TASK 5 | SANJEEVAN MAHENDRAN | STUDENT ID

Camelot Fashion
Boutique

WEB 2.0 | Social Networking

Introduction
The concept of web 2.0 began with a conference brainstorming session between
OReilly and medialive international. Dale Dougherty, web pioneer and OReilly
VP noted that far from having crashed, the web was more important than ever.
The companies that had survived the collapse seemed to have some things in
common. (Sankar & Bouchard, 2009)
Web 2.0 can refer to a perceived second generation of web based communities
and boosted services such as social networking sites, wikis and forksonomieswhich aim to facilitate creativity , collaboration and sharing between users. The
term gained currency following the first OReilly conference in 2004. Although
the term suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an
update to any technical specifications, but to changes in the ways software
developers and end users use the web. The collection of many of these new
capabilities, and the new business models that have resulted, has come to be
known as Web 2.0. (Kroenke, 2008)
Web 2.0 is the network as platform, spanning all connected devices; Web 2.0
applications are those that make the most of the intrinsic advantages of that
platform: delivering software as a continually-updated service that gets better
the more people use it, consuming and remixing data from multiple sources,
including individual users, while providing their own data and services in a form
that allows remixing by others, creating network effects through an architecture
of participation, and going beyond the page metaphor of Web 1.0 to deliver rich
user experiences. (O'Reilly, 2007)
Web 2.0 technologies enable more effective collaboration and knowledge
sharing, improve decision making and accelerate productivity and problem
solving among employees, customers and partners. (Sankar & Bouchard, 2009)
Various types of technologies in web 2.0 include:

Google Adwords: Google Adwords is a Pay per Click platform that allows
advertisers to only pay
Google when someone
clicks there
advertisement link. Pay
per Click marketing, or
PPC for short, is a very
effective marketing tool
because users who click
your link are actually
looking for what you
have to offer.

Social Networking: Applications allowing users to build personal websites

accessible to other users for exchange of personal content and
communication. (Constantinides & Fountain, 2008). Examples of social media
include facebook, twitter, linkedin, pinterest etc.
User Generated Content: Online content created by consumers or web
surfers: blogs, product and service reviews written by users, user generated
videos, applications created by consumers, photo sharing sites and
information sources. With the advent of social networking, people are now
empowered to become active content generators thus transforming our
creative landscape. (Marino, 2013)
Google Adsense: is a program run by Google that allows publishers in the
Google Network of content sites to serve automatic text, image, video, or
interactive media advertisements, that are targeted to site content and
audience. These advertisements are administered, sorted, and maintained by
Google. They can generate revenue on either a per-click or per-impression
basis. By providing website publishers with an effective way to monetize
content pages on their sites, Google AdSense strengthens the long-term
business viability of content creation on the web.
Software as a Service: Software as a service (or SaaS) is a way of
delivering applications over the Internetas a service. Instead of installing
and maintaining software, you simply access it via the Internet, freeing
yourself from complex software and hardware management. Eg: Google Apps,
Salesforce, Workday, Concur, Citrix GoToMeeting, Cisco WebEx.
Crowdsourcing: Crowdsourcing is the process of getting work or funding,
usually online, from a crowd of people. The word is a combination of the
words 'crowd' and 'outsourcing'. The idea is to take work and outsource it to a
crowd of workers.

The technology adopted for this task is social networking. Social networking is
the practice of expanding the number of one's business and/or social contacts by
making connections through individuals. A social network service consists of a
representation of each user (often a profile), his/her social links, and a variety of
additional services. Most social network services are web-based and provide
means for users to interact over the Internet, such as e-mail and instant
messaging. Online community services are sometimes considered as a social
network service, though in a broader sense, social network service usually
means an individual-centered service whereas online community services are
group-centered. Social networking sites allow users to share ideas, activities,
events, and interests within their individual networks. Social networking can be
done for social purposes, business purposes or both. Examples of social networks
include facebook, twitter, linkedin, instagram, pinterest etc.
Social networking would be a wise option for Camelot fashion boutique for the
following reasons
i.
ii.

