MARKETS & MARKETING
MARKETING SYSTEMS STREAM
Topic: New Products, New Channels, New Delivery Systems
Case: Lotus Business Partners
The printed case will be distributed in class. Please do some research on the web as prep.
This case is about the marketing of Lotus Notes – a "development environment" software that lies between the operating system and the application. Many people think of Notes as "just another e-mail system". But it is much more than that -- as we shall see in this class session. It provides the ability for Groups to share files and work together. It also permits using files from different parts of the firm -- on different computers -- in different languages -- to create reports. So it is a means to unify and speed up the creation of new enterprise-wide systems. The case provide important insight into the new world of hi-tech electronic products/marketing systems.
At the time of this case, Lotus had been very successful in placing "Notes" on many large, corporate computer systems – but it needs to encourage more use and more effective use to keep it there -- and to make it a "standard" -- for the development of these large systems. (Lotus also has a Web version of Notes -- called Domino -- that will gain from better marketing of Notes. In fact, the Discussion Base we are using in this course is a Domino database, so this should give you some insight into how a discussion base "looks and feels" as one component of Notes.)
Lotus is trying to build the best marketing Channels for Notes. It has developed a broad "Partnership" with many custom software firms (VARs) for this purpose. These VARs must qualify. Then they are given the right to use and participate in Notes Discussions that include a vast array of information about how to install and use Notes. They can also add to this database. In this way, they become used to using Notes and thereby become better marketers and
As you prepare this case, please consider such issues as: