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Chapter 18 ♦ Social Media and Marketing 13
14 Chapter 18 ♦ Social Media and Marketing
GREAT IDEAS FOR TEACHING CHAPTER 18
Mandeep Singh, Illinois University
ANALYZING AN ORGANIZATION’S WEB PRESENCE
Assignment Overview
The rapid proliferation of the World Wide Web (Web) has seen the emergence of a multitude of Web sites accompanied
by a multitude of business models. While there is no certainty of who will survive in the competitive Web environment,
one thing is for certain: the Web has changed the way business is conducted. The intent of this assignment is to heighten
student awareness and understanding of an organization’s Web strategy by critically evaluating their online presence.
The assignment may be completed by students working in teams or individually, depending on the desired level of rigor
in the analysis.
Project Objective
Company Web sites should mirror the marketing strategy of the business those sites drive. This assignment serves a dual
purpose:
1. Students must critically evaluate an organization’s Web presence. Students are expected to identify the key
elements of an organization’s Web presence.
2. Students must evaluate an organization’s Web site from the Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)
perspective.
Students are assigned specific Web sites and are required to evaluate the key elements driving an organization’s Web
strategy.
Overview of the Web site
• Identify the nature of site (product/service) provider. Develop a brief industry profile.
• What is the value source from the customer vantage point?
• Identify their revenue model (i.e., how do they generate revenue?). Is their path-to-profitability clearly
identified?
• Source of volume: Which non–web-driven activity is being replaced (substituted) by the Web site?
• Target market: Develop a detailed profile of consumers attracted to Web site and why. What share of the
existing business volume do they represent?
• If this is a Web site for a traditional business, what is the value addition for the current or new customer base?
• Traffic/growth: What are the primary methods used to drive traffic to the Web site? What is the implication of
this strategy on profitability?
Competitor Analysis
• Who are the main non-Web competitors? What are their main competitive strengths?
• Who are the Web competitors? What are their Web strategies? What are their unique strengths? Are their
sources of volume and target market shares different from ours?
• How does this Web site rate or rank relative to the respective competitors’ strengths?
• Is this Web site crossing traditional competitive boundaries and forming a new basis of competition?
• What is the main competitive threat to this Web business?
Chapter 18 ♦ Social Media and Marketing 15
Competitive Advantage—Is It Sustainable?
• The Web brand: provide a brand positioning statement (the value proposition).
• How is the end user’s (and intermediary user’s) value proposition redefined? Compare the old benefits structure
with the new Web site–driven benefits structure.
• How is the delivery system redefined?
• What is the economic benefit (to the customer and to the business)?
• What benefits provided by the Web site (individually or in combination as a bundle) are truly unique and
provide the potential for sustainable competitive advantage?
• What is the likely competitor response to this Web benefit structure?
Consumer Perspective
• Does this Web site provide a personalized and convenient shopping experience? Does it build a customer
profile? Is this profile automatically deployed on subsequent visits?
• Is the Web site easy to use? Is it involving? Can it generate loyalty? Will it be in business five years from now
(why)?
• Evaluate customer service or contact options provided.
• Is the Web site actively involved in conducting marketing research?
• What is the adopted privacy policy of the organization?
• What are some suggested improvements or modifications? How will they make for a more competitive or
profitable and sustainable business?
Web Presence from the Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) Perspective
• Discuss how this Web presence parallels the organization’s overall marketing strategy.
• Identify and match common elements of the creative strategy along with the media utilized in the
promotional process.
• Evaluate the clarity and consistency of message components
• Evaluate the tonality of the promotional campaign.
16 Chapter 18 ♦ Social Media and Marketing
PART 5 – Integrated Case Assignments
MARKETING MISCUES
Yellow Tails Tails-for-Tails Campaign
Yellow Tail is an Australian wine produced by Casella Wines Pty Ltd. The company entered into bottled wine
commercialization around the beginning of 2000 and quickly became a top imported wine into the United States. As
such, it is not surprising that the company has targeted cause-related promotional efforts in the United States.
