Marketing on the Internet: An E-Commerce Perspective
Summer, 1999
Visiting Professor:
Professor Leyland Pitt
Leyland Pitt is Professor of Marketing and Strategy at Cardiff University, where he teaches on MBA
and doctoral programs. He also teaches at London Business School, University of Chicago and
Columbia University. His teaching and research interests are in marketing and the new media, the
future of brands and the marketing of services. His work on marketing and the Internet has been
published in such journals as Sloan Management Review, California Management Review, Business
Horizons and the Journal of Advertising Research.
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UNIT DESCRIPTION
More than any technology that has come along in our lifetimes, the Internet, mainly in the form of its
multi-media platform, the World Wide Web, is changing marketing into something that would have
been unrecognisable just ten years ago. While the new medium will create hitherto undreamed of
opportunities for some marketers, and for some firms, for others, it could turn into their worst
nightmare. Utilizing a variety of learning tools such as lectures, case studies, group exercises, and
discussions, the course will expose participants to the marketing implications of the most exciting
technology of this century.
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UNIT OBJECTIVES
1. To give students a broad understanding of the non-technical aspects of the Internet and the World
Wide Web.
2. To allow students to explore and develop models of how the new media will not only impact on,
but change marketing.
3. To give students a toolbox of that will allow them to identify opportunities and threats that face
existing firms, and to enable them to recognise the scope for the development of new business
forms.
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TEACHING AND LEARNING PROCESS
10 seminars of four hours each. Lectures, case studies, group exercises, and discussions.
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COURSE TEXT
Prescribed text: Watson, R.T., Berthon, P. R., Pitt, L.F., and Zinkhan, C.M. (1999) Electronic Commerce: The
Strategic Perspective, Fort Worth, TX: The Dryden Press
A series of articles and cases.
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COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Assessment
Case Study or Project(Individual)
Participation(Individual)
Total 100 marks
ASSIGNMENT DETAILS
70 marks }
30 marks }
Case study: 70% Students are required to submit a written analysis of a case study by a date to be
mutually agreed upon. This case will be handed out during the first lecture and at that time the issues
requiring analysis will be outlined.
OR
Project: 70%. There will be a page limitation of 15 A4 1.5 spaced pages on each project, excluding
figures and diagrams. You may choose any ONE of the following, as detailed below:
a. Write an essay on any aspect of marketing on the Internet that shows you have a good critical
grasp of the main issues involved.
b. Choose a business web site that you believe demonstrates either excellent or ineffective
marketing, and write a critical case study on this web site and the way it does business.
c. Using the readings on either the marketing of services on the Internet, or how the Internet is
changing distribution strategy, and identify cases of web sites that fit each of the scenarios in
these articles. Write up appropriate descriptions of these web sites.
d. Write a marketing plan for a site that you would envisage helping a firm starting in order to do
business on the web.
e. If you have any other idea, which you believe, would constitute a worthy and suitable project,
and would prefer to embark on this, discuss this with the lecturer on the course. With his
approval, you may then submit this work.
Class participation: 30%. Students are expected to attend all classes, and to contribute actively to the
discussion in each class. This requires good preparation for class, including all class activities and, of
course, the pre-reading of cases, articles and other assigned materials. Additional reading over and
above what is assigned, and observations on what's happening on the Internet are strongly encouraged.
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COURSE CONTENT
In 10 three-hour sessions the course will address the following issues:
Session 1: Why the Web is not a Fad: The Forces Driving the Medium
Reading: The Accidental Superhighway, (1995) The Economist, July 1, special supplement.
“Is the Web World Wide? Marketing Effects in an Emerging Market”, by Morris, Marais and
Weir, Journal of Strategic Marketing, December 1997
Prescribed text: Ch 1 & 2
Cynics have suggested that the Internet and the World Wide Web are merely “fads” or fashions, and
that the craze will die out. Most observers disagree with this, because of its pervasiveness and impact.
However, there are some fundamental forces that are driving this medium which explain more fully
why it will be so significant: In this class we will explore and understand these forces, and how they
work. We will also explore what managers in a developing world country think and believe.
Session 2: An overview of electronic commerce strategy – Integrated Internet Marketing
Prescribed text: Ch 3
Many firms are now using the Internet to market their products, support customers, and influence
stakeholders. To perform these tasks effectively, companies need to mesh their marketing objectives
with the appropriate Internet technology to create a coherent, synchronous marketing strategy. The
Integrated Internet Marketing model is presented as systematic approach to identifying how Internet
technology can be used to fashion marketing strategy.
Case Study: CARtoday
Session 3: – Marketing on the Web: how to decide what you want to do, how to set objectives
and how to measure them
Prescribed text: Ch 4 & 5
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The emergence of the Word Wide Web as a marketing medium has attracted much attention in recent
times. The nature and extent of the phenomenon have been studied and described at length. However,
the position of the Web site in the marketing communication mix is less clear. This class introduces a
conceptual framework for analysing Web site marketing strategies and for measuring the efficiency of
a Web site. Efficiency indexes are defined for five Web marketing communication activities and an
overall measure of Web site efficiency measure is presented.
Session 4: - Cyberservice - how to serve Web customers when they get there
Prescribed text: Ch 7
The Web overcomes many of the traditional problems associated with marketing services. In this new
era of Cyberservice, marketing managers need to reappraise their approach to marketing services. The
particular characteristics of services (intangibility, simultaneity, heterogeneity, and perishability) that
are a service marketing challenge can be successfully managed, because the Web is an outstanding tool
for mass customization, combining the best of mass production and customisation. Examples of
current practice illustrate how many firms are already using the Web to enhance the marketing of
services.
Case Study: TOURSAA
Session 5: - What makes web pricing difficult and different
Prescribed text: Ch 8
The web has enormous implications for the pricing of products and services. Its ability to facilitate
search means that markets become more efficient as they become frictionless. It also had enormous
potential for cost reduction. At the same time, there are enormous challenges facing firms as they
decide how to charge for, and to profit from selling information content. Students will be expected to
present some sites that they think illustrate clever approaches to pricing, and some that don’t. We will
also discuss and analyse the following case study:
Session 6: - Distribution on the Web: When Distance Dies
Prescribed text: Ch 9
In this session we argue that the Internet and the World Wide Web will radically change distribution.
The new medium undermines key assumptions upon which traditional distribution philosophy is
based, and in practice renders many conventional channels and intermediaries obsolete. First, we will
review the tasks and rationale for distribution channels. Second, we will describe three forces implicit
in the new medium that will impact on the core functions of distribution channels, and construct a
technology-distribution function matrix. Next, we discuss in turn the cells in the matrix, presenting in
each case an example of a channel in which the new medium is currently affecting distribution.
Groups will conclude by identifying some of the long-term effects of this technology on distribution
channels, and outline avenues for strategists to explore to optimise their distribution strategies in the
face of the new medium.
Case Study: Wine of the Month Club
Session 7: Where is the Web Going?
Prescribed text: Ch 9
In this session we explore the “strange” nature of the Web as a postmodern phenomenon! Anything
goes!
Session 8: Integrative Case Study
Case Study: Virtual Vineyards (Harvard Business School Case no. 396264)
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Session 9: Integrative Case Study
Case Study:TRADE'ex: The Stock Exchange of the Computer Industry - www.tradeex.com (Harvard
Business School Case no. 597019)
Session 10: Integrative Case Study
Case Study:Dell Online Harvard Business School Case 9-598-116
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