According to Seth’s article, the cost to acquire a new customer is “vanishing close to zero”(Paragraph 1). I agree with Seth, the cost to build and maintain customer relationships is declining as the Internet revolutionizes.

As the Internet grows and becomes a commonplace for customer research, it will no longer be essential for companies to go out and directly market to their consumers. Advertising over the Internet is much faster, cheaper and less time consuming than direct marketing. Although online marketing is not a supplement for direct marketing, it is advantageous for some companies to partake in online marketing.

Many firms are now realizing that many consumers resort to the Internet as a means of information, and are now beginning to advertise through this medium. Many companies have had great success in creating awareness and offering various promotions for their products through this online channel.

Given the growing success of online marketing, it seems like all companies should adopt this new way of advertising; however, this is not the case. Some goods or services, like insurance or cars, require more personal selling than goods such as clothes or electronics. Having said that, it doesn’t harm a car dealership to showcase and promote their cars through the online medium to attract consumers to their lot in order to make a sale, but the majority of the selling process takes place face to face.

Online marketing also enables companies to focus on their target market. For example, a company can better relate its advertisements over the Internet as they may have some background information on the consumer or consumer groups they are trying to target. In doing so, the company is able to directly target its main consumers and is not wasting time or money on consumers who show minimal interest in their product.

The rapid growth of the Internet and online market has opened a new door to advertising and has proven to be a success for many companies. I believe this medium will increase in popularity among organizations and will become a vital asset to a company’s marketing campaign.

I agree with “Seth’s Blog” in that marketing a product varies greatly from manufacturing a product. Although companies take customer wants and suggestions into consideration when producing a product, the company must ensure customers are aware of the fact that their new products encompass the desired features. The above is done through effectively marketing the product. A company can produce a product that meets all customer needs; however, if the product isn’t effectively marketed, it will not sell.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451b31569e201543351ed71970c-500wi.

The above image, taken from “Seth’s Blog”, illustrates that a product must pass a certain point to yeild a profit. Many companies introduce new products to the market and soon realize that the products don’t generate enough revenue and must be removed from the product line.

In order for a product to be considered a success, it must pass the threshold (see above diagram). Furthermore, every product will pass the treshhold at a different time; for example, if a product is hyped up enough before it is introduced to the market, it will reach the treshhold earlier than a product that takes a while to gain customer value and become established in the market.

A common misconception is that the faster a product reaches the threshhold, the more successful it will be. Just because a product intially captures consumer attention and creates buzz in the marketplace, doesn’t ensure success. If the product is not as desirable as originally anticiapted, sales will decline rapidly and consumers will find competing products that better satisfy their needs.

On the other hand, if a product takes to long to reach the treshhold, companies have limited choice and should discontinue or modify their product. Although a firm may believe their product is superior to the others in the marketplace, if the product takes to long to reach the treshhold, chances are it will never cross that point. Furthermore, it is expensive to keep producing and marketing a product that could very well be a”failure.” Given this, companies usually cease production of such products.

Given the above analysis on new product implementation, it is apparent that companies must put a lot of thought into marketing new products to ensure that they portray customer value and reach the treshhold in a reasonable period of time. Companies may have to develop various strategies for different products and must be aware that there is not one method to success: each situation requires a different approach.