Journal - Week 4

Dr Schembri was right in describing this intership course as a rollercoaster. I find I go through short bursts of "oh my god there's so many things I need to do and I have no time!!!" Which isn't helped by the fact I do uni full time plus work a 40hr+ week. But when I do get the opportunity to work on my project I get so excited by all the new things I am learning that it gets so many ideas flowing in my mind. I try and tell friends about this trend and that, about 'blews' (blog news) and Tweets, microblogging, mashups and scrap feeds. I usually get a look in return that reads "Lorien, I think you're turning into a geek coz I have no idea what your talking about and why you find it exciting!". But I tell myself that I am working on a project that is new and relevant. I am glad I am not doing your traditional marketing plan but rather creating knowledge about emerging marketing channels which have so much more to offer for the tourism industry than what is being utilised in the current market.

This reflective journal gives me the opportunity to write my own thoughts or ideas. I feel as though in university studies everything has to be referenced, or the opinion/theory of anyone else but your own! (coz what would we know right!). This journal, and the online social media space in general, allows me to say what I reckon about whatever I want, even if my ideas are ridiculous or "so 5 minutes ago".

So heres what I reckon: When researching statistics on Facebook, Orkut and bebo users on Monday at GCT, I started to notice a trend. Although the largest percentage of current users of online social networks are 18-24yr olds, the older age groups social network user numbers are growing at a much faster rate! I then compared in my mind this emergence to the marketing textbook lifecycle model. The younger generations are the innovators/early adopters....now its the older babyboomers catching on, who aren't quite as quick off the mark with these new technology trends (which may be largely due to the fact that they didn't grow up with the internet etc). It shows that maybe older age groups will become the dominant users as the lifecycle of online social media progresses, as it allows them to stay in touch with family and share photos and memories, which if retired they have more time to do. I think i will try and find some solid statistics to support this theory/thought of mine. If you can predict who the future dominant users will be first then marketing efforts can target them first.

Besides these random thoughts I still have so much to investigate. I have been trying to think of relevant questions to ask in an interview with an industry professional because hopefully that opportunity will arise in the next few weeks. I feel I don't want to conduct an interview until the second half of this course so my questions are deeper. I feel I need to start shifting my focus away from just social media and its crazy popularity, to its uses in online destination marketing, as this is the data that will be most useful for my organisation.

Social Media Differentiation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBbZgJey2Fg

I found this video on YouTube whilst researching social networks. It demonstrates that some forms of social media have evolved into a hybrid form. An example is 'bebo', which I originally categorised as a communicative form of social media, however unlike Facebook and MySpace, it also has ties with open media. This allows users to search through videos, music and other clips posted through open media channels, but also have their own profile for personal expression and networking. This differentiates the site from Facebook and multimedia sites such as YouTube by offering both entertainment and access to online communities/a space for personal expression and collective intelligence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddO9idmax0o

This is another clip that explains the emerging social media channel 'Twitter' into Australians everyday lives. I am still not sold on the usefulness of this concept. To me it just full fills peoples psychological need for connection, gossip and involvement. It's design does however fit nicely with the growing popularity of mobile technologies, spurred by the release of the iPhone in 2008. This design of short updates is another form of differentiation from the larger scaled Facebook. Where 'bebo' has broadened users reach, 'Twitter' has narrowed the focus.

Journal - Week 3

Finally, after 4 weeks of going on about my project and all it will be, only today have I actually clarifyed in my mind what my project is all about and what it will be! All I had to do was slightly change the phrasing of my project overview.

It sounds small, but I knew something just wasn't quite right. It is like when you're trying to recall something and it is on the tip of your tongue but you cannot get it, or trying to look at something still beneath a fast running stream, in other words it is frustrating! I feel I can't move forward until I feel comfortable with where I am...so I was stuck.

Maybe my mind was cluttered from researching the effects of clutter on the internet and getting 20,400 results. Sometimes it is good to take a step back from the thousands of opinions and theories and directions that bombard you and just plainly and simply say what you're trying to do.

