Burson, Scott R. (Summer 1996). A Comparative Analysis of C. S. Lewis and Francis Schaeffer-The Most Influential Apologists of Our Time. Lamp-Post of the Southern California C. S. Lewis Society 1996 Summer; 20 (2): 4-29. Retrieved on April 5, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Clarkson, Frederick (1994). "Theocratic Dominionism Gains Influence". The Public Eye Magazine VIII (1 & 2). Retrieved on April 9, 2009 from http://www.publiceye.org/magazine/v08n1/chrisre2.html
Cochrane, Matthew (April 24, 2007). Book Review: A Christian Manifesto. Retrieved on April 9, 2009 from http://www.notconformedthoughts.com/displayone.cfm?docid=2857
Drewniany, B and J Jewler (2008). Creative Strategy in Advertising. Wadsworth.
Elliott, Hannah (November 20, 2006 ) Baylor prof says Francis Schaeffer returned to fundamentalist views. Associated Baptist Press. Retrieved on April 9, 2009 from http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1628&Itemid=119
Gelles, John (Oct 12, 2007). Ann Coulter's Ridiculous Claim that Jews Are Christians! Retrieved on April 10, 2009 from http://www.amazon.com/tag/politics/forum?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx1S3QSZRUL93V8&cdPage=6&cdThread=Tx2MR9D14ZDZGZA&cdShowEdit=Mx300RQENP9YDC7
Hamilton, Gregory W. (2007). A Review of “A Christian Manifesto” in the Light of Scriptural Revelation. Liberty Express journal. Retrieved on April 9, 2009 from http://www.nrla.com/article.php?id=29
Hawkins, Del, David Mothersbaugh and Roger Best (2007). Consumer Behavior. McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Kaplan, Robert (2001). The Coming Anarchy. Vintage.
Olasky, Marvin (March 03, 2005). Francis Schaeffer's political legacy. TownHall.Com. Retrieved on April 9, 2009 from http://townhall.com/columnists/MarvinOlasky/2005/03/03/francis_schaeffers_political_legacy
Parkhurst, L.G. (2008). Francis and Edith Schaeffer. Retrieved on April 9, 2009 from http://labri.net/FAS/content/view/27/27/
Pope, Daniel (6/13/2003). Making Sense of Advertisements. George Mason University.
Retrieved on April 8, 2009 from http://historymatters.gmu.edu/mse/ads/ads.pdf )
Schaefer, Francis (January 1972). He is There and He is not Silent. Bibliotheca Sacra. Retrieved on April 2, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Spanos, William (4/22/2003 ). The Detective and The Boundary: Some Notes on PostModern Literary Imagination. State University of New York at Binghamton. Retrieved on April 7, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Taleb, Nassim Nickolas (2007). The Black Swan. Random House.
Talmy, Leonard (Jan 95). The cognitive culture system. Monist; Jan95, Vol. 78 Issue 1, p80, 35p. Retrieved on April 8, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Tucker, Maryanne (2008). Subliminal Messaging and The Disney Corporation. Retrieved on April 10, 2009 from http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~jporter/maryanne_web/index_files/Page766.htm
Twitchell, James (1996). AdCult USA. Columbia Press.
Vitagliano, Ed (1997). Why Boycott Disney? AFA Journal. Retrieved on April 10, 2009 from http://www.solargeneral.com/ja/disney/why_boycott_disney.htm
Wallace, AFC (1963). Culture and Personality. Random House.
Wikipedia (2009). Francis Schaeffer. Retrieved on April 7, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Schaeffer
Wikipedia (2009a). Stanley Resor. Retrieved on April 7, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_B._Resor
Whitehead, John W. (3/8/2007). Is the Christian Right a Fascist Movement? The Rutherford Institute. Retrieved on April 9, 2009 from http://www.rutherford.org/articles_db/commentary.asp?record_id=462
Williams, Roy (2001). Magical Worlds of the Wizard of Ads. Bard Press.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Critque of Francis Schaefer’s Article "He is There and He is not Silent" from Bibliotheca Sacra
Primary Strengths
Dr. Schaeffer looks beyond the failure of Rationalism, because its failure does not require us to abandon the hope it failed to justify. It masqueraded as a foundation for the hope of improving the human condition but has been exposed by philosophy as groundless. In contrast, the nemesis to despair is an ancient epistemology that Rationalism rose up to challenge some three hundred years ago. Schaeffer argues convincingly that this framework for knowledge and reason is true; it has withstood the test of free inquiry by skeptics.
This is important in all realms of human life and Schaeffer uses early science as an illustration. Early science, that of Galileo, Copernicus, Newton and the others was based on the ancient epistemology, while modern science is based on Rationalism. The fall of Rationalism has taken modern science down with it.
The implications for the failure of modern science are profound. Schaeffer says science will die, becoming only technology. By this he means that it is no longer a process for discovery but merely a mechanism to record evidence. He further asserts that science has become a game of splintering its body of findings into ever more finite categories. Science is disappearing.
Kaplan (2001, pp 172-3, 183) notes that this splintering produces “grave deformities” and “vicious forms of human existence.” He recounts the 1929 work of Jose Ortega y Gasset in The Revolt of the Masses.
Mass man knows expertly his small island but is ignorant of the rest of the world and has no bridge to reach it. So it is with the splinters of modern science. There has supposedly been a rapid expansion of knowledge but how much is useful, how much is even usable? Gasset finds an inverse relation between wisdom and specialization. Schaeffer’s anticipation of this is impressive.
The failure of Rationalism has infected other realms with its despair. Spanos (2003, p. 148) informs us that the underlying motif in Postmodern literature, dread, has its source in the rejection of Logical Positivism, an ineffectual last stand of Rationalism. Dread is defined as anxiety with no specific object, distinct from fear that does have a specific object. This manifests itself in Postmodern literature as a rejection of the ending as a solution to the narrative (p. 152), and a refusal to “fulfill causally oriented expectations” (p. 148). In other words, it is a rejection (p. 154) of the “detective story,” which has a rational solution “generated by the scientific analysis of the man-in-the-world.” Consumer behavior and marketing communications form a detective story in an ad campaign. Postmodern literature rejects this format.
Worse comes. Schaeffer effectively argues that a failure of Rationalism was its inability to establish reasonable principles or universals, something that has always been possible from the Judeo-Christian position. This inability may lead to the disappearance of principle-based policy in the postmodern world. Consensus, the compromise of principles (that we are unsure of anyway) becomes the guiding principle. Kaplan (2001, pp 169-185) sees a danger in peace as a primary goal because this “implies that you will [compromise] any principle for the sake of it.”
Why did Rationalism fail? Taleb (2007, pp 52-3,55,65,69,101,220) recounts numerous points of failure such as round-trip fallacies, domain specificity, naïve empiricism, post hoc rationalization, the narrative fallacy, silent evidence and others. While he uses sound reasoning, Taleb is hesitant to generalize to find a root cause.
On the other hand, Schaeffer is willing to propose the root cause that explains all the others. The presupposition of Rationalism did not explain mankind or our world; it is impossible to derive a uniformity of natural causes in a closed system. Today it’s more intellectual to say there are no answers – Schaeffer says that is exactly the point of Christ. Man starting from himself is lost. Schaeffer finds the worst failure of Rationalism is its inability to understand mankind – our self-concept, our communications, and our free will. We are not a machine to be manipulated in a closed system. Nor are we entirely subject to the whims of randomness.
