Ellen DeGeneres’ Twitter– “I'm a godmother, that's a great thing to be, a godmother. She calls me god for short, that's cute, I taught her that.”
When watching the Ellen DeGeneres show it is almost impossible not to hear Twitter mentioned. She twitters just about everything. Most notably she twittered about appearing on the cover of O Magazine and one cannot argue that twittering didn’t help her achieve that goal. Ellen’s quote about being a godmother has made the top twitter quotes. Ellen uses twitter as a means to not only promote her show, but also to gain support about issues that she feels are important. She also uses Twitter as a way to entertain her fan base constantly. Fans can log on to Twitter and immediately see what she has been up too. I believe that she is one of the best users of social media like Twitter.
In an article on Mashable.com posted August 10, 2009, Jennifer Van Grove wrote about Ellen winning Choice Twit at the Teen Choice Awards and her promise to “make the prize worthwhile to a lucky Twitter follower.” She continues saying that, “Ellen is currently the service’s second most popular user and is fast approaching 3 million followers. Possibly as a ploy to close the gap between her and the competition, Ellen announced that she will randomly reward one follower with $1,000.”
I have to admit that I have never visited the social media site, Twitter, until today. I joined, signed up, and immediately entered my favorite stars name- Ellen DeGeneres. I was quite surprised at how interested I was to read what had been posted in the last day or so. In fact, I was so interested that when I finally looked up at the clock, I realized that fifteen minutes had passed. I went from being an anti-twitterer to a completely obsessed in a span of only fifteen minutes. I’m not exactly fond of this. I feel like I already spend too much time on my facebook and now I have one more thing to check.
After entering Ellen DeGeneres in Google Blogsearch I found that there were 1,395,754 results; over one million results showing blogs that mention Mrs. DeGeneres in everything from marrying Portia De Rossi to being on the Oprah Show. After reviewing the results I have to wonder how many of these blogs came from Ellen’s updates on her twitter account. I would have to assume that several of them had to do with her Twitter followers. The most notable aspect of my Ellen DeGeneres search was the graph that was crafted after I hit the “Search Trends” button. Twitter was created in 2006 and interestingly enough, Ellen’s search rate increased shortly after that and continued to spike for several months.
Twitter is just one form of social media that has continued to gain exposure of the last several years. My generation has become so used to logging on to our MySpace and Facebook accounts that for most joining Twitter didn’t take much thought. I understand how people like my parents are a little confused in the whole “social media” thing and I also can see how companies are wondering how they can take hold of this phenomenon and use it their advantage. My piece of advice would be to use it like Ellen does.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Walmart and Its Massive Data Collection
Walmart. A recognizable powerhouse, big-box retailer that offers everything from pet supplies to Christmas ornaments, is no doubt the 800 pound gorilla in the room of retailers. What most do not know about this mega-monster is that it processes data only second in the world to the Pentagon in Washington D.C. Data not only about what is sold within every store, but also data that tells what customer’s buy together in one shopping trip. With this technology Walmart is able to predict and forecast sales of certain items-a skill that not many have.
Michael Bergdahl once said that, “when you compete with Walmart, even if you think you’ve found a niche don’t ever become complacent.” Due to the enormous amount of data that Walmart collects, a considerable competitive advantage is achieved. Because they are constantly capturing huge amounts of data, they have become so successful at determining not only what customers buy, but also what items customers buy together. By having a complete basket-analysis, Walmart is able to predict things that other big-box retailers cannot even fathom. In the article, “What Wal-Mart Knows about Customers’ Habits” Linda Dillman describes how her staff “forecast[ed]” what products would be bought when a hurricane was predicted to hit a certain area. This gain of knowledge of strawberry pop-tarts and beer would never have been possible if Walmart had not tracked and noted shopper history in the past. I believe that because Walmart is capable of such predictions, it allows them to gain a significant leg-up on competition.
In addition, when considering the amount and the extent of data that is collected one must question the privacy issues. In today’s world where identity theft is so prominent and the crime so evolved, Walmart’s huge mountain of customer data is somewhat unnerving. I want to believe Ms. Dillman when she says that only the people necessary have access to the customer data, but I am still doubtful. I do question why Walmart has not begun using a loyalty program (it seems like a slightly more “honest” and upfront way of collecting consumer data), but I understand that by doing so they would be going against the “everyday low prices” that Sam Walton originally instilled. A loyalty program seems like it would be so much easier.
