Social networks: Trendy or e-business shift

I believe it’s trend right now though some are already doing e-business with it.

Is it going to be an e-business shift ?
I’m not so sure since being part of a community or network is a MENTALITY which not all people adhere easily or rapidly. If we take luxury travel or luxury goods it’s probably not quite adapted. It has a market but it will not set the pace for EVERYONE in ANYTHING. It has to prove AUTHENTIC and TRUSTWORTHY for the social network to work in a particular e-business company.

Identify key elements
Communities = segments => YES
What’s important with communities is SHARING and probably here not all segments of the population are eager to share experience and information. It’s more “common people” “easy going”, “technology friendly” “network oriented”,…who are more adapted to this approach though others might follow if all the conditions are met !


As a conclusion:Companies can benefit from Social Network as long as the social network is loyal to their values and standards of quality because if the community diverts away from their core values then it will be probably a negative approach which will not serve their interests.
Authenticity and trust are vital for the model to succeed !

Social networking v/s social shopping

1) What is 'social networks'
(From Wikipedia)
A social network is a social structure made of nodes (which are generally individuals or organizations) that are tied by one or more specific types of relations, such as financial exchange, friends, kinship, dislike, trade, web links, sexual relations, disease transmission (epidemiology), or airline routes.


2) How the following sites work

- Retail sites
Zilo ,
Zlio.com is a service by Centralcast Co. since November 2005

Zlio provides the possibility to create one’s one shop with products from its broad catalogue of products

Thus one:
creates one’s Ziloshop
publishes one’s favorite products according to a preference theme and specific target (new moms, video games fans, rap music lovers,etc)
offers the service to one’s network (friends, relatives, neighbors, colleagues, on one’s blog, via messenger, on online forums, just like a professional vendor)
is referenced as a search engine and a virtual online shop,
will not have to bother about deliveries or customer service since Zilo will be there !

Wists ,
Wists (weblists allows one to share image bookmarks for any page on the web).
One just signs up, surf on the web, add preference page from anything on Wists.com, by clicking the 'add' links below the pictures.


Deal Plumber

Bringing every deal to every user, to build the largest community-driven deals database, while allowing the community to share deals and get incentives.
So the deals are grouped by categories (computers, car,..) and by posters.
For each deal one can add comment, share it with others or find similar deals.
Dealplumber give a score to each poster according to success of his postings.


- Travel Sites
City Therapy ,


CityTherapy brings together the people, their interests, the locations in the spotlight, the happening events, the music, the fashion and the parties.
CityTherapy is the interactive “GPS locator”, dynamic tool that connects it all in one big network!
With CityTherapy one can find where people of interest, of same interest are, go and meet and also tell others what one likes and one’s interests. Everyone writes comments, suggestions & ideas and posts them to the whole community for sharing and better matching out !!
When one’s signs in one describes one’s:
Location profiles (bars, clubs, restaurants, hotels, and shops) + attached events + view other fans
Event profiles (music, fashion and other events) + events + view other fans
City profiles (bars, restaurants, hotels, and shops for various reasons of living a city) + schedule
Personal profile (lifestyle, music & fashion interests) + picture + favorite events / locations
People search / interaction (find people based on their cities, gender, age, interests, hang-outs) + invitation to people.
Recommended events (based on personal profile, music interests & fashion interests, CityTherapy makes real-time recommended selection of events for the signer) + calendar.
Group therapy (other people sharing similar interests and where they hang out
Fellow therapists (create your community and network of relations + events / birthday)
City blogs (create, edit, comment and view blogs for the different cities)
Social card (receive offers and discounts to a selection of like-minded venues across Europe's most vibrant cities)


Gusto ,

Gusto gives all the tools you need to experience better travel through better information.

Traveling is only part of the fun - planning your trip and sharing your experiences when you get back are also vital parts of the travel experience. Travel reviews, hotel reviews, hotel reservations, travel photos, travel blogs and destination information call all easily be shared with friends and family.

You can read and write reviews and blogs, upload and store your photos and check out others' photos, and use the Gusto! Grabber to bookmark Gusto content and other Web sites. And while you're traveling, you can use Gusto as a handy resource that you don't have to haul along with you!


Trip Hub

It’s very challenging thing to be an organizer of a vacation with extended family, reunion, wedding, get-away with friends, retreat, or any other group trip or event.
The challenges (headaches!) involved are keeping track of who's coming, making group decisions, and coordinating plans.
Today, TripHub (free service) makes it easy to:
- Create a central "hub" for all trip information and discussions
- Invite people to join your trip and track who is coming
- Research and discuss travel plans and activities
- Collaborate on decisions and keep people informed
- Create a shared trip map and schedule of events
- Share travel itineraries from any source or supplier


3) Another example of a social network site (http://www.travellerspoint.com/)

Travellerspoint is an online travel community (also with membership) that went live in 2002 and currently has over 90,000 members from 242 countries. It is owned by Tupela Ltd. AS, which also owns Travelblogs.com and Dutch student travel site Studie-Punt.[1]

Travellerspoint has been mentioned and recommended by BBC World, [2] The Guardian,[3] USA Today,[4] The Washington Post,[5] The Sydney Morning Herald,[6], The Age[7] and the MX[8]. In 2004, it was named the "Best Online-Only Agency" by Travelmole in their annual Travel & Tourism Web Awards, winning out over Travelocity and Opodo.

Travellerspoint Goal
The goal of Travellerspoint is to create an international meeting point for travellers worldwide, whether they are planning their travels, currently travelling or have returned from their travels and want to stay in touch with (or find) those travel friends they met while travelling in the past.