Problems with the Article “He is There and He is not Silent”
As noted above, the political activism of the Christian Right, especially with George W. Bush, has accelerated an increasing polarization. Schaeffer was conciliatory in reaching out to people but introduced a strident and defensive attitude to the Rationalistic and Humanistic attacks on Christianity. He researched and counter-attacked these viewpoints, and his stridence is evident in this article. The modern Christian Right has not been conciliatory in its dealings with people. Ann Coulter is a prime example. She has been outspoken in her attack on Humanism and its stepchild, liberalism. Gelles (2007, p1) quotes her
"I'm a Christian first and a mean-spirited, bigoted conservative second, and don't you ever forget it."
“Christianity fuels everything I write. Being a Christian means that I am called upon to do battle against lies, injustice, cruelty, hypocrisy - you know, all the virtues in the church of liberalism."
She is attractive and eloquent but I would fear being in a casual conversation with her.
Another problem with Schaeffer’s article is it presumes knowledge of theological and philosophical terms and concepts. It starts with the knowledge that Rationalism is dead, but many are not so aware of its demise, even scientists. In addition to its philosophic death, leading intellects such as Einstein attacked it as biased and false, such as in his article “Physics and Reality” in the March 1936 edition of the Journal of the Franklin Institute. The eminent scientist Michael Polanyi demolished Rationalism and the positivism of the scientific method in his epic work Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy (1958). A bibliography of articles on the failure of Rationalism that led to postmodernism, linguistic analysis and other replacement epistemologies would be helpful. It is presumed the reader already has such knowledge.
How to Improve He is There and He is not Silent
This article attempted to cover substantial ground in a short 19 pages. A major improvement is to provide more canvas to fully develop the ideas in this article. This is what happened after the 1972 lecture at Dallas Theological Seminary and the Bibliotheca Sacra article. Schaeffer authored a book by the same name, which was published after the article.
Was the Study Biased
Yes. Schaeffer was an evangelical Christian and that is clear throughout all his writings. The article itself was published in a theological journal. Not all critics of Rationalism share Schaeffer’s optimism. Most notably to my knowledge, Nassim Taleb who is not a Christian and I will review his Book, The Black Swan next week. While the Schaeffer article is biased, it is transparent. He does not try to persuade the reader of the correctness of the Christian position while hiding the fact that he is a Christian.
References
Anomolies Unlimited (2005). Well, it does look like one. Retrieved on April 10, 2009 from http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/Disney/Mermaid.html
Burson, Scott R. (Summer 1996). A Comparative Analysis of C. S. Lewis and Francis Schaeffer-The Most Influential Apologists of Our Time. Lamp-Post of the Southern California C. S. Lewis Society 1996 Summer; 20 (2): 4-29. Retrieved on April 5, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Clarkson, Frederick (1994). "Theocratic Dominionism Gains Influence". The Public Eye Magazine VIII (1 & 2). Retrieved on April 9, 2009 from http://www.publiceye.org/magazine/v08n1/chrisre2.html
Cochrane, Matthew (April 24, 2007). Book Review: A Christian Manifesto. Retrieved on April 9, 2009 from http://www.notconformedthoughts.com/displayone.cfm?docid=2857
Drewniany, B and J Jewler (2008). Creative Strategy in Advertising. Wadsworth.
Elliott, Hannah (November 20, 2006 ) Baylor prof says Francis Schaeffer returned to fundamentalist views. Associated Baptist Press. Retrieved on April 9, 2009 from http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1628&Itemid=119
Gelles, John (Oct 12, 2007). Ann Coulter's Ridiculous Claim that Jews Are Christians! Retrieved on April 10, 2009 from http://www.amazon.com/tag/politics/forum?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx1S3QSZRUL93V8&cdPage=6&cdThread=Tx2MR9D14ZDZGZA&cdShowEdit=Mx300RQENP9YDC7
Hamilton, Gregory W. (2007). A Review of “A Christian Manifesto” in the Light of Scriptural Revelation. Liberty Express journal. Retrieved on April 9, 2009 from http://www.nrla.com/article.php?id=29
Hawkins, Del, David Mothersbaugh and Roger Best (2007). Consumer Behavior. McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Kaplan, Robert (2001). The Coming Anarchy. Vintage.
Olasky, Marvin (March 03, 2005). Francis Schaeffer's political legacy. TownHall.Com. Retrieved on April 9, 2009 from http://townhall.com/columnists/MarvinOlasky/2005/03/03/francis_schaeffers_political_legacy
Parkhurst, L.G. (2008). Francis and Edith Schaeffer. Retrieved on April 9, 2009 from http://labri.net/FAS/content/view/27/27/
Pope, Daniel (6/13/2003). Making Sense of Advertisements. George Mason University.
Retrieved on April 8, 2009 from http://historymatters.gmu.edu/mse/ads/ads.pdf )
Schaefer, Francis (January 1972). He is There and He is not Silent. Bibliotheca Sacra. Retrieved on April 2, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Spanos, William (4/22/2003 ). The Detective and The Boundary: Some Notes on PostModern Literary Imagination. State University of New York at Binghamton. Retrieved on April 7, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Taleb, Nassim Nickolas (2007). The Black Swan. Random House.
Talmy, Leonard (Jan 95). The cognitive culture system. Monist; Jan95, Vol. 78 Issue 1, p80, 35p. Retrieved on April 8, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Tucker, Maryanne (2008). Subliminal Messaging and The Disney Corporation. Retrieved on April 10, 2009 from http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~jporter/maryanne_web/index_files/Page766.htm
Twitchell, James (1996). AdCult USA. Columbia Press.
Vitagliano, Ed (1997). Why Boycott Disney? AFA Journal. Retrieved on April 10, 2009 from http://www.solargeneral.com/ja/disney/why_boycott_disney.htm
Wallace, AFC (1963). Culture and Personality. Random House.
Wikipedia (2009). Francis Schaeffer. Retrieved on April 7, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Schaeffer
Wikipedia (2009a). Stanley Resor. Retrieved on April 7, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_B._Resor
Whitehead, John W. (3/8/2007). Is the Christian Right a Fascist Movement? The Rutherford Institute. Retrieved on April 9, 2009 from http://www.rutherford.org/articles_db/commentary.asp?record_id=462
Williams, Roy (2001). Magical Worlds of the Wizard of Ads. Bard Press.
Dr. Schaeffer looks beyond the failure of Rationalism, because its failure does not require us to abandon the hope it failed to justify. It masqueraded as a foundation for the hope of improving the human condition but has been exposed by philosophy as groundless. In contrast, the nemesis to despair is an ancient epistemology that Rationalism rose up to challenge some three hundred years ago. Schaeffer argues convincingly that this framework for knowledge and reason is true; it has withstood the test of free inquiry by skeptics.
This is important in all realms of human life and Schaeffer uses early science as an illustration. Early science, that of Galileo, Copernicus, Newton and the others was based on the ancient epistemology, while modern science is based on Rationalism. The fall of Rationalism has taken modern science down with it.
The implications for the failure of modern science are profound. Schaeffer says science will die, becoming only technology. By this he means that it is no longer a process for discovery but merely a mechanism to record evidence. He further asserts that science has become a game of splintering its body of findings into ever more finite categories. Science is disappearing.
Kaplan (2001, pp 172-3, 183) notes that this splintering produces “grave deformities” and “vicious forms of human existence.” He recounts the 1929 work of Jose Ortega y Gasset in The Revolt of the Masses.
Mass man knows expertly his small island but is ignorant of the rest of the world and has no bridge to reach it. So it is with the splinters of modern science. There has supposedly been a rapid expansion of knowledge but how much is useful, how much is even usable? Gasset finds an inverse relation between wisdom and specialization. Schaeffer’s anticipation of this is impressive.