It is cheap as no money is spent on advertising on such social networking

site such as facebook.
Social networking sites are generally user friendly, and navigation through
web pages would be relatively easy.

iii.
iv.
v.
vi.

vii.
viii.

It helps save training cost because no experts are required to design and
promote the advertisements.
It targets a global audience as these sites include users from across the
world and thus widens the customer base for the boutique.
Enables e-commerce thus helps expand business as per Jennys objectives
for the boutique.
It helps ward off competition and gives competitive advantage over
competitors who do not have an online presence. On the other hand, if the
competitors do have an online presence, it helps improve the boutiques
competitive stance.
Due to globalization, it helps growth of the business across geographical
barriers.
Helps the boutique maintain effective relationships with customers as this
compliments the boutiques differentiation strategy while also create brand
awareness for attracting new customers.

Web 2.0 and Social Networking

Web 2.0 applications can directly engage consumers in the creative process by
both producing and distributing information through collaborative writing,
content sharing, social networking, social bookmarking, and syndication. Web 2.0
can also enhance the power of viral marketing by increasing the speed at which
consumers share experiences and opinions with progressively larger audiences.
Because of the novelty and potential effectiveness of Web 2.0, social marketers
may be enticed to prematurely incorporate related applications into promotional
plans. However, as strategic issues such as priority audience preferences,
selection of appropriate applications, tracking and evaluation, and related costs
are carefully considered.
The corporate world seems to embrace the Web 2.0 concept: high-profile
mergers and acquisitions have already taken place or are under way while
corporations are rushing to integrate various forms of social media into their
marketing planning (Constantinides & Fountain, 2008). Progressive organizations
maintain a presence on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and possibly other sites.
They include links to their social networking presence on their Web sites and
make it easy for customers and interested parties to leave comments.
A social network can broadly be defined as a set of actors and the set of ties
representing some relationship or lack of relationship amongst the actors
(Brass et al., 1998). In the marketing literature, the terms online social network
and virtual community are often used synonymously. Virtual communities are
viewed as consumer groups of varying sizes that communicate regularly and for
some duration in an organized way over the Internet through a common location
or mechanism to achieve personal as well as shared goals of their members
(Dholakia et al., 2004; Ridings et al., 2002).
The tangible fruit of Web 2.0's rather nebulous branches, online social
networking-epitomized by Web sites Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace and Twitter-is
becoming increasingly pervasive in the enterprise workplace; this is a

development that's causing repercussive reactions in the minds of many chief

information officers (CIOs). Social networks do have the potential to become
business enablers if you get to know them well enough. (Wilson, 2009)

Future of Camelot Fashion Boutique using social networking

Using social media, jenny can make all of Camelot fashion boutiques content,
including individual posts, searchable via Google. Shopping will become more
common on social media channels as there will be an exponential increase in
advertisements appearing on the customers individual page.
The pages on social media will become more conducive to enabling customers to
respond directly to jenny via direct or instant message. This reduces the risk of
creating potential brand damage that has been built over the years by jenny.
It will be easy for jenny to create and share media as wearable technology
becomes mainstream. This helps provoke customers interest and boosts sales as
customers tend to buy products on impulse.
Jenny should be smart about how she uses social network to promote Camelot
fashion boutique. She must develop strong content strategies and have unique
strategies for each social channel, only operating on the channels that are
relevant to her boutique.
Everything will be mobile. Responsive and able to work on any device will be the
norm and this will further boost sales as it increases convenience to customers.
Jenny can develop a delivery strategy so that the orders can be delivered to the
customers doorstep. This will increase her competitive advantage and gives the
business the edge it requires.

Advantages
i.

ii.

iii.

iv.

