Marketing and the Internet: Projects and Assignments

I will also give homework assignments, attached to the end of each session outline. These are designed to develop skills in HTML authoring and design. Although I will not grade the homework assignments you will need to complete them in order to develop your HTML authoring skills. These skills will be evaluated in your project work.

Individual assignments

News Group Biography

1. It familarizes students with News Groups which shall be used throughout the semester to share ideas and ask and answer questions about Internet Marketing issues. News Group participation will increase your likelihood of achieveing a good grade in this class. Quantity as well as quality will affect your course grade.
2. I will use the biography to assign groups for the group project by the second session. Students that have not posted their biography by this time will still be required to do so by the end of the semester in order to get credit for the course. They also risk being assigned to a team of other students who do not adhere to deadlines!

• Name
• Undergraduate major
• Estimated (hoped for) date of graduation
• Current employment goal upon graduation
• Purpose for taking this class (you are not graded on this information!!)
• Your interests outside of class
• Something unique about yourself

Develop a resume to be posted on WWW.

1. It familiarizes you with writing web documents.
2. It will augment your impending job search.

You must Email me the URL of your resume, I will then compile them under our resume page.

Your resume will be worth 10% of your course grade.

Business Resource Page

The resource page should include links to appropriate sites with a descriptive statement regarding the site as a resource. The guide must link to at least 10 resources. The resource guide can focus on a particular industry, product or country. The choice must be approved by me. Your page will be linked to the class Resource Guide

The business resource page will be worth 10% of the course grade.

Company Analysis

• pioneer corporate analysis, an analysis of a company that has helped pioneer WWW or some aspect of WWW.
• web-based company analysis, an analysis of a virtual company.
• web strategy analysis, an analysis of an existing company's web-strategy.

1. Pioneer Corporate Analysis.
   Select from this list of companies below and write an analysis on how the have "pioneered" web development. This analysis should include:
   • An overview of the mission, goals and strategies of the company
   • The aspect(s) of the web they have pioneered
   • The issues involved with developing this aspect
   • Growth potential in this area
   Companies you can select from are:
   Audio Net (TM)| BigBook | CRAYON | CyberCash (BB)| CyberGold (AJ) | Diba | Digital Equipment Corporation | Double Click | Excite (MG) | First Virtual | GoldMail | ichat | I/Pro | Javasoft (DS) | Lotus | Lycos | Macromedia (CW) | Microsoft (JC) | NetChannel | Netscape (BT) | Oracle | Pathfinder | Pointcast (SK) | Progressive Networks (DS) | SGI | ViewCall (LC) | Virtual Emporium (AB) | WebConnect | WebTV (MW) | Wired | Yahoo! (DM) | Yoyodyne | ZD Net

   If you would like to select a company not listed, please Email me for approval first. Only one student can analyze each company, I will allocate companies on a first request basis. Selection must be made by the fourth class session.

2. Web-based Company Analysis.
   Analyze a virtual company whose business is entirely internet based. These are companies that use the web for their business, but are not pioneers of the web (i.e. their business has not affected the development of the web). To do this you need to:
   1. Summarize the nature of the business.
   2. Analyze the appropriateness of the business as a virtual business.
   3. Identify how this business would differ if it was a "non-virtual" business.
   Companies you can select from are:
   1-800 Flowers (JM) | Auto-byTel | Amazon.com (AV) | CDNow (CS) | E*Trade (SF) | Manheim Online | ONSALE (SN) | Virtual Florist (SZ) | Virtual Vineyards (LK)

   If you would like to select a company not listed, please Email me for approval first. Only one student can analyze each company, I will allocate the companies on a first request basis. Selection must be made by the fourth class session.

3. Web Strategy Analysis.
   Analyze how the web-site fits into a company's overall marketing strategy. To do this you need to:
   1. Analyze the web-site goals and the success in achieving those goals. Goals can include promotion, customer service, retail etc.
   2. Suggest changes to improve the effectiveness of the web-site in achieving its goals in light of what you have learn from this class.
   Companies you can select from are:
   Cisco | Dell (CG) | ESPNet | Federal Express | Ford | Godiva (DW) | Goodyear (JC) | H.O.T! Coupons | Kraft | Lands' End (RA) | Lego | L.L. Bean (AT)| M&M's (LS) | Mobil | QVC (CC) | Ragu | Sony (MK) | UPS | US Air (KZ) | Valvoline | Volvo | Yellow Pages

   If you would like to select a company not listed, please Email me for approval first. Only one student can analyze each company, I will allocate the companies on a first request basis. Selection must be made by the fourth session.

This assignment is worth 30% of the course grade. It should be the equivalent of at least 3 pages (single spaced) and no more than 5. It should be a WWW document incorporating appropriate links to the site being analyzed. Additional links may also be used. You should Email me the URL of the document by the last day of class. I will compile all the pages for the class. This will serve as a resource to all your classmates who are sincerely interested in this field beyond the scope of this class.

Group project

The group project will be to develop a corporate web-site. This will include:

1. Needs assessment
2. Identify target audience(s) and purposes the audience(s) will have in accessing the website.
3. WWW mission statement
4. Objectives for the web-site
5. Assess the domain of information required
6. Develop a working web-site
7. Client presentation

The following are due dates for the project:

1. Company selection, session 3 (to be approved by me)
2. Draft of WWW mission, objective statements and target audience analysis by session 6 (to be approved by me)
3. A group meeting with me before session 9

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