Recommendations for Chevrolet 2.0

      In terms of application of the internet and how General Motors and Chevrolet is utilizing the web 2.0 tools for advertising, they have the idea down. With the multiple blogs, youtube videos, twitter accounts, facebook pages and website Chevrolet and the other General Motors brands have a substantial web2.0 footprint. When compared to other brands such as Mercedes Benz or Dodge or pretty much any brand out there for competition, in all honesty they are on par. Every competitor of Chevrolet has the same web 2.0 tools in use. The one thing that Chevrolet has over the competition is the advertisement endorsement from celebrities and public figures. They do have Youtube channels for multiple European, Asian and American  subscribers, which some competitors do not, which I found a key advantage. The backbone of the web 2.0 strategy for Chevrolet is their website, I think they have enough consumer support and application of web 2.0 accessible multimedia and resources linked to thier main page. Overall as I stated, due to the utilization of external Web2.0, in the sense of external usage, GM has a solid strategy.

   Internally, I noted that they regulate the terms of employee participation with the policy document I found. As far as other internal usages of web 2.0 I found GM to not really be using much of them. I believe they use wikis for corporate purposes. Also they are developing that real time supply chain model for future use but other than that there is not much internal web2.0 usage, most of the web2.0 usage by GM is external.

Note the European slogan "Make it Happen"

    My recommendations for utilizing the external web2.0 tools are simply to continue on path with what they are doing and to capitalize on the advertising resources of public figures. The blog that they provide on their website is also available only in English, for Europeans, this may cause problems for fans to read the GM FastLane Blog. I do believe they should get their twitter accounts multilingual as well. Related to twitter, more hastag usage could be implemented with tweeting, they do not always utilize the hashtags. In addition to that, they could make their mobile applications more available to other smartphones users, such as android. MyChevy is only an iPhone application.

Sources not used before:

ChevroletInEurope

iPhone 4S Sold Out?!.....in China

  

   Last Friday, November 11th, the iPhone 4S hit stores in Hong Kong. Within the first 10 minutes of being sold, Apple reported that they were out of stock. This was caused by pre-orders and consumers walking in to purchase the phones. The phone has yet to hit the shores of China, however it is predicted that the same situation will occur. The iPhone 4S will be released in China in December. Also the iPhone 4S is to be released in Korea soon, and the Korean Daily News reported that the country's 2 largest telecommunication firms had already began pre-selling the phone with numbers as high as 200,000 and 130,000 for both.

Apple's Hong Kong Store

   This is good news for Apple and the shareholders. This furthers the proof that the company will survive in the wake of Steve Job's passing. Although it may be soon to say so, the company will in my opinion maintain status quo and its foot hold within the technology industry, if not continue to exceed expectations. As far as the iPhone is concerned, it may have been the most anticipated phone for the Asian countries.

Source:

Apple 2.0 

BF3 outsells Steve Jobs

  

   Steve Jobs was the man who help found a company many recognize today as one of America'd greatest computer manufacturers. I am of course speaking about Apple Inc. 19 Days after his death, his biography hit the bookshelves both electronically and in paper form. The biography sold 379,000 copies, earning a whopping $13.2 million in one week alone. Jobs's biography jumped to the number 1 position on the New York Times bestseller list, positioning it to be 2011's bestseller. What is an interesting comparison that humbles this accomplishment came two Tuesdays ago: Electronic Arts released the videogame Battlefield 3.

   Battlefield 3 sold 5,000,000+ copies in the first week and generated $300 million in sales alone. Battlefield 3 places the gamer in a first person shooter perspective of a fiction journey. The campaign mode pits the player against a terrorist organization set on bombing NYC. The gamer is a US Marine and a special operative of Russian special ops. This achievement is miniscule compared to what analysts are projecting compared tho the sales gap that Jobs's biography will have against next Tuesday's release of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3. COD Modern Warfare 3 is expected to outsell Battlefield 3 with a ratio of 2:1. What make this interesting is the analysis of how books are being neglected for videogames now a days. Although books are still a $40 billion business in the US, its interesting how a videogame can outsell someones biography like Steve Jobs.