However, the company created quite a stir in 2010 when it donated $100,000 to the Humane Society of the United
States (HSUS). At first glance, one might think (as probably did executives at Yellow Tail) that this type of donation
would engender strong support and affinity among American consumers. Unfortunately, just the opposite happened!
The Humane Society of the United States
According to the HSUS Web site, the society “ . . . is the nation’s largest and most effective animal protection
organization—backed by 11 million Americans. . . . HSUS seeks a humane and sustainable world for all animals. . .
. We are America’s mainstream force against cruelty, exploitation and neglect, as well as the most trusted voice
extolling the human-animal bond.” Based on that mission, one might expect the HSUS to be a critical advocate for
animals. Yet, the firestorm associated with the Tails-for-Tails campaign highlighted several possible flaws in the
interpretation of what HSUS really does. For example, numerous reports point out that HSUS is not an animal
shelter group seeking to take care of abandoned pets. Rather, some writers even suggest that the group is an animal
rights extremist group opposed to the consumption of meat products and a group that seeks to outlaw progressive
and humane agricultural practices. Adding fuel to the fire is the evidence that less than one percent of the HSUS
budget actually goes toward the caring of animals. In a comment attributed to the Animal Agriculture Alliance, the
American Institute of Philanthropy gave the HSUS a grade of “C–” in its Charity Rating Guide. Supposedly, the vast
majority of the HSUS budget goes to fundraising, lobbying, and salaries.
Tails for Tails
On February 4, 2010, a Yellow Tail press release announced a collaboration between the company and the HSUS. In
support of the HSUS mission to celebrate animals, the wine company made a donation of $100,000. The company
said that it embraced animals and pointed to the company’s logo of a yellowfooted rock wallaby as an example of
that affiliation. In addition to point-of-sale visibility for the Tails-for-Tails campaign, Yellow Tail’s Facebook page
would include a link to the HSUS pet photo contest. Via this online collaboration, consumers would receive
information on how to make a donation to the HSUS animal rescue program.
The Uproar
The agriculture community has long felt like it has been a target of the HSUS. It was thought that the HSUS was an
organization with a core mission of removing meat, dairy, and eggs from the American diet and, as such, putting
farmers and ranchers out of business. Soon after the announcement of the Tails-for-Tails campaign, the U.S.
Sportsmen’s Alliance sent a letter to the American distributor of Yellow Tail wine. In the letter, it was pointed out
that efforts by the HSUS weaken wildlife conservation within the United States while attacking a major economic
sector. The Alliance also tweeted about the collaboration between Yellow Tail and the HSUS. The agricultural
community picked up on the news and word began to spread throughout the Twitterverse, and a public relations
nightmare began for Yellow Tail.
Within days, a “Yellow Fail” Facebook page was created and fans of the page skyrocketed to almost equal that of a
Yellow Tail fan page. Bloggers condemned both Yellow Tail and the HSUS. A call to action was made to stop
buying Yellow Tail wine. A fifth-generation rancher in South Dakota (USA) digitally recorded himself pouring
Yellow Tail wine onto the snow while his cattle watched in the background. The recording quickly garnered
thousands of views. Another rancher was seen using a bottle of Yellow Tail for target practice. People even became
fans on Yellow Tail’s Facebook page just so they could write negative comments on the company’s wall. The
agriculture community took a stand against Yellow Tail and the HSUS and used social media to disseminate its
concerns.
