Marketing higher education in Africa : challenges and opportunities

This chapter examines the global marketing environment of today’s higher education institutions (HEIs). (Semi) Autonomous HEIs and business schools are increasingly behaving like for-profit organisations as they seek new opportunities and resources to prioritise revenue creation. Therefore, they are diversifying the portfolio of their student populations by recruiting domestic and international students. In this light, this contribution deliberates on contemporary integrated marketing communications that are intended to support HEIs to promote their quality, student-centred education as well as their high-impact and meaningful research in global markets. Moreover, it reports on how HEIs’ marketing endeavours will be able to forge fruitful and collaborative relationships with industry stakeholders; foster student mobility and engagement in exchange programmes, as they can create partnership agreements with other institutions, among other strategic avenues. These issues imply that tomorrow’s educational institutions will have to keep investing in adequate resources, competences and capabilities to leverage themselves amid intensifying competition in challenging socio-economic environments.peer-reviewe

eEnabled internet distribution for small and medium sized hotels: the case of hospitality SMEs in Athens

Advances in information and communications technologies (ICTs) have strategic implications for a wide range of industries. Tourism and hospitality have dramatically changed by the ICTs and the Internet and gradually emerge as the leading industry on online expenditure. The Internet revolutionised traditional distribution models, enabled new entries propelled both disintermediation and reintermediation and altered the sources of competitive advantage. This paper explores the strategic implications of ICTs and the perceived advantages and disadvantages of Internet distribution for small and medium-sized hospitality enterprises (SMEs). Primary research in Athens hotels demonstrates the effects of the Internet and ICTs for secondary markets, where there is lower penetration and ICT adoption. Interviews and questionnaires identified a number of strategies in order to optimise distribution. The analysis illustrates the strategic role of ICTs and the Internet for hospitality organisations and Small and Medium-sized organisations in general. Most hotels employ a distribution mix that determines the level and employment of the Internet. The paper demonstrates that only organisations that use ICTs strategically will be able to develop their electronic distribution and achieve competitive advantages in the future

Application of artificial neural network in market segmentation: A review on recent trends

Despite the significance of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) algorithm to market segmentation, there is a need of a comprehensive literature review and a classification system for it towards identification of future trend of market segmentation research. The present work is the first identifiable academic literature review of the application of neural network based techniques to segmentation. Our study has provided an academic database of literature between the periods of 2000-2010 and proposed a classification scheme for the articles. One thousands (1000) articles have been identified, and around 100 relevant selected articles have been subsequently reviewed and classified based on the major focus of each paper. Findings of this study indicated that the research area of ANN based applications are receiving most research attention and self organizing map based applications are second in position to be used in segmentation. The commonly used models for market segmentation are data mining, intelligent system etc. Our analysis furnishes a roadmap to guide future research and aid knowledge accretion and establishment pertaining to the application of ANN based techniques in market segmentation. Thus the present work will significantly contribute to both the industry and academic research in business and marketing as a sustainable valuable knowledge source of market segmentation with the future trend of ANN application in segmentation.Comment: 24 pages, 7 figures,3 Table

Media Ownership Control: To What Extent Is Competition Law And Policy Sufficient to Provide for Diversity and Plurality in the Media?

In modern economies and societies, the availability of information is central to better decision making by citizens and consumers. In most countries, citizens and consumers receive the information they need through the media, including newspapers, television radio, internet and etc. After 1990s, technological and economic developments have evolved the media sector by converging it to telecommunications and IT sectors and by leading to new interactive broadcasting services transmitted by different technologies. These developments also increased mergers and joint ventures both at global level and national level. As well as these developments, the private benefits of media have increased concentration of ownership in these sectors. There are many people who argue that concentration in media markets has a negative effect on diversity and plurality. Because of increasing concentration in media markets in recent years all over the world, many concerns as to whether competition law and policy is sufficient to ensure the diversity and pluralism in media have arisen. Competition rules can address issues of concentration, efficiency and choice and will tend to encourage dispersed ownership and new entry. However, they cannot guarantee any of it. Competition law cannot therefore provide the certainty we need that a significant number of different media voices will continue to be heard, or that prospective new entrants to the market will be able to add their voice. Moreover, it cannot directly address concerns over editorial freedom or community voice. Therefore, if competition law and policy is assessed as a whole in the context of media, it can be stated that it guarantees diversity to some extent. However, because of the objectives and criteria of competition law is an important part of regulation, it is not designed to deliver diversity and plurality in the media. Special media ownership rules exist across the world because the market alone, even regulated by competition law, is not thought to provide the best results for society and for democracy.

