Case Study 2 - Assignment Example

Case Study 2 Case Study 2 According to research, the first case study relates to the sunny oasis of Virtual Laguna Beach. Most ofthe brands in the world have jump into the ‘second world’. The 4-month old virtual world of MTV has recently tried to test various advertiser integrations with other brands. Some of these brands include Cingular, Procter & Gamble and Pepsi. According to MTV, there are approximately 350,000 registered users who spend an average of 36 minutes during each visit (Klaassen, 2007).

The senior Vice President at MTV, Tim Rosta, affirms that the virtual marketing world has the ability of expanding its brand. This can be achieved through advertising an attribute of the brand in the form of a campaign. According to the case study, Cingular used Virtual Laguna Beach in order to promote the aspect of communication. This aspect acted a form of promotion which comprised of information from diverse social events. Through these interactions, the users received bonus rewards including VoIP access, cell phone animation and skins for instant-messaging players.

On the other hand, Pepsi increased their in-world skills through publishing an in-world ‘zine that offers new areas in the world. This has enabled users to rack up MTV dollars for the Pepsi-branded items and other in-world purchases (Klaassen, 2007). Lastly, Secret extended its campaign through virtual booths whereby avatars aired some of their secrets for a chance to win a virtual cash prize. This case study also highlights that this scheme does not have a business model. However, the MTV network has a plan to charge for its integration into Virtual Laguna Beach.

This case study also reveals brand interaction should entail a reward especially in the virtual world (Klaassen, 2007). This is because most visitors in Virtual Laguna Beach are usually exposed to these brands hence; they interact voluntarily just like in the real world. The second case study talks about the Bank of America. In most financial services that are provided all over the world, online banking is considered as a major breakthrough in the innovation sector. In 2005, the Bank of America came up with a different and radical product which broke the paradigm.

Scholars assert that the online banking service concept is used to solve some of the contemporary banking issues. For example, it enables consumers to open new accounts. This concept operates in a peculiar manner such that when a consumer buys anything using the BoFA Visa Debit Card, the bank usually rounds off the figure to the nearest buck and transfers the difference to the savings account (Bloomberg Magazine, 2006). After the launch of this strategy, approximately 2.5million customers have joined the Bank of America through opening accounts.

These clients have also embraced the ‘Keep the Change’ campaign. This campaign was established in 2004 to conduct an ethnographic research on women with children. The main goal of this research was to discover an effective methodology through which clients could use in order to open savings and checking accounts with the bank (Cox & Bossert, 2005). A team of researchers interviewed several individuals in several streets to learn how they use banking services. After conducting the research, they were assured that most individuals used checkbooks since; it was faster in money transactions.

In 2004, the company executives held several meetings to create a different concept in financial transactions. After these meetings, this team designed a web-based cartoon advertisement that was unique. This cartoon showed a woman buying coffee for $1.50. She then placed the fifty cent coin in the savings account (Bloomberg Magazine, 2006). This campaign was named ‘Keep the Change Campaign’. They slightly tweaked the idea to increase the number of customers. These tweaks comprised of three additional features to the main concept.

These features comprised of a fail-safe feature which prevented pushing the account of a customer to overdraft automatically. They also included a promotion to match the transfers to savings up to $250 annually. Lastly, they also included a summary of the dealings in the customer’s account. According to these case studies, both companies were able to attract numerous clients from the campaigns. According to the marketing strategies, these ideas can be extended to increase the number of customers in other customers.

ReferencesBloomberg Magazine (2006). Case study: Bank of America. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2006-06-18/case-study-bank-of-americaCox, D., & Bossert, J. (2005). Driving organic growth at Bank of America. Retrieved from http://asq.org/financial/bank-of-america-case-study.html Klaassen, A. (2007). Case study: Marketing in Virtual Laguna Beach. Retrieved from http://adage.com/article/digital/case-study-marketing-virtual-laguna-beach/114288/