The failure of Rationalism has infected other realms with its despair. Spanos (2003, p. 148) informs us that the underlying motif in Postmodern literature, dread, has its source in the rejection of Logical Positivism, an ineffectual last stand of Rationalism. Dread is defined as anxiety with no specific object, distinct from fear that does have a specific object. This manifests itself in Postmodern literature as a rejection of the ending as a solution to the narrative (p. 152), and a refusal to “fulfill causally oriented expectations” (p. 148). In other words, it is a rejection (p. 154) of the “detective story,” which has a rational solution “generated by the scientific analysis of the man-in-the-world.” Consumer behavior and marketing communications form a detective story in an ad campaign. Postmodern literature rejects this format.
Worse comes. Schaeffer effectively argues that a failure of Rationalism was its inability to establish reasonable principles or universals, something that has always been possible from the Judeo-Christian position. This inability may lead to the disappearance of principle-based policy in the postmodern world. Consensus, the compromise of principles (that we are unsure of anyway) becomes the guiding principle. Kaplan (2001, pp 169-185) sees a danger in peace as a primary goal because this “implies that you will [compromise] any principle for the sake of it.”
Why did Rationalism fail? Taleb (2007, pp 52-3,55,65,69,101,220) recounts numerous points of failure such as round-trip fallacies, domain specificity, naïve empiricism, post hoc rationalization, the narrative fallacy, silent evidence and others. While he uses sound reasoning, Taleb is hesitant to generalize to find a root cause.
On the other hand, Schaeffer is willing to propose the root cause that explains all the others. The presupposition of Rationalism did not explain mankind or our world; it is impossible to derive a uniformity of natural causes in a closed system. Today it’s more intellectual to say there are no answers – Schaeffer says that is exactly the point of Christ. Man starting from himself is lost. Schaeffer finds the worst failure of Rationalism is its inability to understand mankind – our self-concept, our communications, and our free will. We are not a machine to be manipulated in a closed system. Nor are we entirely subject to the whims of randomness.
Problems with the Article “He is There and He is not Silent”
As noted above, the political activism of the Christian Right, especially with George W. Bush, has accelerated an increasing polarization. Schaeffer was conciliatory in reaching out to people but introduced a strident and defensive attitude to the Rationalistic and Humanistic attacks on Christianity. He researched and counter-attacked these viewpoints, and his stridence is evident in this article. The modern Christian Right has not been conciliatory in its dealings with people. Ann Coulter is a prime example. She has been outspoken in her attack on Humanism and its stepchild, liberalism. Gelles (2007, p1) quotes her
"I'm a Christian first and a mean-spirited, bigoted conservative second, and don't you ever forget it."
“Christianity fuels everything I write. Being a Christian means that I am called upon to do battle against lies, injustice, cruelty, hypocrisy - you know, all the virtues in the church of liberalism."
She is attractive and eloquent but I would fear being in a casual conversation with her.
Another problem with Schaeffer’s article is it presumes knowledge of theological and philosophical terms and concepts. It starts with the knowledge that Rationalism is dead, but many are not so aware of its demise, even scientists. In addition to its philosophic death, leading intellects such as Einstein attacked it as biased and false, such as in his article “Physics and Reality” in the March 1936 edition of the Journal of the Franklin Institute. The eminent scientist Michael Polanyi demolished Rationalism and the positivism of the scientific method in his epic work Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy (1958). A bibliography of articles on the failure of Rationalism that led to postmodernism, linguistic analysis and other replacement epistemologies would be helpful. It is presumed the reader already has such knowledge.
How to Improve He is There and He is not Silent
This article attempted to cover substantial ground in a short 19 pages. A major improvement is to provide more canvas to fully develop the ideas in this article. This is what happened after the 1972 lecture at Dallas Theological Seminary and the Bibliotheca Sacra article. Schaeffer authored a book by the same name, which was published after the article.
Was the Study Biased
Yes. Schaeffer was an evangelical Christian and that is clear throughout all his writings. The article itself was published in a theological journal. Not all critics of Rationalism share Schaeffer’s optimism. Most notably to my knowledge, Nassim Taleb who is not a Christian and I will review his Book, The Black Swan next week. While the Schaeffer article is biased, it is transparent. He does not try to persuade the reader of the correctness of the Christian position while hiding the fact that he is a Christian.
References
Anomolies Unlimited (2005). Well, it does look like one. Retrieved on April 10, 2009 from http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/Disney/Mermaid.html
Burson, Scott R. (Summer 1996). A Comparative Analysis of C. S. Lewis and Francis Schaeffer-The Most Influential Apologists of Our Time. Lamp-Post of the Southern California C. S. Lewis Society 1996 Summer; 20 (2): 4-29. Retrieved on April 5, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Clarkson, Frederick (1994). "Theocratic Dominionism Gains Influence". The Public Eye Magazine VIII (1 & 2). Retrieved on April 9, 2009 from http://www.publiceye.org/magazine/v08n1/chrisre2.html
Cochrane, Matthew (April 24, 2007). Book Review: A Christian Manifesto. Retrieved on April 9, 2009 from http://www.notconformedthoughts.com/displayone.cfm?docid=2857
Drewniany, B and J Jewler (2008). Creative Strategy in Advertising. Wadsworth.
Elliott, Hannah (November 20, 2006 ) Baylor prof says Francis Schaeffer returned to fundamentalist views. Associated Baptist Press. Retrieved on April 9, 2009 from http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1628&Itemid=119
Gelles, John (Oct 12, 2007). Ann Coulter's Ridiculous Claim that Jews Are Christians! Retrieved on April 10, 2009 from http://www.amazon.com/tag/politics/forum?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx1S3QSZRUL93V8&cdPage=6&cdThread=Tx2MR9D14ZDZGZA&cdShowEdit=Mx300RQENP9YDC7
Hamilton, Gregory W. (2007). A Review of “A Christian Manifesto” in the Light of Scriptural Revelation. Liberty Express journal. Retrieved on April 9, 2009 from http://www.nrla.com/article.php?id=29
Hawkins, Del, David Mothersbaugh and Roger Best (2007). Consumer Behavior. McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Kaplan, Robert (2001). The Coming Anarchy. Vintage.
Olasky, Marvin (March 03, 2005). Francis Schaeffer's political legacy. TownHall.Com. Retrieved on April 9, 2009 from http://townhall.com/columnists/MarvinOlasky/2005/03/03/francis_schaeffers_political_legacy
Parkhurst, L.G. (2008). Francis and Edith Schaeffer. Retrieved on April 9, 2009 from http://labri.net/FAS/content/view/27/27/
Pope, Daniel (6/13/2003). Making Sense of Advertisements. George Mason University.
Retrieved on April 8, 2009 from http://historymatters.gmu.edu/mse/ads/ads.pdf )
Schaefer, Francis (January 1972). He is There and He is not Silent. Bibliotheca Sacra. Retrieved on April 2, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Spanos, William (4/22/2003 ). The Detective and The Boundary: Some Notes on PostModern Literary Imagination. State University of New York at Binghamton. Retrieved on April 7, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Taleb, Nassim Nickolas (2007). The Black Swan. Random House.
Talmy, Leonard (Jan 95). The cognitive culture system. Monist; Jan95, Vol. 78 Issue 1, p80, 35p. Retrieved on April 8, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Tucker, Maryanne (2008). Subliminal Messaging and The Disney Corporation. Retrieved on April 10, 2009 from http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~jporter/maryanne_web/index_files/Page766.htm
Twitchell, James (1996). AdCult USA. Columbia Press.
Vitagliano, Ed (1997). Why Boycott Disney? AFA Journal. Retrieved on April 10, 2009 from http://www.solargeneral.com/ja/disney/why_boycott_disney.htm
Wallace, AFC (1963). Culture and Personality. Random House.
