Marketing Case Study - The Downfall of Google+

On October 8, 2018, an article in the New York Times nicely summarizes the rise and fall of Google+:

"Introduced in 2011, Google Plus was meant to be a Facebook competitor that linked users to various Google products, including its search engine and YouTube. But other than a few loyal users, it did not catch on. By 2018, it was an afterthought." 

History of Social Media

As we learned in Gary Vaynerchuk’s book Jab, Jab, Jab Right Hook, Google+ launched in June 2011 with 500 million users. This launch was actually Google’s fourth attempt at creating a social networking site. Previous attempts at social network creation by Google are as follows:

• Orkut (launched in 2004, retired in 2014) 
• Google Friend Connect (launched in 2008, retired in 2012)
• Google Buzz (launched in 2010, retired in 2011)

When Google+ launched, it was a networking site that we were all forced to become a member of. Not many of those 500 million users actually used their Google+ accounts for networking, they had an account only because it was required. In a review of that 500 million number in 2015, it was found that only 1.1 million people were interacting with the site itself. That is a significant difference compared to the reported 500 million users. Those 1.1 million users were faithful to Google+ and I am sure they are devastated to be losing the platform.

Several other social networking platforms are available and have been successful: 

• Myspace launched in 2003
• Facebook launched in 2004
• YouTube launched in 2005 (and was bought out by Google in 2006)
• Twitter launched in 2006

And the list goes on...between 2001 and 2011, social media platforms have grown exponentially.

So what happened with Google+?

Logistically, it doesn't make any sense that Google+ would not succeed. Google seems like the go to name for anything web based. Did they launch too late? Why did Google+ never really get a foot in the game? In my opinion, the failure of Google+ was the mandatory creation. It personally gave me a feeling of distrust. I was forced there whenever I wanted to open a new account and even at this moment, I created my link for this blogger page through Google+ because my computer easily set the account up without my help. Yes, convenience must have been the key.

Value Proposition 

Bringing all your google sites together into one easy networking platform.

Summary of the Downfall

Google+ announced this year that they will be closing down the site. This all came after a March 2018 data breach that they chose not to disclose to users. In October 2018, Google+ blogged about the security breach and how they would be shutting down Google+ for consumers. 

"While our engineering teams have put a lot of effort and dedication into building Google+ over the years, it has not achieved broad consumer or developer adoption, and has seen limited user interaction with apps. The consumer version of Google+ currently has low usage and engagement: 90 percent of Google+ user sessions are less than five seconds."

The Observer reported the breach to users as follows:

"The compromised data included only static, optional profile information, such as name, email address, occupation, gender and age, Google said in the blog post. The incident didn’t affect a user’s messaging history, Google+ posts or other account activities."

My Perspective and Discussion Questions

Marketing Relevance

From a marketing perspective, setting up Google+ to integrate with its other programs in theory sounds like it might work in pulling people in to try out the platform. But not giving consumers the option on whether they wanted to sign up was the downfall. Google should have listened to the consumers in those first couple years of launch and they would have known that the forced enrollment was not going to work. 

Crisis Management and Challenges

Not only is Google unable to hit the mark on launching a successful social media platform, they also have no idea how to listen to their consumers or clean up messes once they have been made. In internal memos with the legal department at Google, they state that they are not going to publicize the data breach because of the recent issue with Facebook and the bad publicity that had. Their plan is to keep it quiet and just close out Google+ to consumers as to not raise any red flags. 

Discussion Questions

Why can't Google get it right when it comes to creating a social media platform?

Do you think forcing consumers to use Google+ was the way to go?

     -- Week 8 - Marketing Case Study

P.S. -- Google has a fairly lengthy list of launched and failed social networking attempts. An extensive list can be found at this link for your viewing pleasure.

Listening - Subscription Boxes

My daughter and I used to get a monthly subscription box that contained various foods from different countries SnackCrate. 

It was exciting to see the foods that people eat from other countries. Weird sweet chewy sticks from Jerusalem and crunchy treats from China. This little gem was in The Netherland's box -- Daelmans Stroopwafels -- and they are now being sold at Target. I wonder if they became popular in the US because of their appearance in the SnackCrate box? 

We loved our monthly boxes -- until the day we received the box from the United States. We opened the box expecting to see brands that were common and known to us, but instead we got a box of snacks we had never even heard of. We cancelled the subscription. We are either not very versed in the food of our country or we were being misled somehow. 