Sources: Amanda Radke, “Yellow Tail Wine Donates $100,000 to HSUS,” Beef, February 4, 2010,
http://blog.beefmagazine.com/beef_daily/2010/02/04/yellow-tail-wine-donates-100000-to-hsus; Humane Society, www.humanesociety.org; The
Grain Board, www.thegrainboard.com; Walter Pidgeon to Dill Deutsch, January 27, 2010, www.ussportsmen.org/Document.Doc?id=126;
[Yellow Tail], www.yellowtailwine.com; Kay Smith of Animal Agriculture Alliance to Bill Deutsch, February 5, 2010, “Letter in Response to
Yellow Tail’s HSUS Donation,” www.facebook.com/notes/animal-agriculture
Chapter 18 ♦ Social Media and Marketing 17
-alliance/letter-in-response-to-yellow-tails-hsus-donation/288862008417; Susan Crowell, “Yellow Tail Wine Donation to HSUS Incurs Farmers’
Wrath,” Farm and Dairy, February 9, 2010, www.farmanddairy.com/columns/yellow-tail-wine-donation-to-hsus-incurs-farmers-
wrath/14217.html; “Jolley: Five Minutes with the Yellow Tail Fiasco,” Drovers Cattle Network, February 5, 2010,
www.cattlenetwork.com/templates/newsarchive.html?sid=cn&cid=983537.
Open-ended questions
1. Yellow Tail engaged in cause-related marketing. Why did the effort misfire?
The effort misfired because Yellow Tail did not do due diligence in vetting its “cause” partner. There were
various interpretations of what the cause, HSUS, actually believed and propagated. While at first glance it
2. What role did the social media ecosystem ply in this public relations nightmare?
Social media played the key role in the dissemination of the angst about the tails-for-tails campaign. The U.S.
Sportsmen’s Alliance tweeted about the collaboration between Yellow Tail and the HSUS. The agricultural
TRUE/FALSE
1. There was a disconnect between the benefit of Yellow Tail product—wine—and its animal welfare initiative, Tails for
Tails.
2. Seen from the context of the communication process, a YouTube video of a rancher shooting bottles of Yellow Tail is
also noise.
3. Yellow Tail lacked an integrated market communication message.
4. Tails for Tails would be appropriate had Yellow Tail produced a line of organic, sulfite-free vegan-friendly wines and
specifically advertised its support of HSUS in friendlier venues such as vegetarian and vegan magazines and the like.
18 Chapter 18 ♦ Social Media and Marketing
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Associating Yellow Tail with HSUS on endcap signage in stores is a(n) __________ promotion.
a.
environmental
b.
Tails for Tails
c.
anti-meat
d.
social media
e.
sales
2. In Yellow Tails’ promotional mix, the Tails for Tails campaign is which of the following?
a.
advertising
b.
sales promotion
c.
publicity
d.
public relations
e.
all of the above
3. The $100,000 donation “did not engender the strong support and affinity among American consumers.” It did not get any
support from American agricultural groups representing the meat and dairy industry. What does this suggest about a
global company like Yellow Tail?
a.
It should have hired a lobby group first.
b.
Its home market lacked the kinds of controversy the U.S. market had.
c.
HSUS had successfully deceived the Australians.
d.
It did not understand the politics or culture of its chief export market.
e.
all of the above
4. Yellow Tail finally perform some crisis management and withdraw its sponsorship from HSUS. This suggests the
winemaker does not engage in __________.
a.
advocacy advertising
b.
due diligence
c.
institutional advocacy
d.
environmentalism
e.
animal rights
5. Why would it have been difficult or even impossible for Yellow Tail to leverage its support of HSUS?
a.
The winemaker lacked a complementary product for vegetarians and vegans.
b.
HSUS did not soften its tone.
c.
HSUS has no real animal shelter or rescue program.
d.
The winemaker wants to portray itself as friendly to animals without controversy.
e.
all of the above
6. What went wrong with the Tails-for-Tails campaign shows the power of __________ in undoing the good will that a
company wants associated with its brands.
a.
Facebook
b.
social media
c.
Twitter
d.
a plant-based diet
e.
all of the above
20 Chapter 18 ♦ Social Media and Marketing
CRITICAL THINKING CASE
Lap Dance at Boston Blazers Lacrosse Game: Promotional Mistake or Creative Genius?
The Boston Blazers is a professional indoor lacrosse team based in Boston, Massachusetts, that began play in 2009.