Wikipedia (2009). Francis Schaeffer. Retrieved on April 7, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Schaeffer
Wikipedia (2009a). Stanley Resor. Retrieved on April 7, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_B._Resor
Whitehead, John W. (3/8/2007). Is the Christian Right a Fascist Movement? The Rutherford Institute. Retrieved on April 9, 2009 from http://www.rutherford.org/articles_db/commentary.asp?record_id=462
Williams, Roy (2001). Magical Worlds of the Wizard of Ads. Bard Press.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Summary of Francis Schaefer’s Article "He is There and He is not Silent" from Bibliotheca Sacra
Introduction
Although relatively unknown in the general population, the theologian and philosopher Francis Schaeffer has had a tremendous impact on both Christian thought and American politics in the second half of the 20th century. Schaeffer was an early proponent of Christian activism and his works, including this one, formed the philosophic foundation for the Christian Right (see Clarkson, 1994, p. 2; Elliot, 2006, p. 1; and Olasky, 2005, p. 1). Elliot and Olasky credit Schaeffer for the presidency of George W. Bush.
Although relatively unknown in the general population, the theologian and philosopher Francis Schaeffer has had a tremendous impact on both Christian thought and American politics in the second half of the 20th century. Schaeffer was an early proponent of Christian activism and his works, including this one, formed the philosophic foundation for the Christian Right (see Clarkson, 1994, p. 2; Elliot, 2006, p. 1; and Olasky, 2005, p. 1). Elliot and Olasky credit Schaeffer for the presidency of George W. Bush.
Parkhurst (2008, p. 2) quotes Ronald Reagan and Billy Graham in eulogies for Schaeffer, who died on May 15, 1984. Reagan said, “He will long be remembered as one of the great Christian thinkers of our century.” Billy Graham said, “[Schaeffer is] truly one of the great evangelical statesmen of our generation.” Other prominent theologians who were profoundly influenced by Schaeffer’s works include Tim LaHaye, Hal Lindsay, and Jerry Falwell.
Ann Coulter, a spokeswoman for the Christian Right has popularized his later work on the conflict between the humanist and Christian worldviews (see Cochrane, 2007, p. 1; and Whitehead, 2007, p. 1). She is more strident than Schaeffer, who was more passive in his argumentation. Whitehead is opposed to both Coulter and Schaeffer. Billy Graham also expressed concern, despite respect for Schaeffer (see Hamilton, 2007, p. 3),
“It would disturb me if there was a wedding between the religious fundamentalists and the political right. [They have] no interest in religion except to manipulate it.”
This article, He is There and He is not Silent, is a summary of Schaeffer’s views on Rationalism and not humanism. Originally delivered as a lecture at the Dallas Theological Seminary it was then published as an article in the journal Bibliotheca Sacra and later expanded into a book.
Summary
The journal article was published in 1972, and in it Schaeffer analyzes the failure of Rationalism that became manifest in the 20th century and that is metastasizing in western culture today. The hope of societies based on Rationalism was the advancement of the human condition through the application of reason in a closed system of natural causes (See Schaffer, 1972, p. 5).
Rationalism has two parts, the induction of universals through rational analysis and their application to particular circumstances. This duality remerged in the humanistic renaissance (p. 4) with separate methodologies for deriving the universal truths and then applying them. Derivation proved problematic for the enlightened thinkers descended from the renaissance but as Schaeffer notes, not for the Christian thinkers descended from the reformation.
Application of universal truths to obtain conclusions has proved problematic also. Early monotonic logics produced optimism because they assumed the addition of another assumption to an argument with an already validated conclusion would not invalidate the conclusion. Or in other words, learning a new piece of knowledge cannot reduce the set of what is known. With more modern non-monotonic systems of logic this is not true. A new assumption may reverse a conclusion, which was validated under the original set of assumptions.
To Schaeffer, the difference between Christian revelation thinking and that of failed Rationalism, so admitted by modern philosophy, is that the fundamental Christian presupposition is the uniformity of natural causes in an open system. Schaeffer condemns modern intellectual thinking for its insistence on the closed system despite the evidence that its conclusions are “opposed to man’s knowledge of himself,” and ultimately dehumanize us (p. 4).
Christian epistemology allows for universals to come from outside the system, from One who does have true knowledge of the universals. It also explains the provision of sufficient but not exhaustive knowledge for applications of the universals, including communications between ourselves. On the other hand, Rationalism failed. Modern intellectualism sees the failure but does not change, preferring instead to live inside the failure.
Schaeffer observes a fundamental inconsistency in modern Rationalism. Language is the distinction between man and non-man and so says secular anthropology. Mankind uses structured and propositional communications. This is not possible for man trapped in the uniformity of causes in a closed system. Structured and propositional scrutiny is admittedly not possible in this framework, much less communication. Schaeffer’s point (p. 5) is that Rationalism, modern philosophy, and modern intellectualism fails to explain man, fails to explain the universe and fails to “stand up in the area of epistemology.”
In contrast, Christian presuppositions do form a basis for optimism on mankind’s ability for structured and propositional analysis. Furthermore, we have assurance of our ability to meaningfully communicate with each other, and for God to communicate with us (p. 6). He references the argument of Oppenheimer and Whitehead that modern science could only have been initially formed in the Christian setting (p. 7). The founders of modern science believed, as Whitehead so delightfully said “that because God is a reasonable God, man could discover the truth of the universe by reason.”
This framework enables a meaningful association to be established between a subject and object (p. 8). Furthermore, real values can be established regarding these associations that go beyond mere sociological averages. He goes on to say that this is how mankind acts in the world. There is a correlation between a subject and some object that is there. If we are in a room with an angry grizzly bear, we are not confused about the associated danger. The Christian view is in line with the way we all act in the world (p. 9). This extends into our interpersonal relations. We don’t have the sociopathic view of other people as machines to be manipulated.
Of communications, he says there are three possible views. The first is that meaning is so integrated with our personal background that no communication at all is possible. The second is that the meaning is entirely in the words or symbols and we are instantly assured of understanding. These two extremes are not how the world works. The third and proper view is that we all bring our own backgrounds to languages but there is enough overlap to “have a sufficient meaning for communication.”
He concludes this section of the article with the observation that we do not require an exhaustive knowledge of an object to have a meaningful association with it. We can truly know something without knowing it exhaustively. There only needs to be sufficient correlation (p. 10).
Schaeffer then discusses the reasonableness of categories. He argues that a reasonable God created the universe and therefore we should not be surprised that He created mental categories to organize our understanding of that world. The categories in the human mind fit with the categories of the external world (p. 11). He cites the work of Chomsky and Levi Strauss that investigated the uniform categories in the human mind.
The Bible not only gives us a propositional revelation about the world but more importantly shows how God works in the world (p. 12). This operation is in stark contrast to the “tremendous rushing wall of modern thinking.” The transcendent God operates with the understanding He revealed in the Bible. He only operates outside the world He created to prove a communication and these are the miracles, the proof of a prophecy.
What He tells us in the Bible is not exhaustive because our finiteness would not comprehend it. He gives us sufficient revelation to understand its nature. This gives us an epistemological certainty about the world of objects (p. 13). Science today is at risk of dying (p. 8). It has become a game in two ways (p. 13). First it has lost its basis for objective discovery. It has become only a method to record evidence. He compares scientists to ski bums who focus on one thing, and think of nothing outside of that one thing, no attempt to relate it to other knowledge. Secondly, as a game, scientists are manipulating their work according to their desires rather than being consistent with objective conduct and findings (p. 14).
The Christian precept of knowing without knowing exhaustively can also be applied to have true knowledge of someone else, knowing the inward person as distinct from his or her outward façade. Dr. Schaeffer as founder and director of the L’Abri foundation worked with young people from around the world and one of their primary concerns is the ability to know someone else and not just the outward persona. Schaeffer argues that again we do not need to know each other exhaustively so we don’t need to know another person perfectly to relate to them. He says (p. 15) that the “inward areas of knowing and meaning are bound by God as much as the outward world.”