After thinking about the diverse array of people GCT is trying to reach, in conjunction with the vast spectrum of online social media, it would be silly to try evaluate and conclude on the most effective. Like my target markets, different social media have different characteristics and therefore attract different groups of people. By understanding each sphere beneath the big umbrella, I can find the most effective ways of using the channel to reach the targets amongst the larger group of users for each sphere.

I feel not only is this project objective more realistic, it is also more applicable and useful. With the realm of social media evolving so quickly, settling for one channel will eventually lead to a dead end. So I will investigate the different characteristics of users and the strengths and weaknesses of each broad category of social media, that way I will beable to make recommendations on how to use each one, rather than try and determine the best one and how to use only it.

Now I have that clearer in my mind I am working on developing the structure of my project. I asked in class last week "whats the guts of my assignment?" everyone seemed to beable to label their project as market research guts, marketing plan guts, communication plan guts etc, but my teacher looked at me and said she actually wasn't quite sure. Being someone thats methodical and precise, not having an outline that tells me to insert text here, i still feel a bit lost. Hopefully tomorrow I will have it all little more sorted.

Internship Research Project Proposal

“Strategic Internet Marketing - An analysis of Online Social Media and their Value as Destination Marketing Tools”

Introduction
Gold Coast Tourism (GCT) is a not-for-profit organisation committed to marketing the Gold Coast region both nationally and internationally. Being not-for-profit, GCT is supported financially by the Gold Coast City Council and a wide membership base from the local business sector.

This project is an analysis of a range of social media, and the marketing strategies adopted in marketing the tourism industry through these channels. More specifically, the project will determine the most effective social media channels for online destination marketing suitable for the not-for-profit organisation ‘Gold Coast Tourism’.

Problem Overview
It is important to know if a marketing effort is going to be effective and add value to the organisation before investing in it. The more knowledge and understanding the organisation has of the macro environment, target audience, competitors, and the chosen channel of communication, the less inherent the risk of a wrong and costly decision.

An estimated 100,000 new profiles are created each day on social media network ‘Facebook’ (Serino, 2008). Although a network such as ‘Facebook’ offers an online marketer the opportunity for widespread exposure, the question is how effective are these social media channels in reaching the target audience for a particular organisation? When taking into consideration the amount of clutter by which ‘Facebook’ is surrounded, the dominant purpose of use, and the prevailing user characteristics, there may be more value in posting a homemade video on ‘YouTube‘, or perhaps starting your own group on ‘MySpace‘. The objective is not just reaching the target audience, but providing them with a unique, transparent space which engages and encourages conversation. With so many avenues for online destination marketing through the wide array of online social media, it is beneficial to pick the right one. This research project will investigate the most effective avenues of online destination marketing for GCT from a set of online social media.

Project Approach
The project will begin with a strategic analysis. This will be broken down into an analysis of relevant macro factors, an industry analysis, and an internal analysis. This will ensure an in-depth understanding of the organisation in question, which is crucial when judging the effectiveness of the range of online social media channels examined, and their application as destination marketing instruments.

The macro environmental analysis is particularly important in relation to this project. Corresponding to political factors, the declining movement of the Australian economy has a negative influence on the populations’ levels of perceived disposal income. This tightens competition in the destination/tourism industry.

The advancements in social media technology such as the growth in free online social networks e.g. ‘Facebook’ and ‘Myspace’, as well as increased ease of access ability through wireless broadband and mobile connectivity, has offered another medium for marketing. Although these mediums increase exposure, it can also produce bad publicity due to the lack of control, censorship and regulation over their content. It is important for organisations to understand their intangible value to the organisation.

In conjunction with the emergence of new technologies, globalisation has expanded the destination choices available to consumers. The reduction in the cost of flying domestically and internationally, as well as the increasing accessibility to the internet, has in turn enlarged the global Tourism marketplace.

Internal Analysis: The internal analysis will clarify the organisational objectives/goals, and future direction. The degree of relevancy to achieving organisational objectives will be an important factor in judging the effectiveness of the online social media channels examined.One of the challenges that GCT faces is identifying an online social media for destination marketing that fits into the profile of the visitor, as well as the organisational members.