When addressing the question of the impact Walmart is having on its suppliers, I feel that the article, “The Walmart You Don’t Know,” by Charles Fishman in the magazine, Fast Company, demonstrates the troubles and pressure the powerhouse places on its suppliers. The article explains the issue using Vlasic’s gallon-sized, jar of pickles. Walmart prices the pickles at $2.97 using it as a “statement item” to exemplify what the big-box supplier is all about- number one brands at rock bottom prices. Mr. Fishman continues with, “Therein lies the basic conundrum of doing business with the world's largest retailer. By selling a gallon of kosher dills for less than most grocers sell a quart, Walmart may have provided a service for its customers. But what did it do for Vlasic? The pickle maker had spent decades convincing customers that they should pay a premium for its brand. Now Walmart was practically giving them away.” The article then discusses the “pressure the biggest retailer relentlessly applies to its suppliers in name of bringing us ‘every day low prices.’” When suppliers are placed under such tough constraints of supplying Walmart at a lower and lower price, they are forced to make decisions such as layoffs and closing US plants in order to outsource manufacturing to make it cheaper.
There is no doubt that this gorilla is here to stay, especially in the current economic downtime. In addition, there is no doubt that it will continue to process and collect data in massive amounts that are incomparable to most, if not all. And most of all, there is no doubt that people will continue to buy there kitty-litter and shampoo, along with there car batteries at the lowest priced place in town.
Michael Bergdahl once said that, “when you compete with Walmart, even if you think you’ve found a niche don’t ever become complacent.” Due to the enormous amount of data that Walmart collects, a considerable competitive advantage is achieved. Because they are constantly capturing huge amounts of data, they have become so successful at determining not only what customers buy, but also what items customers buy together. By having a complete basket-analysis, Walmart is able to predict things that other big-box retailers cannot even fathom. In the article, “What Wal-Mart Knows about Customers’ Habits” Linda Dillman describes how her staff “forecast[ed]” what products would be bought when a hurricane was predicted to hit a certain area. This gain of knowledge of strawberry pop-tarts and beer would never have been possible if Walmart had not tracked and noted shopper history in the past. I believe that because Walmart is capable of such predictions, it allows them to gain a significant leg-up on competition.
In addition, when considering the amount and the extent of data that is collected one must question the privacy issues. In today’s world where identity theft is so prominent and the crime so evolved, Walmart’s huge mountain of customer data is somewhat unnerving. I want to believe Ms. Dillman when she says that only the people necessary have access to the customer data, but I am still doubtful. I do question why Walmart has not begun using a loyalty program (it seems like a slightly more “honest” and upfront way of collecting consumer data), but I understand that by doing so they would be going against the “everyday low prices” that Sam Walton originally instilled. A loyalty program seems like it would be so much easier.
When addressing the question of the impact Walmart is having on its suppliers, I feel that the article, “The Walmart You Don’t Know,” by Charles Fishman in the magazine, Fast Company, demonstrates the troubles and pressure the powerhouse places on its suppliers. The article explains the issue using Vlasic’s gallon-sized, jar of pickles. Walmart prices the pickles at $2.97 using it as a “statement item” to exemplify what the big-box supplier is all about- number one brands at rock bottom prices. Mr. Fishman continues with, “Therein lies the basic conundrum of doing business with the world's largest retailer. By selling a gallon of kosher dills for less than most grocers sell a quart, Walmart may have provided a service for its customers. But what did it do for Vlasic? The pickle maker had spent decades convincing customers that they should pay a premium for its brand. Now Walmart was practically giving them away.” The article then discusses the “pressure the biggest retailer relentlessly applies to its suppliers in name of bringing us ‘every day low prices.’” When suppliers are placed under such tough constraints of supplying Walmart at a lower and lower price, they are forced to make decisions such as layoffs and closing US plants in order to outsource manufacturing to make it cheaper.
There is no doubt that this gorilla is here to stay, especially in the current economic downtime. In addition, there is no doubt that it will continue to process and collect data in massive amounts that are incomparable to most, if not all. And most of all, there is no doubt that people will continue to buy there kitty-litter and shampoo, along with there car batteries at the lowest priced place in town.
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