We were made in the image of God so there is a basis from working with the outside façade to understand the inner person. Schaeffer also notes that the last commandment is not to covet. This is the internal world of a person. You shall not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor. It tells us something about the internal person.
He continues, that people want to have communication but find themselves in an inhuman mechanical world. The boy and the girl want to be open with each other yet the long married man and woman are completely alienated (p. 17). The solution is to bring the inner world of meaning, values and morals under God’s norms.
Finally, Schaeffer discusses what is real as distinct from what is fanciful supposition so we can have a proper foundation for decision-making. Created in the image of God, our imaginations are not confined to the real world. We can change things in our imagination and this is the moving force behind art, poetry, engineering and other human activity. This final point is fundamental and he eloquently expresses it.
“The Christian should be the person who is alive, whose imagination absolutely boils, who dares to produce something a little different than God’s world because God made man to be creative.”
List of Figures
Figure 1 Francis Schaeffer, retrieved on April 11, 2009 from http://www.rationalpi.com/theshelter/
Figure 2 L’Abri Retreat, retrieved on April 11, 2009 from http://www.labri.org/swiss/photo.html
Figure 3 Jose Ortega y Gasset, retrieved on April 11, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/José_Ortega_y_Gasset
Figure 4 Resor and Lansdowne, retrieved on April 11, 2009 from http://adage.com/century/people014.html
Figure 5 Woodbury Soap ad by Lansdowne, retrieved on April 11, 2009 from http://www.paperboynews.com/links.asp?catagory=4&sub_id=528
Figure 6 Disconcerting Disney Artwork, retrieved on April 11, 2009 from http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/Disney/Mermaid.html
Figure 7 Greta Garbo in Mysterious Lady, digital rights owned by George Ray
(these images are incorporated according to the Fair Use provisions of the copyright laws for educational purpose)
References
Anomolies Unlimited (2005). Well, it does look like one. Retrieved on April 10, 2009 from http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/Disney/Mermaid.html
Burson, Scott R. (Summer 1996). A Comparative Analysis of C. S. Lewis and Francis Schaeffer-The Most Influential Apologists of Our Time. Lamp-Post of the Southern California C. S. Lewis Society 1996 Summer; 20 (2): 4-29. Retrieved on April 5, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Clarkson, Frederick (1994). "Theocratic Dominionism Gains Influence". The Public Eye Magazine VIII (1 & 2). Retrieved on April 9, 2009 from http://www.publiceye.org/magazine/v08n1/chrisre2.html
Cochrane, Matthew (April 24, 2007). Book Review: A Christian Manifesto. Retrieved on April 9, 2009 from http://www.notconformedthoughts.com/displayone.cfm?docid=2857
Drewniany, B and J Jewler (2008). Creative Strategy in Advertising. Wadsworth.
Elliott, Hannah (November 20, 2006 ) Baylor prof says Francis Schaeffer returned to fundamentalist views. Associated Baptist Press. Retrieved on April 9, 2009 from http://www.abpnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1628&Itemid=119
Gelles, John (Oct 12, 2007). Ann Coulter's Ridiculous Claim that Jews Are Christians! Retrieved on April 10, 2009 from http://www.amazon.com/tag/politics/forum?_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx1S3QSZRUL93V8&cdPage=6&cdThread=Tx2MR9D14ZDZGZA&cdShowEdit=Mx300RQENP9YDC7
Hamilton, Gregory W. (2007). A Review of “A Christian Manifesto” in the Light of Scriptural Revelation. Liberty Express journal. Retrieved on April 9, 2009 from http://www.nrla.com/article.php?id=29
Hawkins, Del, David Mothersbaugh and Roger Best (2007). Consumer Behavior. McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Kaplan, Robert (2001). The Coming Anarchy. Vintage.
Olasky, Marvin (March 03, 2005). Francis Schaeffer's political legacy. TownHall.Com. Retrieved on April 9, 2009 from http://townhall.com/columnists/MarvinOlasky/2005/03/03/francis_schaeffers_political_legacy
Parkhurst, L.G. (2008). Francis and Edith Schaeffer. Retrieved on April 9, 2009 from http://labri.net/FAS/content/view/27/27/
Pope, Daniel (6/13/2003). Making Sense of Advertisements. George Mason University.
Retrieved on April 8, 2009 from http://historymatters.gmu.edu/mse/ads/ads.pdf )
Schaefer, Francis (January 1972). He is There and He is not Silent. Bibliotheca Sacra. Retrieved on April 2, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Spanos, William (4/22/2003 ). The Detective and The Boundary: Some Notes on PostModern Literary Imagination. State University of New York at Binghamton. Retrieved on April 7, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Taleb, Nassim Nickolas (2007). The Black Swan. Random House.
Talmy, Leonard (Jan 95). The cognitive culture system. Monist; Jan95, Vol. 78 Issue 1, p80, 35p. Retrieved on April 8, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Tucker, Maryanne (2008). Subliminal Messaging and The Disney Corporation. Retrieved on April 10, 2009 from http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~jporter/maryanne_web/index_files/Page766.htm
Twitchell, James (1996). AdCult USA. Columbia Press.
Vitagliano, Ed (1997). Why Boycott Disney? AFA Journal. Retrieved on April 10, 2009 from http://www.solargeneral.com/ja/disney/why_boycott_disney.htm
Wallace, AFC (1963). Culture and Personality. Random House.
Wikipedia (2009). Francis Schaeffer. Retrieved on April 7, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Schaeffer
Wikipedia (2009a). Stanley Resor. Retrieved on April 7, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Schaeffer
Whitehead, John W. (3/8/2007). Is the Christian Right a Fascist Movement? The Rutherford Institute. Retrieved on April 9, 2009 from http://www.rutherford.org/articles_db/commentary.asp?record_id=462
Williams, Roy (2001). Magical Worlds of the Wizard of Ads. Bard Press.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Declining Ad Revenues at Regional Recreation Magazine
Exploratory research
Our company in this case study is a regional print magazine that has suffered steadily declining revenues. McDaniel and Gates (2008, p 41) recommend that research analysts perform situation analysis and exploratory research to correctly define the problem. Such preliminary work yields the essential context to better understand the problem, including industry and market trends, economic influences, and competitors.
Our company in this case study is a regional print magazine that has suffered steadily declining revenues. McDaniel and Gates (2008, p 41) recommend that research analysts perform situation analysis and exploratory research to correctly define the problem. Such preliminary work yields the essential context to better understand the problem, including industry and market trends, economic influences, and competitors.
In my exploratory research, I found a sound model for declining magazine revenues provided by Evans and Wurster (2000, p 42). The Internet has “disintermediated” print newspapers and magazines. Online media are imposing a new, more severe revenue structure on the venerable world of print journalism. In the past, magazines acted as intermediaries between journalists and readers because of the economics of the printing press. That has changed with the electronic media on the Internet.
Advertisers have taken note, and increasingly their business is allocated to online media. The situation is so dire that Ives (2008, p 1) asks whether print magazines will survive another five years. Maddox (2008, p 1) reports that magazine ad revenue across the board declined 2% in 2007.
Duncan gives us some insight on the advantages enjoyed by Internet (2005, p. 443) and they include better target selectivity compared with local print magazines, better geographic reach and shorter lead-time. Fine (2008, p. 1) reports on the declining prospects of mid-sized magazines for several reasons including online competition, but also a defection of advertisers who question the mid-term viability of print media because of the shift online.