Jenny can learn about her business audience. This is the key to success in
any business. Social media would help jenny learn about her audience
very effectively and cater campaigns and offer products in Camelot
fashion boutique to target these audiences.
Helps target audiences more effectively by geo targeting and
communicating with the right kind of audience. Since jenny aims at
customers who are willing to pay a high price for the products, she can
find such people easily on social media and target them and share her
content with such audiences.
Helps find new customers and expand audience because social networks
allow small businesses to locate their current customers or seek potential
customers as explained before. Expansion is possible when jenny caters to
the personalized needs of her customers and due to easy access to
products and convenience.
Allows instant feedback from customers either negative or positive which
provide valuable insights about customer perspective. Jenny can set up an

v.

vi.

vii.

viii.

ix.
x.

instant messaging service on her page in social media where customers

can chat directly with her any time they want regarding any product
related queries.
Improve market intelligence and get ahead of your competitors with social
media. Since jenny runs a small business and most of her competitors do
not have an online presence, she would gain competitive advantage. This
can be done by gaining information about competitors which helps make
strategic business decisions in order to stay ahead of competitors.
Helps increase website traffic and search ranking by allowing people to be
directed to the companys website when they visit the page on social
media. Ranking will increase when more people visit the website.
Share content faster and easier ensuring the content reaches the
customers in the shortest possible time. In order to make customers share
the content with their followers, jenny must make sure the contents she
posts aligns to her brand and interests her audience.
Helps generate lead for one third of the cost. Jenny can become the
market leader due to the competitive advantage social media offers her
with minimum expense on her part.
Create meaningful relationships with customers by interacting with them
and catering to their needs.
Increase brand awareness and reach with little or no budget (Cisnero,
2014).

Disadvantages
i.

ii.

iii.

iv.

v.

vi.
vii.

It is time intensive. Due to the large amount of interaction with customers,

jenny will have to dedicate a lot of her time to maintaining her social
media pages which can be used for other useful purposes.
Customers may feel advertising on social media is intrusive to their
privacy and may not be comfortable sharing their information due to
security reasons.
Feedback control is not possible. If a customer is unhappy, they can post a
negative feedback on jennys page which would be damaging to the
business. Jenny would have little or no control over this.
Mainly attracts customers who currently shop at jennys boutique. Much
more effort is needed to collect information about other users and target
them.
Jenny needs to update her skills on using social media. Although setting up
a page on social media is easy, maintaining and using it to promote her
business relies mainly on her skills.
Measuring results will be a difficult task in terms of success and
quantifying returns on investments.
Jenny may need to commit resources to manage social media presence,
responding to feedback and producing new content. This would be an
additional expense on her part.

Conclusion
With the advent of the internet and social media, businesses are booming with
sales. In any case, with Camelot Fashion Boutiques constrained Endeavour in

benefiting from these channels to advertise and promote the product the
organization has missed out on extensive sales margin. A large proportion of the
companys target market has a presence online on social media either on
Facebook and / or twitter and other media. Consequently the boutique may have
to ensure to be available online in order cater and advertise to these target
consumers.
Therefore as an initial step, Camelot boutique needs to obtain support from a
consultant to set up the social media pages and create blogs. The boutique
needs to establish a presence on Facebook, twitter, Instagram and YouTube. It
may also involve creating the company website to include interactive games,
promotional contests, online shopping with a secure payment gateway, and a
special fragment for customers to express their feedback on Camelots designer
and exquisite products.
Customers can also be encouraged to provide their email addresses so that the
company could send direct emails customized according to their preference. With
the large resource pool of customer information, Camelot boutique could
capitalize on this to ascertain their share of profit, and offer customers
personalized matching their browsing history to optimize SEO.
This could further be prompted through the use of web banners and/ or banner
ads that could enhance the website traffic. The boutique can have a blog which
is updated daily with fashion trends and tips, DIY make up and accessories. GIFs
and informative videos can be posted on social media which generally attracts
several potential customers. To enhance these pages, photo sharing contests and
games can be introduced to get more followers on social media.
The increasing involvement in mobile and online experience of customers has set
a new bar for businesses in terms of what they expect. Consequently, taking
account of the new customer behavior and capabilities will intensify the need for
a mobile application as the company grows and expands spanning across
continents. In the future, Camelot could initiate mobile marketing activities using
SMS, MMS, USSD, Mobile Internet and social media, mobile applications and QR
codes. Like all strategies this has its drawbacks, but the benefits prevail over
this.

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