My Lifehack

Hi folks, I have two productivity tips to share with you.

(1) Using countdown widget to get concentrated on work. As graduate student with much homework and assignment every week, I have difficulty dealing with them sometime because I keep trying to start a project on some "good" time. If now it's 8:13, I will probably spend the next 17 miniutes surfing the internet, and then start the project at 8:30. Thus, I keep wasting time before I can really get started. Recently I am using a new way of looking at time.

First of all, I remove the system notification time at the right bottom corner of Windows XP. Then I download Generic Coundtown Timer widget from yahoo widgets( http://widgets.yahoo.com/widgets/generic-countdown-timer ) Compared with the similar widgets offered by google or Windows vista, this widget is better because you can make it transparent and put it on top of all the programs. So when you are working in microsoft word, like I show in the picture(coutdown), just set your time on this project, start the countdown. And you would feel lot of the pressure and keep concentrating on it. When you finish the project, just enjoy your life.

(2) The other tool that helps me get more efficient is the firefox search engine. But by default, I put the Google Lucky search in it. I found out using google lucky, you are more likely to think what you really want from the web, rather than spending lots of time narrowing down. For example, if you want definition for certain terms you read in the research paper, just type it in google lucky and for 90% of time, it will direct you to wikipedia. If you want to make sure you will get the wiki page, just type "term wiki" and search, then it will go to wiki page. Besides that, it also acts as kind of bookmark, especially for those websites that you would visit only once in a while, such as the conference you will attend when you only know the name but not the website. Most of time, Google lucky is really helpful. Of course you may still want to use the normal google search, my approach is that use the google deskbar to launch google web search, since I already have google destkop installed. You can always use the firefox quick search.

Response (Even not so fast) is everything

Two pieces of marketing news strike me today.

(1) Google adds search function to its RSS reader. "Now you can find that that apricot recipe
you came across a few months ago and now have a craving for. Or perhaps
you'd like to search for "ipod" so that you can read at once all the
posts in your subscriptions that mention today's announcements." As a loyal user of Google Reader, I am always looking forward to this function. However, a critical user pointed out in his blog that this search function destroyed his firefox experience, because the search function of Google Reader uses "/" as keyboard shortcut. This is the same as Firefox shortcut function. However, Most of the readers are quite pleased with the search function as news reported.

(picture from lifehacker)

(2) Ever heard the new generation ipod buzz recently? While yesterday Apple launches its new ipod touch product, generating huge market reaction. Along with the new product launch, Apple also announces price drop for its Iphone. When I heard this news, I am just amazed by Apple's classical marketing strategy. As every textbook in marketing will probably tell you that we divide customers into different groups based on their acceptance for new tech products. However, an open letter to iPhone owners from Steve Jobs really reshaped my impression about what a company Apple is. You will know what I mean when you read these comments from Digg.

by kalisphoenix 51 minutes ago

The "sorry, we knowingly gouged you guys with a planned price drop in the pipeline" apology was all I wanted. Thanks, Steve.

by platypibri 46 minutes ago

Wow. NOBODY does stuff like this in the tech business. This why I am
perfectly happy drinking the Apple Kool-ade. I just bought my 4th iPod,
a shuffle, last Saturday. All 4 were worth every cent. And, like most
Apple devices, they hold their value better than anything else in the
industry.

by 72Devilz 38 minutes ago

Apple did the right thing, you are back in my good graces again not to
mention the newcomers to the Apple brand. Steve should have known
better and seen this coming and announced this yesterday! Thank You for Thinking Different

So this is what I am learning today: Your response to customer needs really makes difference, especially those responses which make emotional connection between your customers and the brand. I still remember the service disaster of Jetblue early this year. Though Jetblue already gives out compensation plan for those stranded customers, the CEO David Neeleman still stands out and apologizes to the customers, which accelerates recovery of service failure in certain extent. Even the microeconomic theory course I am taking now is filling me with those rational preference and choice sets consideration, I am always excited to see these great marketing connections between brands and the people.

Technorati Tags: iPhone, Google Reader, customer service

Confidence or Confusion?

I am searching a new mouse for my laptop at Amazon and notice this logo under one of my considered products.

The statement besides the logo says

This product is Certified for Windows Vista: Only Certified for Windows Vista software and devices have undergone compatibility tests for ease of use, better performance, and enhanced security on PCs running the Windows Vista operating system. Find out more.

I am not using Windows Vista system in my laptop (Windows XP Professional). But since the Microsoft Corporation really put great effort to market the product, I cannot ignore those reports on the significant innovations in this new system. So assume I already have some confidence in that Vista outperforms XP and will boost my productivity. Will this "Certified for Windows Vista" logo influence my purchase decision to some extent? If so, how large would the influence be?