Implications of Exploratory Research
Based on this exploratory research, declining ad revenues seems to be a symptom of an even worse problem. McDaniel and Gates (p. 45) inform us that a symptom is a result that is caused by something else and they recommend to continue asking, “what caused this” until you can’t go any further. This also helps to narrow the focus from the broader management problem to a more specific marketing research problem (p. 46).
Wyner (2001, p 1) says that the extent of our marketing research, as well as the tradeoffs we make in that research, depend on the risk to the business. Our exploratory research revealed a paradigm shift happening in print media. The situation for our regional recreation magazine is potentially dire.
This is a risk that management cannot ignore. From the exploratory research, we have information that our symptom of declining ad revenue might be caused by online ad competition, and concerns over our mid-term viability. Our audience is advertising spenders. We need to research the implications that our print magazine is undermined by online competition.
Problem Statement
Our magazine is encountering competition from online alternatives so that our advertising revenues are declining. To handle this problem, we need to understand the share of ad spending our clients plan to allocate to online and to print over the next five years. Additionally, what ad pricing is available to our clients from online competition? And finally will an online version of our magazine cause our clients to think us more viable?
Wyner (2001, p 1) says that the extent of our marketing research, as well as the tradeoffs we make in that research, depend on the risk to the business. Our exploratory research revealed a paradigm shift happening in print media. The situation for our regional recreation magazine is potentially dire.
This is a risk that management cannot ignore. From the exploratory research, we have information that our symptom of declining ad revenue might be caused by online ad competition, and concerns over our mid-term viability. Our audience is advertising spenders. We need to research the implications that our print magazine is undermined by online competition.
Problem Statement
Our magazine is encountering competition from online alternatives so that our advertising revenues are declining. To handle this problem, we need to understand the share of ad spending our clients plan to allocate to online and to print over the next five years. Additionally, what ad pricing is available to our clients from online competition? And finally will an online version of our magazine cause our clients to think us more viable?
Objectives for Primary Research
- Forecast the transfer of our current print revenue to online competition based on client spending plans
- Understand the new revenue structure of an online magazine in our product mix based on online ad rates
- Discover our readership attitude to an online version of our magazine
- Know our advertiser attitudes and beliefs about us if we stay strictly in print versus introducing an online product.
Recommended research design
Descriptive design is appropriate because we understand the underlying relationship between declining revenue at print magazines and online advertising. As McDaniel and Gates note (p. 49) "implicit in descriptive research is the fact that management already knows or understands the underlying relationship among variables in the problem." From our exploratory research we do have that understanding. We do not seek to understand what causes a shift in advertising revenue from us to our online competition since our exploratory research provides strong argument for that. We want to estimate the magnitude based on our client advertising plans.
On the other hand, we will be testing a new service with respect to reader and advertiser attitudes and beliefs. This is a causal study: what effect will a Web version have on readership and advertiser attitudes. Deploying a Web version is our independent variable while the attitudes and beliefs are dependent variables.
Incorporating both descriptive study and causal study will result in a more expensive design but as noted above this particular management problem could be calamitous. It will impact the ongoing concern assumption of our firm so we need the answers from marketing research in crosscutting areas. This may then result in more than one research method as well – is this reasonable? Wyner (2001, p 2) assures us it is: “Increasingly, however, marketing applications have combined elements of all three methods to get the benefits of each.”
Recommended methods
We recommend a causal design for finding the impact of a Web version of the magazine on reader and advertiser attitudes and beliefs. The method for causal can be survey or experiment (see McDaniel and Gates, 2008, p. 50). Wyner (2001, p 1) observes that experiment enables us to test a service that does not currently exist while at the same time controlling “nuance variables to show the true effect of the product [for us, service] itself.” While we could survey for a causal relationship, according to McDaniel and Gates, experiment is the better choice in our case.
Descriptive study would be appropriate for client spending plans and online ad rates. A survey for client spending plans is an orderly and structured approach to discover facts and opinions such as those underlying spending budgets (see McDaniel and Gates, 2008, p 50). An observational field study does not seem necessary for discovery of online ad rates. Instead, a phone survey seems a sufficient method.
Conclusion
This regional print magazine faces a risk with catastrophic consequences. Following the research design and using the research methods in this report will provide the marketing research data to more completely understand the nature of the problem. It will also provide insight into client spending plans, and client and reader attitudes towards a brand extension, adding an online version of the magazine.
References
Duncan, Tom (2005). Principles of Advertising and IMC. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Evans, Phillip and Thomas Wurster (2000). Blown to Bits. The Boston Consulting Group. Harvard Business School Press.
Fine, Jon (2/18/2008). Sweating Bullets in Magazineland. BusinessWeek. Retrieved on May 31, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Ives, Nat (11/3/2008). Will print survive the next five years? (cover story)
Advertising Age. Retrieved on May 31, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Maddox, Kate (May 5, 2008). Q1 ad sales reflect the slow economy. BtoB Magazine. Retrieved on May 31, 2009 from http://www.btobonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080505/FREE/733276802&SearchID=73317453989427%23seenit
McDaniels, C and R Gates (2008). Marketing Research Essentials. John Wiley.
Wyner, Gordon (2001). Representation, Randomization, and Realism. Marketing Research. Retrieved on May 31, 2009 from http://www.imc.wvu.edu/
Saturday, July 25, 2009
E-Tailing at a Children's Toy Company
Search Strategy
A regional toy company is considering the Internet as a selling channel and commissioned a background research report to decide if this retailing channel warrants further investigation. I used the Internet to do background research on toy retailing on the Internet. McDaniel and Gates (2008, p 86) recommend listing the distinctive words that might identify articles as a first step for an Internet search. I chose the following words: buy educational toys online. For my first search I did not try to enclose phrases or clichés in quotes because I wanted to see a wider range of results to get other ideas for searching. This starting gambit hit a rich vein of useful material. In addition to educational toy company Web sites, I found this blog that reviews educational toy companies: Suite 101.
The companies reviewed in the blog such as The Discovery Channel provided useful information. Moreover, I followed the McDaniel and Gates guidance (p. 87) to “vary your approach with what you learn,” and picked up some words and other ideas in the review of these companies. E-tailing was a new word and eToys was a high profile failure that merited investigation. I decided to also improve the quality of my source material (see McDaniel and Gates, 2008, p. 87) and started searching with my new terms and information in EBSCOHOST. The following is my report to the toy retailer, call them KidzBiz.
The Market Reality for Online Educational Toy Sales
There is no mistake that revenue growth for online educational toy sales is front-running its brick and mortar relation by a significant margin. Online sales now form a significant share of sales for educational toy companies with the vision to participate in this channel. On example is Fat Brain (see Davis, 2008, p. 1), which has most of its sales online. It also takes advantage of the infrastructure services provided by Amazon to reduce the risk and cost of selling online by sharing Amazon server capacity, technical services and expertise.
Carson (2009, p 1) reports that Fat Brain is now on the Internet Retailer’s Hot 100 List. Furthermore, Inc. Magazine (2008, p 1) reports the astonishing growth in Fat Brain sales of 428% from 2002-2008. It also reports that the company is ranked number 40 in the Top 100 Consumer Product Companies. Not bad for a small family owned business that started in a garage selling educational toys through local stores.
What about established players? According to Internet Retailer (2006, p. 1), Toys-R-Us online sales jumped 20% with increasing strength in both number of orders and average order size. Although they do not specialize in only educational toys, they do sell them and experienced a 33% growth in sales of toys for toddlers. Hughes (p 32) reports that Disney has experienced phenomenal success in selling educational toys by “redefining babies solely as learners whose potential to learn can be released by consuming these products.” The combined message is a powerful indicator that online sales of educational toys for toddlers yield rich returns.