I have watched several youtube videos showing people from all over the country opening SnackCrate boxes. This video shows a mom and daughter who also opened a USA box and the first comment from Entwistle Family Blogs is exactly how we felt when opening the USA box:

I have only ever heard of the red vines and I live in the USA. I don't feel like this is a good representation of US snacks!

The US box not depicting the actual food from the US is the only complaint I have really come across on social media. I am sure this is mostly an awareness comment for most subscribers. Each box comes from a small location and that location might be on the east coast where I have not been lately to do any snacking. 

The subscription box industry has really taken off because of social media. This is a market that really did not exist in such a large quantity prior to social media. Dollar Shave Club, Birchbox, Ipsy -- these companies pioneered the subscription box market in the beginning. Now, you can get whatever you want in a subscription box from slime to religion to food to beauty.  There are endless options. 

SnackCrate's value proposition is the ability to get food globally to fit into their box. The owner seems to spend a considerable amount of time working with many different countries to find the next best box. 

Over the last three months, there have been four complaints with the Better Business Bureau of being charged a monthly subscription fee even after a customer has cancelled.  It seems that SnackCrate needs to fix something or someone internally to be sure customers who cancel are not being charged for items they are not receiving. Hopefully this is not the beginning of the downfall of SnackCrate. If I was the manager, I would be looking into fixing the person or computer system that was causing these errors in cancellation. The negative reviews that customers will give the company will not be worth just evaluating what is causing the error. 

As far as marketing is concerned for SnackCrate, they are using social media as their platform. I have found that there are an extensive amount of videos on YouTube showing people opening boxes and tasting all the unique products. The YouTube platform has made this company thrive. Just a general search on Google brings me mostly to YouTube videos. Their presence on Facebook is there but is limited and does not remain very active. The do have a regular unveiling of each box on their instagram account @snackcrate. 

From this assignment, I learned that social media brought about an entire new business that had never even been thought of before. Subscription boxes prior to social media where items such as CDs and books by mail. We now have a huge variety of boxes and a ton of options to make money. 

     -- Week 2 Marketing Blog on Social Listening

Plastic Awareness

     I have recently been reading a lot of discussion related to plastic and how it is effecting our oceans and the environment. I went into a bit more depth when viewing a silly photo on the Surfrider Foundation website that showed a sushi roll made of plastic. 

It got me thinking that literally every fish that is eaten has likely ingested plastic everyday and the photo was all but true to people who eat raw fish. The reality of this photo makes complete sense, but do enough people really care?

Ditch the Straw PDX
     There has been local discussion about getting rid of straws. The Ditch The Straw PDX group has taken action to bring awareness to plastic by campaigning to get rid of straws. When I think of straws, I do not think of an overflow of plastic waste. I think of a clean fresh item to be used for each drink. I mean seriously reused straws can get mold in them! Can they really ever truly be cleaned and reused?

     The marketing crew who came up with this campaign hit home. The thought of getting rid of plastic straws is hilarious and has brought awareness worldwide to the plastic problem in our oceans with a humorous statement but a real possibility of getting rid of straws is there. Whatever their plan was, they brought enough awareness in the Portland area that: 

"On Wednesday, June 20, 2018, Portland City Council passed a resolution directing the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability to develop a strategy to reduce single-use, nonrecyclable plastics, including straws." 

The Surfrider Foundation 
     This company has grown worldwide to help bring awareness to how plastic and other pollutants are harming the oceans. Their value proposition is just that -- to bring awareness. They are a company that is attempting to manage a crisis that is here now and will be here in the future if we don't take action to make changes. 
     The biggest challenge this company faces is whether or not people care. Plastic is such a prominent part of the world we know, it is going to take a lot of work for them to figure out alternatives. As I said above, the thought for me of using a reusable straw grosses me out!
     
     To close, I feel like the company should focus on a solution to the problem and have a crew of scientists actually figuring out an alternative disposable item, instead of pushing the reusable option. The marketing approach was good. I have seen tons of plastic awareness campaigns and the Ditch the Straw campaign is one that brought so much controversy and discussion that people are actually considering alternatives. Finally, this assignment for me was fun. This is my first blog and opinion of a world problem. 

     --"Marketing in the News" Blog

About Me

I am enrolled in this class as part of my business degree, but am also interested in marketing in general.  I work in a small professional office and we are always pushing to be at the top of google searches.  Marketing is what will make that happen.

Outside of college, I am passionate about church activities and my children's sporting events. I also enjoy reading historical fiction and jogging in my spare time.