Julián Villanueva

Marketing Expenditures and Word-of-Mouth Communication: Complements or Substitutes?

In this monograph we examine the extent to which word-of-mouth communication (WOM) plays a complementary and/or substitute role with regard to advertising. A review of the existing literature reveals the main similarities and differences between these constructs. We also examine the conditions in which a social contagion process is most likely. Specifically, our literature review helps us answer the following questions: whether WOM complements the advertising effect, when and how WOM can be a substitute of the marketing effort, and which issues limit WOMs ability to inform and persuade consumers. Published empirical evidence suggests that in most cases WOM complements advertising; however, three marketing strategies — viral marketing, referral reward programs, and a firms creation of exogenous WOM — might work without advertising. This monograph concludes with a list of unanswered questions of potential interest to both researchers and managers.

Social Networks as Marketing Tools for Media Companies

This chapter will explore how media companies can use social networks for selling their products and services. We will suggest that the Web 2.0 is an efficient way to create and protect brand recognition, but it cannot be used as a substitutive of traditional marketing channels.

My customers are better than yours! On Reporting Customer Equity

Abstract Managers and investors need information about the performance and future prospects of a firm. If information is relevant in steering a business, it is also relevant for its investors’ investment decisions. Recent initiatives demand information that supplements and complements a firm’s financial statements to bridge the gap between financial statement capabilities and financial reporting objectives. Firms that aim to increase the value of their customer base should manage their business by future-oriented customer metrics. They should also report this information externally because it aligns customer management with corporate goals and investors’ perspectives. The authors propose a means to report customer equity that enables monitoring firms’ performance with respect to their customer assets. Furthermore, they develop a specific model for Netflix and apply it to quarterly reports that cover more than six years.

Marketing in a New Media World

Is marketing to blame for ruining the media and entertainment industry—with Hollywood movies focus-grouped to death, and news turned into click bait infotainment? It depends on whether you perceive marketing as a wall or frontier. The big studio structure certainly throws up plenty of walls, but there are also plenty of new frontiers. This chapter introduces several key marketing concepts and shows how media and entertainment executives might use them to refine their analysis of business problems, enrich their debates and improve their decision-making. As the Hollywood executive Peter Bart says, “There’s extraordinary opportunity around the world in new media; we’re in a great moment in terms of the way the world is acknowledging content.” In this regard, good marketing can help.