Page 54 - Marketing Management

DEFINING MARKETING FOR THE 21ST CENTURY | CHAPTER 1 31

to identify where visitors encountered problems that led “Going Google,” a user can access all of his or her docu-
them to abandon a purchase midstream. After modifying its ments and applications via a Web browser instead of
site and updating its keyword search campaign, Discount owning the physical infrastructure and software. In addi-
Tire measured a 14 percent increase in sales within a week. tion, in 2009 Google launched its first-ever television com-
With its ability to deploy data that enable up-to-the- mercial for Google Chrome, an alternative to Microsoft’s
minute improvements in a Web marketing program, Google Internet Explorer Web browser.
supports a style of marketing in which the advertising Google is also betting big in the mobile category. With
resources and budget can be constantly monitored and op- its 2008 launch of Android, a mobile operating system,
timized. Google calls this approach “marketing asset man- Google went head-to-head with Apple’s iPhone. Although
agement,” implying that advertising should be managed like many still prefer Apple’s platform, even critics have praised
assets in a portfolio depending on the market conditions. Android’s benefits. Most importantly, Android is free, open
Rather than following a marketing plan developed months in sourced, and backed by a multimillion-dollar investment.
advance, companies use the real-time data collected on That means Google wants its partners to help build and
their campaigns to optimize the campaign’s effectiveness design Android over the years. In addition, the iPhone is
and be more responsive to the market. available only through AT&T in the United States, while
Over the past decade, Google has expanded far be- most of AT&T’s competitors support Android phones. If
yond its search capabilities with numerous other services, Google influences millions of new consumers to use smart
applications, and tools. It creates and distributes its products phones, it could make billions in mobile advertising. One
for free, which in turn provide new opportunities for the firm analyst stated that Google “is trying to get ahead of the
to sell additional targeted advertising space. Since 97 percent curve with these initiatives so when [mobile advertising]
of Google’s revenues come from online advertising, new becomes mainstream, Google will be one of the major
advertising space is critical to the company’s growth. players, and display is a key growth area for Google.”
Google’s wide range of products and services fall into Google’s goal is to reach as many people as possible
five categories: desktop products, mobile products, Web on the Web—whether by PC or by phone. The more
products, hardware products, and other products. Desktop users on the Web, the more advertising Google can sell.
products include both stand-alone applications such as Google’s new products also accomplish this goal and
Google Earth (a virtual globe that uses satellite imagery and make the Web a more personalized experience. One pro-
aerial photography), Google Chrome (a Web browser), and gram allows users to mark their current position on
Google Video/YouTube (Google acquired the video hosting Google Maps, click the local tab, and receive information
site YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion), or desktop exten- about local restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues.
sions such as Google Toolbar (a browser toolbar). Mobile Google has enjoyed great success as a company and
products include all Google products available for mobile a brand since its launch. When it experienced an hour-long
devices. Web products are broken down into the following outage in 2009, worldwide Internet traffic decreased by
subsets—advertising (e.g., AdWorks, DoubleClick, Click- 5 percent. In 2009, Google held a 65 percent market share
to-Call), communications and publishing (e.g., Google in search in the United States, significantly greater than
Docs, Google Calendar, Google Gadgets, Wave), develop- second place Yahoo!’s 20 percent market share. Globally,
ment (e.g., Android, Google Code), mapping (e.g., Google Google held a more dominant lead with 89 percent market
Sky, Google Maps), Search (e.g., Google Dictionary, share versus Yahoo!’s 5 percent and MSN’s 3 percent.
Google Alerts, Google Scholar), and statistics (e.g., Google Google’s revenues topped $21 billion in 2008, and the
Trends, Google Analytics). company was ranked the most powerful brand in the
Google’s stage of development starts within Google world with a brand value of $86 billion.
Labs, which lists new products available for testing. It next
moves to beta status, where invited users test early proto-
Questions
types. Once the product is fully tested and ready to be re-
leased to the general public, it moves into the gold stage 1. With a portfolio as diverse as Google’s, what are the
as a core Google product. Google Voice, for example, is company’s core brand values?
in the beta stage. It provides consumers with one Google 2. What’s next for Google? Is it doing the right thing tak-
phone number, which then connects to the user’s home, ing on Microsoft with the concept of cloud comput-
office, and cell numbers. The user decides which phones ing, and Apple in the fight for smart phones?
ring, based on who calls. Due to Google Voice’s complex-
Sources: www.google.com; Catherine P. Taylor, “Google Flex,” Adweek, March 20, 2006, cover
ity and popularity, users can sign up only by invitation.
story; Richard Karpinski, “Keywords, Analytics Help Define User Lifetime Value,” Advertising Age,
Google has not spent a lot of money on traditional April 24, 2006, p. S2; Danny Gorog, “Survival Guide,” Herald Sun, March 29, 2006; Julie Schlosser,
advertising. Recent efforts have targeted Microsoft con- “Google,” Fortune, October 31, 2005, pp. 168–69; Jefferson Graham, “Google’s Profit Sails Past
Expectations,” USA Today, October 21, 2005; Dan Frommer, “BrandZ Top 100 2008 Report”;
sumers with appeals to use Google’s “cloud computing”
“Google’s Android Mobile Platform Is Getting Huge,” Advertising Age, October 8, 2009; Rita Chang,
applications instead of Microsoft Office or Windows. By “Google Set for Richer Advertising on Smartphones,” Advertising Age, October 5, 2009.