I came across this article on Google+ when I was looking through Drews marketing minute blog. The post talks about Google’s recent launch of its own social media platform. Google has essentially increased its share of the customer by offering a greater variety of services to current customers. I wanted to share this article as it ties in with some topics discussed in the textbook as well as some of the ideas talked about in the classroom such as adding value to consumers.
Google+ is a new thing for me, and I am very impressed with it even though I just started using the service a couple of days ago. Users have the benefit of more personalized searches-results you get only pertain to you and your network of connections, which helps consumers feel a sense of privacy. Another feature that I found interesting is Direct Connect, meaning any pages built on Google+ will be indexed and appear on Google search results-a very inviting offer for businesses to gain exposure. Google has created customer value and differentiated itself from competitors such as Facebook by implementing these features.(Businesses that use Facebook do not get the same kind of exposure as users of Google+, and Google has marketed Google+ for consumers to feel as if the new service is very personal and protects privacy) To elaborate on the last point, Facebook was developed on the idea that everyone can be your “friend,” and while you can edit the constantly changing privacy settings, Facebook can sometimes feel impersonal. Personally, when looking at my Facebook friends, I do not talk to 75% of my friends, and all of these people can actively view my profile, pictures, and other personal information. Google+ is cleverly designed so that you can break your connections up into “circles,” and treat each circle separately according to your preferences. I think this is a very smart way to expand their market share. In terms of the four 4P’s, Google+ does a good job satisfying all of them(personalized and differentiated product, it is free, easily accessible and google promoted it effectively through video advertisements)
In my opinon, it is Google +’s clever use and promotion of personalization features as well as its value added to consumers that has allowed it to climb to 10million users in roughly two weeks of its launch date(Facebook took over two years to get to this usage level).
Below is a link to the article:
http://www.drewsmarketingminute.com/2012/01/businesses-cannot-ignore-google.html
Here is another perspective from another blog: http://www.mengonline.com/community/newsroom/meng_blend/blog/2011/11/09/headline-google-puts-out-the-welcome-mat-to-businesses-and-brands#comment-2224
Here is a link to the promotional video of Google+, by google: