Official site of Dr. Joni Salminen

Using the VRIN model to evaluate web platforms

Published by Joni on March 29, 2017

Introduction In this article, I discuss how the classic VRIN model can be used to evaluate modern web platforms. What is the VRIN model? It’s one of the most cited models of the resource-based view of the firm. Essentially, it describes how a firm can achieve sustainable competitive advantage through resources that fulfill certain criteria. These criteria for resources that provide…

The difference between business logic and strategy

Published by Joni on March 29, 2017

Introduction I started thinking this question today when reading my students’ exam answers. The questions was “Define business logic and give an example of it”, and many answers actually defined strategy. At that point, I realized it’s not so easy to see a difference between these two concepts. So, what would I see as the main difference between strategy and…

How to use Facebook Ads for market segmentation?

Published by Joni on March 29, 2017

This article discusses the potential of market segmentation using Facebook Ads. Why is segmentation needed? Segmentation is one of the most fundamental concepts in marketing. Its goal is to identify the best match between the firm’s offering and the market, i.e. find a sub-set of customers who are most likely to buy the product and who therefore can be targeted…

A.I. – the next industrial revolution?

Published by Joni on March 29, 2017

Introduction Many workers are concerned about “robotization” and “automatization” taking away their jobs. Also the media has been writing actively about this topic lately, as can be seen in publications such as New York Times and Forbes. New York Times: After Jobs Dry Up, What Then? Forbes: Now, Even Artificial Intelligence Gurus Fret That AI Will Steal Our Jobs Although…

Briiffi mediamyyjien kanssa toimimiseen

Published by Joni on March 29, 2017

Jokainen yrittäjä ja markkinointipäällikkö joutuu puhelinmyynnin kohteeksi. Siinä missä yksityishenkilöille kaupataan kaikkea lehdistä boksereihin, bisnesmarkkinoilla yleisin kauppatavara on mainostila eli media. Ensimmäinen vinkki: Suurin osa mediamyyjien tarjouksista on huonoja, eikä niihin kannata lähteä mukaan. Tässä artikkelissa avaan tekijöitä, joihin itse kiinnitän huomiota markkinointipäällikkönä toimiessani. Miten siis toimia mediamyyjien kanssa? 1. Selvitä todellinen maantieteellinen näkyvyys Millä paikkakunnilla ja missä paikoissa mainos…

The Digital Marketing Brief – four things to ask your client

Published by Joni on March 29, 2017

Recently I had an email correspondence with one my brightest digital marketing students. He asked for advice on creating an AdWords campaign plan. I told him the plan should include certain elements, and only them (it’s easy to make a long and useless plan, and difficult to do it short and useful). Anyway, in the process I also told him…

The Bounce Problem: How to Track Bounce in Simple Landing Pages

Published by Joni on March 29, 2017

Introduction This post applies to cases satisfying two conditions. First, you have a simple landing page designed for immediate action (=no further clicks). This can be the case for many marketing campaigns for which we design a landing page without navigation and a very simple goal, such as learning about a product or watching a video. Second, you have a…

Assessing the scalability of AdWords campaigns

Published by Joni on March 29, 2017

Introduction Startups, and why not bigger companies, too, often test marketing channels by allocating a small budget to each channel, and then analyzing the results (e.g. CPA, cost per action) per channel. This is done to determine a) business potential and b) channel potential. The former refers to how lucrative it is to acquire customers given their lifetime value, and…

The ROI of Academic Publishing

Published by Joni on March 29, 2017

Problem of ROI in publishing The return on investment (ROI) of academic publishing is absolutely terrible. Think of it – thousands of hours spent correcting formatting, spellings, rephrasing, and so on. All this after the actual insight of the research has been accomplished. In all seriousness, 10% of time spent doing research and 90% writing and rewriting cannot be thought…

Startup syndromes: “The Iznogoud Syndrome”

Published by Joni on March 29, 2017

1. Definition The Iznogoud Syndrome can be defined as follows: A startup strives to disrupt existing market structures instead of adapting to them. In most industries, existing relationships are strong, cemented and will not change due to one startup. Therefore, a better strategy is to find ways of providing utility in the existing ecosystem. 2. Origins The name of this startup…

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