Are there other examples? Consider Leapfrog, an educational toy vendor who sells in brick and mortar retail stores, through its own online store and through online channels like Yahoo Shopping. In its quarterly filing with the SEC (see SEC, 2009, p. 15), Leapfrog reports that it plans to increase its online presence. This is in spite of, or perhaps because of the beating retailers are getting from the economic downturn (see SEC, 2009, p. 14).
The Discovery Channel (2008, p. 12) reported in its 10-Q news conference review that it closed all brick and mortar stores on May 17, 2007 and now will sell its educational products solely through catalog and their online store. They further inform us (p. 3) that they are aggressively investing in their online properties. Web traffic to their Web sites almost tripled from March 2007 to March 2008 from 13 million unique visitors per month to 33 million. Please note that the report does not break out visits to their online store from visits to their informational sites.
What about the high profile failures
The most high profile failure for an online toy company was eToys. Sliwa (2001, p 1) reports that eToys faced strong Internet competition from Amazon. As noted above, Amazon is now willing to partner with toy sellers. Moreover, Gomolski (2001, p. 72) goes into more depth about why eToys withered before Amazon. She reports that the eToys business model was based on competitive pricing but they had neglected to build awareness about their pricing. In addition, they failed to use the Internet to build customer relations of any kind. This resulted not only in inadequate brand awareness but also a failure to connect with children.
Moreover, eToys did not have the critical mass to reach profitability quickly and at the same time did not have cash flow from conventional business operations to sustain itself. The result is that eToys was not able to initially compete online with Amazon and could not sustain itself until it could.
How Can We Trust the Data
Can we trust the information used in this report? The sources are well respected. Inc. magazine, InternetRetailer, ComputerWorld, and InfoWorld are news magazines of note. They follow standard journalistic practice, which is designed to ensure reliable reporting. The Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood is a professional journal. Articles are peer reviewed to again ensure information reliability.
McDaniels and Gates is an academic textbook. It has been reviewed by the editorial board of John Wiley, one of the most trusted publishers. Finally, audited 10-Q statements are filed with the federal government. Heavy penalties under the administrative law are assessed for publishing false information on these statements.
Recommendation
KidzBiz has a lucrative opportunity to expand its sales and establish a presence in a new and growing sales and distribution system, the Internet. That system is placing relentless pressure on traditional brick and mortar operations. Today, KidzBiz is solely dependent on that old tired soldier. The next step should be to review Kidz Biz internal customer, product and sales data.
Johnson (2009, p. 3) says that, “secondary data can be greatly enhanced when merged with internally-generated data.” Kuchinskas (2003, p. 2) reports that in 2000 Dell experienced declining growth in the educational market because of tightening education budgets. They responded with a database-marketing program to the education sector. Database marketing on the Internet should enhance KidzBiz sales.
References
Carson, Mark (January 8, 2009). Fat Brain Toys Named To Internet Retailer’s 2009 Hot 100 List. Fat Brain Press Release. Retrieved on May 26, 2009 from http://www.fatbraintoys.com/about_us/press.cfm?pr_id=62
Davis, Don (September 2008). Advantage Amazon. Internet Retailer. Retrieved on May 26, 2009 from http://www.internetretailer.com/article.asp?id=27583
Discovery Holding (May 8, 2008). Discovery Holding Company First Quarter Earnings Release. Retrieved on May 27, 2009 from http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-08-2008/0004809260&EDATE
Gomolski, Barb (02/05/2001). Going global: Some lessons from eToys and Yahoo that might help you. InfoWorld. Retrieved on May 29, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Hughes, P (March 2005). Baby, It's You: international capital discovers the under threes. Comtemporary issues in early childhood. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood. Retrieved on May 26, 2009 from
EBSCOHOST and http://www.wwwords.co.uk/pdf/viewpdf.asp?j=ciec&vol=6&issue=1&year=2005&article=4_Hughes_CIEC_6_1_web&id=74.6.25.186.
Inc. Magazine (2008). Company Profile: Fat Brain Toys. Retrieved on May 27, 2009 from http://www.inc.com/inc5000/2008/company-profile.html?id=200808330
Internet Retailer (June 21, 2006). Toysrus.com swings into the black in first quarter. Retrieved on May 26, 2009 from http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=18996
Johnson, E. (2009). Using Secondary Data & Databases. Retrieved on May 30, 2009 from WVU www.imc.wvu.edu.
Kuchinskas, Susan (Sep 2003). Data-based Dell. Adweek Magazines' Technology Marketing. Rertieved on June 5, 2009 from WVU IMC 611 week 3 readings.
McDaniels, C and R Gates (2008). Marketing Research Essentials. John Wiley.
SEC (March 31, 2009). Form 10-Q for Leapfrog Enterprises. Retrieved on May 27, 2009 from http://yahoo.brand.edgar-online.com/displayfilinginfo.aspx?FilingID=6580220-812-158026&type=sect&TabIndex=2&companyid=108193&ppu=%252fdefault.aspx%253fcik%253d1138951
Sliwa, Carol (1/8/2001). Facing Tough Rivals, eToys Nears Oblivion. Computerworld. Retrieved on May 29, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
A regional toy company is considering the Internet as a selling channel and commissioned a background research report to decide if this retailing channel warrants further investigation. I used the Internet to do background research on toy retailing on the Internet. McDaniel and Gates (2008, p 86) recommend listing the distinctive words that might identify articles as a first step for an Internet search. I chose the following words: buy educational toys online. For my first search I did not try to enclose phrases or clichés in quotes because I wanted to see a wider range of results to get other ideas for searching. This starting gambit hit a rich vein of useful material. In addition to educational toy company Web sites, I found this blog that reviews educational toy companies: Suite 101.
The companies reviewed in the blog such as The Discovery Channel provided useful information. Moreover, I followed the McDaniel and Gates guidance (p. 87) to “vary your approach with what you learn,” and picked up some words and other ideas in the review of these companies. E-tailing was a new word and eToys was a high profile failure that merited investigation. I decided to also improve the quality of my source material (see McDaniel and Gates, 2008, p. 87) and started searching with my new terms and information in EBSCOHOST. The following is my report to the toy retailer, call them KidzBiz.
The Market Reality for Online Educational Toy Sales
There is no mistake that revenue growth for online educational toy sales is front-running its brick and mortar relation by a significant margin. Online sales now form a significant share of sales for educational toy companies with the vision to participate in this channel. On example is Fat Brain (see Davis, 2008, p. 1), which has most of its sales online. It also takes advantage of the infrastructure services provided by Amazon to reduce the risk and cost of selling online by sharing Amazon server capacity, technical services and expertise.
Carson (2009, p 1) reports that Fat Brain is now on the Internet Retailer’s Hot 100 List. Furthermore, Inc. Magazine (2008, p 1) reports the astonishing growth in Fat Brain sales of 428% from 2002-2008. It also reports that the company is ranked number 40 in the Top 100 Consumer Product Companies. Not bad for a small family owned business that started in a garage selling educational toys through local stores.
What about established players? According to Internet Retailer (2006, p. 1), Toys-R-Us online sales jumped 20% with increasing strength in both number of orders and average order size. Although they do not specialize in only educational toys, they do sell them and experienced a 33% growth in sales of toys for toddlers. Hughes (p 32) reports that Disney has experienced phenomenal success in selling educational toys by “redefining babies solely as learners whose potential to learn can be released by consuming these products.” The combined message is a powerful indicator that online sales of educational toys for toddlers yield rich returns.
Are there other examples? Consider Leapfrog, an educational toy vendor who sells in brick and mortar retail stores, through its own online store and through online channels like Yahoo Shopping. In its quarterly filing with the SEC (see SEC, 2009, p. 15), Leapfrog reports that it plans to increase its online presence. This is in spite of, or perhaps because of the beating retailers are getting from the economic downturn (see SEC, 2009, p. 14).