It is one of ten teams in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). Other teams are: Buffalo Bandits, Calgary
Roughnecks, Colorado Mammoth, Edmonton Rush, Minnesota Swarm, Philadelphia Wings, Rochester Nighthawks,
Toronto Rock, and Washington Stealth. The Boston Blazers lacrosse team also faces pretty stiff competition in the
professional sports arena with teams such as the Boston Celtics (basketball), the Boston Red Sox (baseball), the
Boston Bruins (hockey), the New England Patriots (football), and the New England Revolution (soccer).
Professional indoor lacrosse is in its infancy when compared to other professional sporting events and professional
sports players. Event-wise, the average number of fans at an NLL game is 10,000 while game attendance at other
professional sporting events averages anywhere from 20,000 to 30,000 for basketball, hockey, and baseball to
70,000 for football. Another huge differential is in terms of pricing. For example, in 2011, the Boston Blazers
offered four tickets with food and drink (hamburger, fries, soft drink) for $99.00. That compares to around $500 for
four tickets with food and drink at Fenway Park when attending a Boston Red Sox game. Player-wise, a professional
indoor lacrosse player usually holds a “real” job and plays part-time for the NLL, receiving an average salary of
$1,000 per game. In contrast, the average 2009 salary of a Major League Baseball player was $3 million.
Nationwide Media Attention
Professional sporting events have long focused on halftime entertainment as a critical aspect of overall fan
experience. Probably one of the more memorable halftime shows occurred at the Super Bowl XXXVIII in February
of 2004 with the oft-referenced “wardrobe malfunction” in which Janet Jackson’s breast was exposed by Justin
Timberlake for about half a second. On January 15, 2011, however, the Boston Blazers rivaled the Super Bowl
incident when the team captured the attention of news outlets across America for its controversial halftime show.
Billed as a promotional event during halftime of the game against the Edmonton Rush, Scorch, the Blazer’s mascot,
soon became the central figure in what became a YouTube sensation. According to fans, with the rap song Low
blaring in on the sound system, a red carpet was put down with a chair for Scorch to sit in. Scantily clad dancers
then competed to see which one of them could give Scorch the best lap dance. The lap dance event was broadcast on
the Jumbotron video display during the performance.
Numerous fans videotaped the performance on their cell phones and posted it to YouTube. However, these videos
were soon removed from YouTube citing a copyright claim by the National Lacrosse League. Before its removal
from the YouTube site, fans could be heard saying “Oh my God,” and young children can be seen sitting in their
seats watching the halftime performance. A portion of the performance was captured and aired by a local news
channel, with the video remaining on the news Web site. Criticism of the halftime performance used vocabulary
such as “raunchy,” “scandalous,” and “extremely offensive.”
The Apology
The day after the game, the president and general manager of the Boston Blazers, Doug Reffue, posted an apology
on the team’s Facebook page. He said, in part:
The Boston Blazers halftime act for Saturday’s game was clearly not executed according to plan. We are
extremely disappointed with elements of the halftime show. We had intended to provide an entertaining and
fun halftime environment for our fans and that is not what transpired.
In addition to the posted apology, Reffue offered 2,000 free tickets to the team’s next home game. Reffue’s apology,
however, did not stem the media flare over the halftime performance. While it seemed that Reffue was attributing
the performance to an unplanned and unexpected mistake, the detail and clarity of the performance made it obvious
to fans that the performance was well-choreographed.
The Outcome
While some might have seen the performance as a mistake that would have an effect on fan patronage, this was not
the case. Attendance at the game the night of the lap dance performance was 8,536. Attendance the week after the
highly publicized lap dance was 10,422. Plus, the story was the biggest news coverage to ever hit the NLL. While
the NLL commissioner noted that the lap dance performance was an error in judgment, he noted the bright side of
the story by saying that it was a good thing in the long run if it helped people find out about the NLL and the
Blazers.