- Does the site add value for users, how?

Travellerspoint's objective is to enrich the travelling experience by offering numerous services, content and products that have significant perceived and added value for travellers worldwide. To travel means to meet other people, experience their cultures and to make, but also to keep good friends. By bringing more people together - albeit before, during or after travelling - Travellerspoint will create more understanding for different cultures and countries and ultimately a better world for everyone to travel in.


- What are the unique characteristics of the site

It starts with real experiences sharing (blogs, statistics, links), and ends probably with real and firm reservation of an accommodation, trip, insurance, hire…


- What are the revenue streams?

- Cheap accommodations and hotel bookings
- Air tickets
- Ads and publicity
- Insurance,
- Hire,
- Travel passes and cards,
- Travel sites related to searches.


Some articles on social networking:

Social Networking’s Next Phase
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/03/technology/03social.html?ex=1179028800&en=34cb285109dd4273&ei=5070


SAN FRANCISCO, March 2 — Next week Cisco Systems, a Silicon Valley heavyweight, plans to announce one of its most unusual deals: it is buying the technology assets of Tribe.net, a mostly forgotten social networking site, according to people close to the companies’ discussions.

=> bringing their customers online to share !!!!



Like Shopping? Social Networking? Try Social Shopping

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/11/technology/11ecom.html?ex=1315627200&en=a2b527b20d0aaa0c&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Gordon Gould, who likes to surf, said his Web site ThisNext.com, gave social shoppers buying choices they might not get from most retailers …

Green conscience

Fly with a green conscience

WHAT do you do if you're a keen traveller but also passionate about saving the environment? Stay at home? Travel everywhere using a donkey that consumes only organic carrots and water from natural springs, and rely on beaches and hedgerows for your accommodation?

Each of us can, even at our microscopic level show some RESPECT to our environment thru simple actions (water, consumption, waste, energy,...). I agree with Julia that we should care about what we buy or do it with respect to energy and environment since this is one of the few things that we still have control on unfortunately !!

Let's not be selfish and preserve our precious yet endangered environment and life at least for our children and future generations.

Solving global climate change, poverty challenges

Just think, it's possible, if tourism can do it, we can do it !

Wine versus Tea

If Europe has wine-tasting tourism, India's answer to that is a tea-tasting tourist circuit.

Low cost airlines business model

Certainly low cost airlines have changed the nature of consumer behavior not just for airlines, but the entire travel industry.

Low cost companies (ex Ryanair and Easyjet) provides limited service at a price that is attractive to the cost-conscious consumer.
They have had an important progression during the last years especially in the EU airports.
Greatly inspired by Southwest (US), low cost airlines have targeted the “100 % internet” (ex EasyJet et Ryanair) in order to reduce distribution costs and thus propose low prices.
It’s quite adapted to « smart shoppers », those young travelers from above average socio-cultural and educational background and spending a lot of time on internet looking for cool and best deals.


Among the advantages of the low cost model are
For the customers:
- Low price for a minimal and satisfactory service,
- No overbooking problem since the booking online is immediate,
- No tickets issued (Ticketless). Customers can print boarding pass at home and thus reduce cost of service and transactions
- Low online registration fee of luggages


For the low cost companies:
- Internet remains the most rapid and cheapest media for transaction with no important workload or workforce associated,
- Important use of technology to deliver efficient and rapid service,
- Reduce number of intermediaries just like the “dell model”
- Due to online business they can have very efficient and up to date accounting system,
- Important growth (number of passengers, frequency, territory, routes, airplanes deal, ….),
- High brand awareness,
- Additional revenues (see examples below)

However some low cost companies still work with travel agencies where profits are made on call center service and treatment of dossier,


List of the revenue streams:
- Food / beverages and shopping onboard,
- Insurance for luggages and “rapatriement”
- Partnership with TO and hotels for hotel rooms bookings and car rentals,
- Transfer reservation fee (ex bus services),
- Access and usage fee for airport lounge during transits for example,
- Airport parking,

Thus commissions on the additional transactions are new source of revenue for low cost companies.

A few comments :
1. "low cost" can represent a danger for traditional airlines in Europe in the long term

2. To be on same traditional routes from international airports, low cost companies will have to face cost considerations

3. As a large number of low cost exists, it seems that a consolidation will occur at some time with only a few remaining. Till then cost and investment will be important issues to compete.

4. The low cost has created an awareness for customers in that they are now more used to seeing lower price for a satisfactory service

5. In this context it seems that the big companies are quite forced to adjust and reduce price deviation from "low cost" while preserving the characteristics proper to their business model (time management, global service, development of customer loyalty).

Additional revenue, customer development
Development of customer loyalty and membership

Other opportunities:
- Service sector providers, including mobile network operators and Internet Service Providers, could be the next to adopt a low-cost model.
- Others may follow like advertising agency (ex TVLowCost)

Innocentive

What is it? Innocentive ( innovation and Incentive)
InnoCentive is a market place, renting brains of scientists, web-based community matching top scientists to relevant R&D challenges facing leading companies from around the globe. They provide a powerful online forum enabling major companies to reward scientific innovation through financial incentives.
Reduce costs of R&D with more capabilities.

2. Who owns it?
Elililly, Pharmaceutical company (business model)

3. What is the business model?
Community of scientists with leading companies, for competition
A fee is taken by the company,

4. What problems does it solve?
Scientific problems, research problems