The Discovery Channel (2008, p. 12) reported in its 10-Q news conference review that it closed all brick and mortar stores on May 17, 2007 and now will sell its educational products solely through catalog and their online store. They further inform us (p. 3) that they are aggressively investing in their online properties. Web traffic to their Web sites almost tripled from March 2007 to March 2008 from 13 million unique visitors per month to 33 million. Please note that the report does not break out visits to their online store from visits to their informational sites.
What about the high profile failures
The most high profile failure for an online toy company was eToys. Sliwa (2001, p 1) reports that eToys faced strong Internet competition from Amazon. As noted above, Amazon is now willing to partner with toy sellers. Moreover, Gomolski (2001, p. 72) goes into more depth about why eToys withered before Amazon. She reports that the eToys business model was based on competitive pricing but they had neglected to build awareness about their pricing. In addition, they failed to use the Internet to build customer relations of any kind. This resulted not only in inadequate brand awareness but also a failure to connect with children.
Moreover, eToys did not have the critical mass to reach profitability quickly and at the same time did not have cash flow from conventional business operations to sustain itself. The result is that eToys was not able to initially compete online with Amazon and could not sustain itself until it could.
How Can We Trust the Data
Can we trust the information used in this report? The sources are well respected. Inc. magazine, InternetRetailer, ComputerWorld, and InfoWorld are news magazines of note. They follow standard journalistic practice, which is designed to ensure reliable reporting. The Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood is a professional journal. Articles are peer reviewed to again ensure information reliability.
McDaniels and Gates is an academic textbook. It has been reviewed by the editorial board of John Wiley, one of the most trusted publishers. Finally, audited 10-Q statements are filed with the federal government. Heavy penalties under the administrative law are assessed for publishing false information on these statements.
Recommendation
KidzBiz has a lucrative opportunity to expand its sales and establish a presence in a new and growing sales and distribution system, the Internet. That system is placing relentless pressure on traditional brick and mortar operations. Today, KidzBiz is solely dependent on that old tired soldier. The next step should be to review Kidz Biz internal customer, product and sales data.
Johnson (2009, p. 3) says that, “secondary data can be greatly enhanced when merged with internally-generated data.” Kuchinskas (2003, p. 2) reports that in 2000 Dell experienced declining growth in the educational market because of tightening education budgets. They responded with a database-marketing program to the education sector. Database marketing on the Internet should enhance KidzBiz sales.
References
Carson, Mark (January 8, 2009). Fat Brain Toys Named To Internet Retailer’s 2009 Hot 100 List. Fat Brain Press Release. Retrieved on May 26, 2009 from http://www.fatbraintoys.com/about_us/press.cfm?pr_id=62
Davis, Don (September 2008). Advantage Amazon. Internet Retailer. Retrieved on May 26, 2009 from http://www.internetretailer.com/article.asp?id=27583
Discovery Holding (May 8, 2008). Discovery Holding Company First Quarter Earnings Release. Retrieved on May 27, 2009 from http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/05-08-2008/0004809260&EDATE
Gomolski, Barb (02/05/2001). Going global: Some lessons from eToys and Yahoo that might help you. InfoWorld. Retrieved on May 29, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Hughes, P (March 2005). Baby, It's You: international capital discovers the under threes. Comtemporary issues in early childhood. Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood. Retrieved on May 26, 2009 from
EBSCOHOST and http://www.wwwords.co.uk/pdf/viewpdf.asp?j=ciec&vol=6&issue=1&year=2005&article=4_Hughes_CIEC_6_1_web&id=74.6.25.186.
Inc. Magazine (2008). Company Profile: Fat Brain Toys. Retrieved on May 27, 2009 from http://www.inc.com/inc5000/2008/company-profile.html?id=200808330
Internet Retailer (June 21, 2006). Toysrus.com swings into the black in first quarter. Retrieved on May 26, 2009 from http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=18996
Johnson, E. (2009). Using Secondary Data & Databases. Retrieved on May 30, 2009 from WVU www.imc.wvu.edu.
Kuchinskas, Susan (Sep 2003). Data-based Dell. Adweek Magazines' Technology Marketing. Rertieved on June 5, 2009 from WVU IMC 611 week 3 readings.
McDaniels, C and R Gates (2008). Marketing Research Essentials. John Wiley.
SEC (March 31, 2009). Form 10-Q for Leapfrog Enterprises. Retrieved on May 27, 2009 from http://yahoo.brand.edgar-online.com/displayfilinginfo.aspx?FilingID=6580220-812-158026&type=sect&TabIndex=2&companyid=108193&ppu=%252fdefault.aspx%253fcik%253d1138951
Sliwa, Carol (1/8/2001). Facing Tough Rivals, eToys Nears Oblivion. Computerworld. Retrieved on May 29, 2009 from EBSCOHOST.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Using ColdFusion to add XML data to a SQL database
Using the ColdFusion XML document object can present some unexpected challenges when updating databases. Variable references to elements in this structure do not return values as one might expect but instead return new structures. Useful ColdFusion functions such as <cfoutput> resolve these new structures into values behind the scene, which can mislead you when trying to debug wrong values being placed into the database.
As an example, consider the following. An xml file has a field named ICN, among others. We will read the file and update a SQL database. First, we get a file handle.
< cffile variable="gmrXML" file=" “wits.xml" action="read">
Then a ColdFusion XML Document Object datatype, using our file handle and the ColdFusion xmlParse() function:
< cfset myxml=" xmlParse(gmrXML)">
When we use cfoutput to see what we have, all is well:
<cfoutput>
<cfloop to="#arrayLen(myXML.incidentList.Incident)#" from="1" index="i">
#myXml.incidentlist.incident[i].ICN#
…
The output on our Web page shows the ICN value we expect:
200458431
Good enough. We now add it to our database with the following code:
<cfquery datasource="SMC" name="loadSMC">
Insert into aIncident(ICN)
values(#myXml.incidentlist.incident[i].ICN#
< /cfquery>
and when we look, the value in the ICN column in the database is not 200458431 but instead is
<?xml version="1.0"?>
This disappointing result is because in the cfquery above, we were treating the ICN reference as a value. cfouput helped in this deception because we could treat it as a value with this sophisticated function. A look at cfdump shows what happened.
Here is a dump of the reference:
As an example, consider the following. An xml file has a field named ICN, among others. We will read the file and update a SQL database. First, we get a file handle.
< cffile variable="gmrXML" file=" “wits.xml" action="read">
Then a ColdFusion XML Document Object datatype, using our file handle and the ColdFusion xmlParse() function:
< cfset myxml=" xmlParse(gmrXML)">
When we use cfoutput to see what we have, all is well:
<cfoutput>
<cfloop to="#arrayLen(myXML.incidentList.Incident)#" from="1" index="i">
#myXml.incidentlist.incident[i].ICN#
…
The output on our Web page shows the ICN value we expect:
200458431
Good enough. We now add it to our database with the following code:
<cfquery datasource="SMC" name="loadSMC">
Insert into aIncident(ICN)
values(#myXml.incidentlist.incident[i].ICN#
< /cfquery>
and when we look, the value in the ICN column in the database is not 200458431 but instead is
<?xml version="1.0"?>
This disappointing result is because in the cfquery above, we were treating the ICN reference as a value. cfouput helped in this deception because we could treat it as a value with this sophisticated function. A look at cfdump shows what happened.
Here is a dump of the reference:
It is not a value but a structure. To get to the value we want, we need to add .xmlText to the end of the reference we used so that the query now looks like:
<cfquery datasource="SMC" name="loadSMC">
Insert into aIncident(ICN)
values(#myXml.incidentlist.incident[i].ICN.xmlText#
</cfquery>
This works as expected.
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