Source:

VG outsells SJ Bio

Chevrolet Runs Deep Online

   

   The first use of web2.0 tools, by General Motors, that I was able to locate in terms of internal communications was an article i found where they designed and tested a Capability Maturity Model Integration for Acquisition process. While collaborating with the Carnegie Melon Software Engineering Institute and the Department of Defense, GM developed a study where they looked at teenagers usage to communicate via web 2.0 technologies. The results of the study revealed an undisclosed web tool that allows collaboration between the main oil supplier and the manufacturing plants in real-time while utilizing common terms between said suppliers and CIOs. 

  Through research I was able to find the user policy for GM employees that applies to all who utilize media such as blogs, wikis, podcasts, user-generated video, and other technologies collectively known as social media....the following are their guidelines:

1. Follow GM’s established business conduct policies as outlined in Winning with Integrity, and the Corporate Policy Manual.
2. Identify yourself. Be transparent.
3. Make it clear that you’re speaking for yourself and do not officially represent GM.
4. Be aware of the legal liabilities involved.
5. Don’t discuss GM Information that is not already publicly disclosed, and don’t discuss GM’s financial performance, competitors or GM Dealers. Keep all GM Information confidential.
6. Do not comment about GM financial performance -- ever.
7. Respect and protect GM customers, employees, business partners and suppliers.
8. Respect copyright and fair use laws.'
9. Be the first to respond to your own mistakes.
10. Be judicious about using GM Information Resources.

 As for external representation and utilization of web2.0 resources, GM has a twitter account, facebook fan page (for multiple vehicles and brands), myspace account, Youtube account, in addition to their website. Chevrolet has its own facebook page as well as multiple model fan pages. Fans of certain models of GM cars have also created forums online that are reviewed by GM for discrepancies. Camaro5 is a good example where fans of the fifth generation Chevrolet Camaro can meet online and discuss mods or problems they experience. Podcasts for GM cars and the company in general can also be found on iTunes. General Motors (Chevrolet) is seriously invested into the web 2.0 concept.

   An interesting discovery I came across while conducting research was a blog that GM created. It is called the GM Fastlane Blog. This Blog allows executives from multiple departments to blog about innovative ideas and discoveries or even promote the company or models through event announcements. For the smartphone application of the web2.0 aspect, GM offers applications such as MyChevy or MyCadillac, basically any of the 4 major brands they make in the US. The application allows the owner to interactively mark their car on a Google map mashup on their phone to remember where they parked. Also available for smartphones is the OnStar application which allows the GM cars equipped with OnStar to be located via GPS for parking purposes as well as remote start and for certain models, it can do a diagnostic of the vehicle. This application, however is limited only to iPhone and Android users. Other than the smartphone application of the web2.0 benefits, GM uses the web to simply advertise and educate the public.

Sources:

Web 2.0 lessons and GM

www.camaro5 

FB-GM 

FB-Chevrolet 

twitter
FastLane Blog 

iTelevision

   With Apple's successful iPhone 4S mowing down the smartphone competition, it seems that Apple has decided to enter a new market....The Television market. Although there is a current Apple-TV product, this Apple TV is quite different. Rather than the setup of the current Apple TV, which is a set-top box add-on to third party televisions, this new product (still in development) is a standalone Television offered by Apple. Recently Apple has acquired a few patents related specifically to television screen and broadcasting menus. Included in these patents are Digital Video Recorders, Personal Video Recorders, browsing software, and a fully functioning display. The former CEO, and late Steve Jobs was quoted by Walter Issacson, his authorized biographer that he (Jobs) would like to create an integrated television set that synced seamlessly with all Apple devices the user owned via the iCloud technology. Current;y the iCloud technology allows iPhones, iPads, iPods and Apple computers to share information and store data off site.

   With the passing of Steve Jobs and the release of the iPhone 4S this further proves that Apple will continue to maintain it's greatness. However, it should be noted that this product was in the process of development before Steve Jobs passed. The question Apple must answer is, will it have other great ideas that Jobs did not coin before passing. Stakeholders must think about these factors while dealing with Apple in both the computer and IS/IT industry, smartphone industry and possibly in the near future the television industry.

