Comments on: Parasitic Marketing http://thelostjacket.com/community/parasitic-marketing Community, Creativity and Marketing Wed, 07 Dec 2011 00:05:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: JMattHicks http://thelostjacket.com/community/parasitic-marketing/comment-page-1#comment-3826 JMattHicks Fri, 17 Sep 2010 04:52:34 +0000 http://thelostjacket.com/?p=6544#comment-3826 Hey, great post and great insight. There will always be such parasites, people/companies piggy-backing off of the success of others. I think, as you mentioned it's often very beneficial when it fills a need and fits neatly in its own niche. But, often times, I think these parasites can flood a platform (look at all of the apps, games, pages, etc. on Facebook!) and that can often times become detrimental. In the case of Facebook, their privacy settings allow you to block such parasites which is, as you mentioned, companies "pulling the plug" without actually having to do so, they let the user! Great stuff, I enjoyed the read! Hey, great post and great insight. There will always be such parasites, people/companies piggy-backing off of the success of others. I think, as you mentioned it’s often very beneficial when it fills a need and fits neatly in its own niche. But, often times, I think these parasites can flood a platform (look at all of the apps, games, pages, etc. on Facebook!) and that can often times become detrimental. In the case of Facebook, their privacy settings allow you to block such parasites which is, as you mentioned, companies “pulling the plug” without actually having to do so, they let the user! Great stuff, I enjoyed the read!

]]> By: Ben Kunz http://thelostjacket.com/community/parasitic-marketing/comment-page-1#comment-3799 Ben Kunz Sun, 27 Jun 2010 05:16:48 +0000 http://thelostjacket.com/?p=6544#comment-3799 This is a good post, because I actually came back and read it a second time (on a Saturday no less). While much of what you say is true, you also touch on the deeper dynamic between *platforms* and the *businesses* that float upon them.<br><br>Twitter, like Google Search or cable television, has evolved into a platform that enables other business-customer relationships to grow. The parasite idea is a bit negative and perhaps incorrect, since a platform really becomes an *ecosystem* that enables communication. Microsoft Office is also a platform/ecosystem; is my business a parasite because we use Outlook to schedule meetings and Word/Excel/Powerpoint to structure deliverables for our clients? Of course not. We are obviously at the mercy of Microsoft; if it could somehow pull the plug on its platform tomorrow, rendering all Powerpoint obsolete, as much as I hate struggling with the layout in the damn thing a lot of business knowledge would disappear.<br><br>So beyond "adding to the conservation" and "respecting rights," another approach for businesses is to carefully evaluate the stability of the new platform, and how using it as a communication thread could benefit in sales, customer loyalty, vs. hurt if misfired or shut down. Your "helpful parasite" idea is a noble list of positive things businesses could do, but I propose the real intent of any business is to target customers likely to respond to sales. Platforms can enable this without building community. Advertising, after all, is providing information that helps supply and demand meet. It is noble to suggest that all add-ons must carefully add value; but if the real intent is to share data to build sales, the only question is how stable the platform.<br><br>Thanks for provoking the thought. This is a good post, because I actually came back and read it a second time (on a Saturday no less). While much of what you say is true, you also touch on the deeper dynamic between *platforms* and the *businesses* that float upon them.

Twitter, like Google Search or cable television, has evolved into a platform that enables other business-customer relationships to grow. The parasite idea is a bit negative and perhaps incorrect, since a platform really becomes an *ecosystem* that enables communication. Microsoft Office is also a platform/ecosystem; is my business a parasite because we use Outlook to schedule meetings and Word/Excel/Powerpoint to structure deliverables for our clients? Of course not. We are obviously at the mercy of Microsoft; if it could somehow pull the plug on its platform tomorrow, rendering all Powerpoint obsolete, as much as I hate struggling with the layout in the damn thing a lot of business knowledge would disappear.

So beyond “adding to the conservation” and “respecting rights,” another approach for businesses is to carefully evaluate the stability of the new platform, and how using it as a communication thread could benefit in sales, customer loyalty, vs. hurt if misfired or shut down. Your “helpful parasite” idea is a noble list of positive things businesses could do, but I propose the real intent of any business is to target customers likely to respond to sales. Platforms can enable this without building community. Advertising, after all, is providing information that helps supply and demand meet. It is noble to suggest that all add-ons must carefully add value; but if the real intent is to share data to build sales, the only question is how stable the platform.

Thanks for provoking the thought.

]]> By: Stuart Foster http://thelostjacket.com/community/parasitic-marketing/comment-page-1#comment-3776 Stuart Foster Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:36:51 +0000 http://thelostjacket.com/?p=6544#comment-3776 Exactly. This is why being a parasite makes for unbelievable marketing AND horrible business. Exactly. This is why being a parasite makes for unbelievable marketing AND horrible business.

]]> By: David Spinks http://thelostjacket.com/community/parasitic-marketing/comment-page-1#comment-3775 David Spinks Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:21:53 +0000 http://thelostjacket.com/?p=6544#comment-3775 Recently heard someone say "Never start a business that's a feature". The way they meant it was to not create something that a bigger site in the same space could easily add to their own platform as a feature, and wipe you out.<br><br>It can also be applied here though. When your business is essentially a feature (or parasite) off twitter, you're at the mercy of their discretion. <br><br>David, Scribnia Recently heard someone say “Never start a business that's a feature”. The way they meant it was to not create something that a bigger site in the same space could easily add to their own platform as a feature, and wipe you out.

It can also be applied here though. When your business is essentially a feature (or parasite) off twitter, you're at the mercy of their discretion.

David, Scribnia

]]> By: Stuart Foster http://thelostjacket.com/community/parasitic-marketing/comment-page-1#comment-3774 Stuart Foster Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:36:51 +0000 http://thelostjacket.com/?p=6544#comment-3774 Exactly. This is why being a parasite makes for unbelievable marketing AND horrible business. Exactly. This is why being a parasite makes for unbelievable marketing AND horrible business.

]]> By: David Spinks http://thelostjacket.com/community/parasitic-marketing/comment-page-1#comment-3773 David Spinks Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:21:53 +0000 http://thelostjacket.com/?p=6544#comment-3773 Recently heard someone say "Never start a business that's a feature". The way they meant it was to not create something that a bigger site in the same space could easily add to their own platform as a feature, and wipe you out.<br><br>It can also be applied here though. When your business is essentially a feature (or parasite) off twitter, you're at the mercy of their discretion. <br><br>David, Scribnia Recently heard someone say “Never start a business that's a feature”. The way they meant it was to not create something that a bigger site in the same space could easily add to their own platform as a feature, and wipe you out.

It can also be applied here though. When your business is essentially a feature (or parasite) off twitter, you're at the mercy of their discretion.

David, Scribnia

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