Business Models- I thought I knew what they were!

I really enjoyed reading about business models this week because I, I am embarrassed to admit, fall into the category of people who often speak about business models and inherently understands how important they are, yet when reading what they truly entail I realized I never really understood their complexity. As I read through the list of the various models (there are almost ten to choose from, which just serves to highlight the many complexities and nuances of this topic) I was particularly intrigued by the models that try to use customer information to create a sense of loyalty through an online format. As I mentioned in a previous post, I recently moved and have found a renewed interest in anything having to do with online shopping. Not to say that I am one to happily spend hours shopping- quite the opposite in fact. I am in the quagmire where I need to buy a lot of new things, from furniture to kitchen goods, and I do not have the time to do it. Add to that the added challenge of not knowing my way around yet or understanding where the best stores are, so online shopping has been a god send.

With this in mind, the advertising model particularly interested me. I have been honing the skills of finding goods on craigslist, and I have tried other sites that fall into the advertising model category, such as searching Google for recommended sites and even going to Monster.com when searching for jobs in my new city. The part of the reading that caught my eye though was the idea of content-targeted advertising.  In my experience, this can be both a useful tool and a nuance that won’t go away.

It is beneficial when it actually provides value. When searching for couches on Google, I do find it very helpful that now I receive targeted ads for couches and furniture stores. That is when the targeted advertising is working. However, once the need is met the targeted advertisement becomes annoying. Right before I got engaged, which was over a year ago, I perused a jewelry stores website. After just one visit I was hit with ad after ad for their newest diamonds. Not only is it embarrassing when my then boyfriend saw these ads on my computer, which was a dead giveaway that I had been looking at rings (I was really not trying to give the proverbial hint, hint) but I still get those ads today even though I certainly will not be going back to get another engagement ring anytime soon. I think the biggest challenge for advertisers is to distinguish between what can be useful and what can become a nuisance. Your product suffers when there is a negative association with it, even if that negative association is just with the marketing tactics.

 

I often think about what classes in school are option that I believe should be mandatory (such as personal finance for high school and college students) and I think having a class solely devoted to learning the various business models would be beneficial for all business school students. It may seem like there may not be enough material for an entire course, but each model not only has marketing implications, but it also has financial, economic and perhaps even legal implications depending on the model.  This reading has certainly peaked my interest and this will be something I will continue to read about and learn more about as I continue through business school.