Sources: Rob Anderson, “In Lap-Dance Apology, Boston Blazers President Dodges Responsibility,” Boston.com, January 19, 2011,
www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/blogs/the_angle/2011/01/boston_blazers.html; Anne-Marie Dorning, “Out of Bounds: Lacrosse
Mascot Gets Lap Dance during Game,” ABC News, January 19, 2011, http://abcnews.go.com/US/video-catches-soccer-mascot-lap-
dance/story?id=12642649; Todd Feathers, “Blazing Apology,” HuntNewsNU.com, January 27, 2011, p. 5; “Racy Half-Time Show at Boston
Blazers Game Featured Mascot Getting Lap Dance,” Fox News, January 17, 2011, www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/local/racy-halftime-show-
at-boston-blazers-game-featured-lap-dance-competition-20110116.
Open-ended questions
1. Do you think the performance was a well thought-out effort to generate publicity for the Boston Blazers?
Given the impact on attendance at the next game and the NLL commissioner’s comment about bringing
2. How did viral marketing impact the Boston Blazers?
For a professional sport that rarely garners public attention and one that has struggled to even get news coverage,
viral marketing had a huge impact on both the team and the sport. Students could be asked to search online for
TRUE/FALSE
1. More people attended subsequent Boston Blazer games because the team had turned a sophomoric stunt into a
competitive advantage.
2. The viral YouTube videos of the lap-dancing incident were cleverly exploited by the Boston Blazers.
17.
3. YouTube uploads of the halftime show provided a source of feedback for the marketing people of the Boston Blazers.
4. The YouTube uploads provided both product placement and reason for crisis management.
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. When a company develops its product, it must communicate (i.e., promote) the benefit to consumers. Does Doug
Reffue’s Facebook posting (and free ticket offer) meet that criterion?
a.
No, it is simply an apology.
b.
Yes, sex sells and there is no such thing as bad publicity.
c.
No, only the team benefits and there are always free tickets set aside for promotions.
d.
Yes, because Reffue, even if insincere, is still promoting the team as family entertainment.
e.
No, because only the team’s gate receipts benefitted and the public was essentially teased.
2. Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that the halftime lap dance was intended because it looked little different from what
cheerleaders choreograph anyway. What role did the cheerleaders play and mascot play in the communication process?
a.
senders
b.
encoders
c.
message channel
d.
decoders
e.
receivers
3. If the lap dance had only been intended to titillate rather than market the Boston Blazers, what was social media’s role?
a.
YouTube made it possible for an isolated event to go viral.
b.
Facebook allowed the CEP to initiate a crisis communication strategy.
c.
It provided visibility that would cost the team very little in free advertising.
d.
Social media provided a two-way, real-time channel of communication between the team, its fans, and
potential fans.
e.
all of the above
4. Although not intended for a wider target audience, the lap dance controversy did accomplish the major tasks of
promotion in the highly competitive Boston metro market. Which of the following would be an exception?
a.
The lap dance informed sporting event-goers that the Blazers were not a fringe league but part of a
national sport league.
b.
The lap dance turned out to be a positive form of public relations that could be repeated in the future
despite the front office apology.
c.
For those who may have seen one game, they were no reminded that they had “missed something” by
not being repeat customers.
d.
The male demographic was persuaded to buy tickets (i.e., sex sells).
e.
Any perception that lacrosse was not a hot game had been changed in the public mind.
5. For most organizations, publicity is intended to win good will and manage crises. So why did the Boston Blazers public
relations people on the field allow for such risky behavior?
a.
The cultural context of a halftime show has changed from marching bands to entertainment that pushes
the same boundaries other entertainment businesses do.
b.
The role of cheerleaders has evolved beyond dance numbers and pom-poms—they can be bad girls
along with the bad boys on the field.
c.
The Duke lacrosse scandal added the cachet of sex to the sport and invites satire.
d.
American sports reflects American society.
e.
all of the above
6. The lap dance had a national audience and it can still be found on the Internet. For the NLL, what its affiliate team did
was achieve the lowest cost per contact of any kind of advertising. What is the most likely reason for not trying to do
these kinds of shock-value stunts more often?
a.
The public would eventually be insulted.
b.
It could open up the league to criminal investigation.
c.
It would eventually harm the league’s value as family entertainment.
d.
The CEO of the Blazers promised not to risk his organization’s reputation again.
e.
It is offensive and demeaning.