At least, Microsoft believes that I am very likely to pay a price premium for those products with the logo. As they stated, your company should "Distinguish your solutions in a competitive market by earning the Certified for Windows Vista and Works with Windows Vista logos.Get all the resources you need to help you plan, build, test, and promote your leading-edge solutions based on the Windows Vista operating system."

The underlying system of this logo is the Microsoft Innovate-On Partnership Program . It would be interesting to check the performance of those companies joining the program, because I am personally doubtful about the relation between the logo and consumer confidence in the product quality. Lots of debates and controversies are going on about the impact of new Vista system on the industry and consumers, and at least one of my friends, who recently purchased a HP laptop with built-in Vista, checked numerous websites for latest drivers and updates to make his bluetooth and wireless devices work. So I really have little confidence on the quality of the new system.


Consumers' confusion and uncertainty are always problems for marketers. As reported, Over half of consumers who rate themselves as “extremely confused” said they had delayed the purchase of a new technology product by more than a year since they first considered it. BNET indicates that Inspire Consulting offers some ideas for educating consumers: I should advocate for the third one Allow customers “backstage”. please explain to me that why Vista is really better choice than XP. Please explain to me how the mouse and the Vista work together will greatly change my computer life. Only when I can trust the new system, the certified logo will probably significantly influence my purchase decision. And furthermore, you will probably win another customer for Vista because I have student account and I can easily upgrade my system to Vista with a cost of about 30 dollars.


Technorati Tags: Vista, Windows, Partnership, Uncertainty

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Recommend Reading: Rajan Varadarajan's Marketing Strategy Blog

Dr. Rajan Varadarajan, Distinguished Professor of Marketing in our marketing department, recently launched his Marketing Strategy Blog. Dr. Varadarajan’s teaching and research interests are in the areas of strategy, international marketing and electronic commerce. He is author of over 60 refereed journal articles on such topics as marketing and
market strategy, competitive advantage, corporate diversification and divestitures, global competitive strategy, market pioneering advantage, multi-market competition, product-market growth strategies, strategic alliances, strategy typologies and taxonomies, interdependencies between corporate, business and marketing strategy and other topics.

The five postings that Dr.Rajan Varadarajan covered includes principles and definition of marketing strategy, Conceptual Domain of Marketing Strategy and Marketing Strategy: Fundamental Issues. I strongly recommend you to keep eyes on the blog.

http://competitivestrategy.blogspot.com

My Reading List For Marketing 685 Independent Study

Customer Lifetime Value

Haenlein, Michael; Kaplan, Andreas M.; Schoder, Detlef(2006), Valuing the Real Option of Abandoning Unprofitable Customers When Calculating Customer Lifetime Value. Journal of Marketing, Jul2006, Vol. 70 Issue 3, p5-20

Lewis, Michael(2006) Customer Acquisition Promotions and Customer Asset Value. Journal of Marketing Research (JMR), May2006, Vol. 43 Issue 2, p195-203

Reinartz, Werner; Thomas, Jacquelyn S.; Kumar, V.(2005), Balancing Acquisition and Retention Resources to Maximize Customer Profitability. Journal of Marketing, Jan2005, Vol. 69 Issue 1, p63-79

Customer Loyalty Behavior

Dholakia, Utpal M.(2006), How Customer Self-Determination Influences Relational Marketing Outcomes: Evidence from Longitudinal Field Studies. Journal of Marketing Research (JMR), Feb2006, Vol. 43 Issue 1, p109-120

Van Heerde, Harald J.; Bijmolt, Tammo H. A. (2005), Decomposing the Promotional Revenue Bump for Loyalty Program Members Versus Nonmembers. Journal of Marketing Research (JMR), Nov2005, Vol. 42 Issue 4, p443-457

Agustin, Clara; Singh, Jagdip. (2005), Curvilinear Effects of Consumer Loyalty Determinants in Relational Exchanges. Journal of Marketing Research (JMR), Feb2005, Vol. 42 Issue 1, p96-108

Online Information and Price

Viswanathan, Siva; Kuruzovich, Jason; Gosain, Sanjay; Agarwal, Ritu. (2007), Online Infomediaries and Price Discrimination: Evidence from the Automotive Retailing Sector. Journal of Marketing, Jul2007, Vol. 71 Issue 3, p89-107

Zettelmeyer, Florian; Morton, Fiona Scott; Silva-Risso, Jorge. (2006), How the Internet Lowers Prices: Evidence from Matched Survey and Automobile Transaction Data. Journal of Marketing Research (JMR), May2006, Vol. 43 Issue 2, p168-181

Multichannel Shopping

Venkatesan, Rajkumar; Kumar, V.; Ravishanker, Nalini (2007), Multichannel Shopping: Causes and Consequences. Journal of Marketing, Apr2007, Vol. 71 Issue 2, p114-132

Thomas, Jacquelyn S.; Sullivan, Ursula Y.(2005), Managing Marketing Communications with Multichannel Customers. . Journal of Marketing, Oct2005, Vol. 69 Issue 4, p239-251