Target Audience: The target audience analysis can be broken down into categories. There is the international market and then the domestic market, which encompasses the ‘Drive Market’. The drive market is of particular importance, as it makes up over 70% of visitors to the Gold Coast and can be characterised as people that live within a three-hour drive from the Gold Coast. The social media channels being analysed will be those which the target audience would be engaged in.

Competitor Analysis: The competitor analysis will have two roles. It will identify GCT’s direct competitors, and through case study analysis it will identify indirect competitors and how they are using social media channels to successfully market their brand.

Methodology
Following the strategic analysis, the wide range of social media channels will be listed and then categorised. The most dominant and relevant channel from each category will be researched. In order to gain a deeper understanding of each channel and their use as online destination marketing tools, a number of interviews will be conducted with experts within the field of online tourism marketing and social media. From the knowledge acquired, recommendations will be made as to what approach GCT could take with regards to using online social media as a channel for online destination marketing.

Deliverables
Upon completion of this project the university and the organisation will be presented with a copy of the market research project undertaken. This will include the strategic analysis, methodology, research results, and a discussion of relevant literature. From the research social media marketing recommendations will be made.

Journal - Week 2

Well I was warned that this course would challenge me, which has come to be true even at this early stage. I am now accepting that I have to rewrite my project proposal for the 3rd time! The first internship fell through due to the economic downturn, the second proposal clashed with another student, and so now I am in the midst of trying to get my head around a million new acronyms relating to online social media, a term I had to Google first to understand! I think I'll have to compile an appendix of acronyms for this project so readers know the difference between SEO, SEP, SMO and SMM.

So I have decided to research online social media and its role as a destination marketing tool. I think it will take time for me to completely grasp what it is I am researching. I think my project will change and grow as I read more and learn more about this constantly evolving form of media. I am very excited about the prospect of interviewing industry experts in regards to my research area as this is something I have never undertaken before. I will be posting all my questions and replies on this blog, and so in turn will be creating or taking part in social media as I research it. I was also thinking of doing a survey with international students from uni, as they are huge contributors to our local economy. I could investigate their use of social media and also whether their parents come to visit and how do they find out about their destination.

The first step will be developing some way of categorising all the different forms of social media, as they have both overlapping and individual characteristics which differentiate each one from the other. Once categorised, I will then examine the key players for each. I find it easy to get lost on the internet, I end up going on tangents and finding wonderful information that is completely irrelevant to my original question. For this reason I will have to always be clear as to what information is useful, ensuring the source is reliable and objective. Knowing whether a source is good or not will definitely be a challenge. How do you know if someone knows what they're talking about or not? I will use journal articles and peer reviewed literature to support any arguments.

Journal - Week 1

This week will be our first internship class as well as my first official day at my organisation. I'm not too nervous as fortunately I have been there a number of times already. Mr Lovitt, my internship supervisor, was also my mentor in the Griffith University mentor program I was part of in 2008, so I know a lot of the people that work there and have taken part in a number of projects for Gold Coast Tourism already (Inc. "108 Things to see and Do" -http://www.goldcoastthingstodo.com/, and "YourCoast"- http://www.yourcoast.com.au/)

I’m pretty frustrated at the moment because my original project proposal is similar to another students so I have to start all over again! I was just starting to get really inspired about it too so it will be hard to completely change direction. I guess I can look at it as an insight into real business functioning because sometimes you may work really hard on an idea and then it gets rejected or scrapped, so you just have to start again.

I think I'm more scared about my internship class! I am still blank as to what I should do my project on now that I have to change it. I'm thinking something related to digital marketing as I feel this realm is becoming a more and more influential channel of communication. Not only do most people have internet access at home and/or work, now I look around and see people sending emails, viewing videos, getting directions and reading reviews, all from their phone. I am swaying more towards a research project because I don’t really feel confident with public relations or organising and hosting events etc. I just want to make sure that the knowledge I acquire through my project will be useful for my organisation and relevant to their marketing objectives.

I think that if I do go ahead with researching the value of online marketing channels, finding the best method of measurement will be a challenge. Sure a website may get a million hits a day, but how many of those viewers are within your target audience?