Also below id Siri's first TV commercial:

Sources:

Apple Developing TVs

Chevrolet's Web 2.0 footprint

*The main website home: note the twitter, facebook and youtube links at the top

   

   Chevrolet's main website, www.chevrolet.com, focuses on their newest accomplishments or events. Currently the 5 topics that scroll across the main page are: 1) The new Chevrolet Sonic going skydiving, 2)The Chevrolet Volt winning 2011 Motor Trend Car of the Year, 3) The Silverado HD winning 2011 Motor Trend Truck of the Year, 4) Chevrolet's investment and policy for reduction of their CO2 footprint across the nation, and 5) Thier Celebration of turning 100 years in November. At the top of the website they have different tabs that can be hovered over revealing their Cars, Corossover/SUVs, Trucks/Vans line ups, Pricings and special offer, culture and owners features. To clarify the Chevy Culture tab includes the following: innovation, history, environment and news links. The owners features are: owner's customized login, certified service, warranty explanation, accesories, manuals and videos, my volt and track your order. 

*What the website displays after selecting the 2011 Camaro model

    The owner links are pretty much all the support an owner needs online, the links have manuals for every car since 2008 in PDF format, warranty information is clearly explained, the certified service center helps owners locate dealers and certified auto repair shops, as well as gives special deals for savings on service. The accesories link takes you to another website that allows owners to select thier car and view all available acessories that General Motors makes for thier automobile, complete with photos and pricing. 

*What the website displays after selecting the 2011 Camaro Coupe model/trim

    The pricing and offers links contains links that allow potential buyers to: view current Chevrolet offers, calculate their monthly payments on a viehicle, an estimated trade in appraisal (via blackbook), view an estimated credit score, apply for credit through ally.com, and finally it has a buying guide. The pricing and offers tab is essentially for non Chevrolet owners but are potential Chevrolet owners. Utilizing these other website and service providers, Chevrolet.com is able to provide links to the companies that offer the services, putting customers and potential customers in touch with the right companies. This allows Chevrolet to leave an impression on future and current customers, in turn building loyalty. As previously stated the other links have the line ups of all the categories of automobiles manufactured by Chevrolet and outlines the models. The links allow potential customers to build models and get a quote as well as locate dealerships for the specific model they desire. Once a model is selected, the different trim levels are introduced and a potential consumer can read on the highlights offered by each trim level. Models can be compared and once the potential consumer decides on the trim level, the next step is to build and customize the model and locate a dealer. The website also offers an estimated price for the specific model with all the add-ons the consumer has selected. Also limited editions are displayed under the main page of the selected model. 

*Chevrolet's Youtube Channel

   As for other web 2.0 participation, if a potential owner or  a current owner has a Facebook, one can log in using facebook credentials. There is a facebook fan group for General Motors, Chevrolet and multiple individual models. Chevrolet has a youtube channel that any youtube user can subscribe to. Also Chevrolet and General Motors have twitter.com accounts. In addition to the company created web 2.0 channels, many owners have created wikis and blogs for different models.

*Facebook group screen shot

Sources:

Youtube

Chevrolet.com

Facebook Group 

iResults are in!

   Monday, Apple announced that it had sold over 4 million iPhones which is an 135% increase over the previous iPhone 4 model. This was better than analysists had predicted, most analysists projected around little over 3 million was to be the number sold by now. The features included with the iPhone 4S have been a highly effective marketing feature, the biggest of which is Siri. Siri is a virtual assistant that helps you set up appointments as well as remind you to do things. Siri will also literally text via voice recognition. Other features such as the iCloud and other iOS 5 features are available for iPhone 4 users to upgrade to, however the iPhone 4S brings more to the table. Besides Siri, the iPhone 4S also has the dual cored A5 processor, making it the fastest iOS 5 3g capable device. The iPhone 4S also is capable of switching antenna sides for better reception, a problem that was prevalent with the iPhone 4.  The iPhone 4S comes in 3 models both available in either black or white for a suggested retail price of $199 for the 16GB model, $299 (US) for the 32GB model and $399  for the new 64GB model. The carriers are: AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon. Branching out to Sprint and making the iPhone international has helped the numbers grow as evident in the statistics.

  This is important information because even after Steve Jobs passed away, this proves to shareholders that the company is still worth value. Many thought the company would suffer in sales from the passing of Mr. Jobs, however this does not seem to be the case. The iPhone is also currently being utilized as an option for smartphones by the US military. I am also a current iPhone 4 user and have upgraded my phone to iOS 5 which comes standard with the iPhone 4S and I must say with the features includeds and the upgraded hardware I am not surprised the iPhone 4S is selling so well.

Sources:

Apple 2.0