The e-revolution and post-compulsory education: using e-business models to deliver quality education

The best practices of e-business are revolutionising not just technology itself but the whole process through which services are provided; and from which important lessons can be learnt by post-compulsory educational institutions. This book aims to move debates about ICT and higher education beyond a simple focus on e-learning by considering the provision of post-compulsory education as a whole. It considers what we mean by e-business, why e-business approaches are relevant to universities and colleges and the key issues this raises for post-secondary education

STRATEGY TO RAISE BRAND AWARENESS USING SOSIAL MEDIA TO THE MILENIALS

Social media as a digital marketing channel is currently utilized as a promotional media for business people especially those who choose the millennial generation segment as their main target market. The growth in the number of social media users today is also seen as an opportunity to build brand awareness through social media. This research sets its objective to determine strategies in raising brand awareness with social media marketing on Instagram for the millennial generation. This research focuses on social media marketing that has been applied to the Il's Project brand which is one of the local footwear brands in the city of Denpasar. Using a qualitative approach, with a descriptive analysis of this study collecting data through interviews, observations and documentation which is further analyzed by SWOT analysis techniques comparing internal and external factors to determine the SWOT Matrix and IE Matrix for strategy determination. The results showed, Il's Project social media marketing was in quadrant 1 in the SWOT Matrix, and cell 5 in the IE Matrix. The right strategy is to support an aggressive strategy and growth strategy, namely, market penetration, increased sales and profits and increased marketing effectiveness on social media

Procyon LLC: From Music Recommendations to Preference Mapping

Procyon LLC had re-launched and renamed their music discovery site, Electra, to Capella, in 2008. Its core strength had originated from Electra’s proprietary technology, which used music libraries from real people, its members, to generating “automated word-of-mouth” recommendations, targeted advertising and editorial content. With the re-launch, Capella’s focus changed from a business-to-consumer destination site to a demonstration site for Procyon as it pursued a new business-to-business strategy. What led Procyon to make this strategic change? What products and services should it market, and to whom? This case describes the transition from music recommendation to preference mapping, and provides students with a variety of alternative partnering options to consider as they move forward

The IoT Rapid-Proto Labs Value Proposition for Start-ups and SMEs

The objective of the study is to identify and suggest relevant elements of value on which the IoT Rapid-Proto Labs will focus to correctly structure, define and create a value proposition for the start-ups and SME’s segments. Hence, the study develops on the idea of value creation in the context of university-industry cooperation and explores further on the concept of value proposition. Hence, a theoretical tool called “The Value Proposition Canvas” is used for mapping the elements of value which are essential for the start-ups and SMEs market segments. The study uses an inductive research method, and primary qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews with start-ups and SMEs. The aim of these semi-structured interviews was to understand their interpretation of the value enhancing elements. Additionally, the secondary data were gathered through Internet searches, as saved time and resources. During the data collection and analysis of the research findings only the start-ups and SMEs perspectives were considered. The viewpoints of the HEIs and staff involved in the IoT Rapid-Proto Labs were excluded as they are not considered relevant for the identification of the needs and sources of anxieties of the start-ups and SMEs customer segments. Hence, the study exemplifies an outsider’s viewpoint which provides an impartial analysis and assessment of these results. The research interviews with start-ups and SMEs revealed that many types of jobs, pains and gains include concerns around activities such as funding, scalability, lack of operational capital, access to technical knowledge and other day-to day activities on which firms engage in order to generate revenue and eventually profit. Subsequently, interviewees highlighted that HEIs have different working pace compared to the private commercial consultancy firms. Hence, rapid-prototyping and rapid MVP deployment for commercialisation is a requirement sought from potential HEIs partners. In conclusion, this study recommends to create of a new value proposition based on interviewees suggestions, which includes two different components: cost effective rapid-prototyping and co-creation of MVP, rapid deployment for commercialisation. Moreover, the current four IoT Rapid Proto Labs value propositions were included as product and services within the value proposition canvas aiming to build an improved value proposition

The Power of a web-enabled marketing eco-system

In light of the increased adaptation of social media by consumers and businesses, guided by an evolving dynamic set of technologies and as the exponential growth derived by the development of new technologies promises even more reliance on social media as a marketing function. This paper, by focusing on the main reasons behind the wide acceptance of social media by consumers and businesses, examines the power of web-enabled marketing, which has made the marketplace more open and transparent than ever before. It also considers the opportunities that this situation creates. Several constructs of consumers’ perceived benefits were found to be enabled through the use of social media, mainly through the concept of value co-creation which enables empowerment, power, influence, input, ownership, engagement, accessibility, communication, connectivity and interaction. From a business perspective, several benefits were found to be enabled through the use of social media are co-creation, empowerment, power, connectivity, communication, enhanced innovation and knowledge management and data capture maximisation. Finally, the findings of this research suggest that the main reason for the adoption of social media amongst businesses and consumers is its user-friendly nature

Mobile Value Added Services: A Business Growth Opportunity for Women Entrepreneurs

Examines the potential for mobile value-added services adoption by women entrepreneurs in Egypt, Nigeria, and Indonesia in expanding their micro businesses; challenges, such as access to digital channels; and the need for services tailored to women