Eharmony case research essay

* eHarmony founded by Dr . Clark Warren and his son-in-law, Greg Forgatch, in 1998

* Officially launched in 2000

* Initial radio business in 2002

* First Commercial in 2003

2. They concentrate on serious relationship and marriage-minded individuals, offering a unique match-making product

* They offer a tightly integrated system that encompasses a Personality Account, which passes into a copyrighted matching formula, which then causes a Guided Communication program

* In 3 years ago Match. com launched Biochemistry to immediately compete against eHarmony

* Immediate competition: Match/Chemistry, Yahoo! Personals

* Indirect competition: paid do it yourself (diy) sites, free do-it-yourself sites, niche sites, online social networks

Decision Dilemma:

* With the advance via direct competition and improved popularity of free personal sites and online social networks would eHarmony eventually fold amongst all of the recent competition actions or perhaps would they be able to select a marketing strategy that will allow them to innovate and prosper?

Analysis:

Contradictions:

5. On page 13 it says that in 2004 a Yahoo! Personals Premier membership costs.

95 per month which is $15 more than Bing! ‘s frequent service making it.

95. However , when looking at Demonstrate 10 it has Yahoo! Personals listed with a $29. 99 cost each month which contradicts what webpage 13 says. Exhibit on the lookout for even provides a higher cost listed, $23. 91 per month, compared to the stated web page 13 value of $19. 95. 2. Why does exhibit 9, 10, and 14 have rates in 08 dollars when the case was set in October 2007?

Missing Facts or Details:

5. 2004 eHarmony had 3 million enrollment *. 40 = 1 . 2 , 000, 000 active users * No info to get 2007 to compare to the competitors

* eHarmony was able to convert these 1 ) 2 , 000, 000 active users into paying customers 3 times more effectively compared to the industry normal * Zero info on the actual industry normal is to understand the total quantity of paying people to compare to the rivals * 2004 Technology Crossover Ventures and Sequoia Capital invested in the organization * Zero info on just how much or what eHarmony organized to do with the bucks * 94 million U. S. public *. 05 = 5, 700, 000 paying users of on-line personal sites * 2006 Match income = $250 million in 1 . a couple of million paying members 5. 2007 projected revenue sama dengan $349 million

* Chemistry demographics missing

* 2007 Yahoo! revenue sama dengan $6. 9 billion 5.. 025 = $172. 5 million income for Personals * Zero information in Exhibit 15 for Askjeeve! Personals Top even though the circumstance brings up * Not any current data for Show 1 or 2. (Exhibit 1 just goes to 2001 while Display 2 would go to 2000) 2. No foreign data for web users. (Exhibits 6 and 7 just show American statistics) 5. No malfunction to show how many users have 1, 3, six, or doze month subscribers for each web page * Not any mention of eHarmony’s revenue or yearly budget

* Size of eHarmony’s market share compared to their very own competition?

Personal Insight:

* I feel that an important rate of success is a result of eHarmony’s branding and the use of an advertising marketing campaign that become a huge hit to a wide audience. That they went by 300, 000 registered members in 2002 to 3 million users in 2004 due to this. To me, this shows the mass charm eHarmony has. Their good campaign, which in turn featured completely happy couples that found appreciate by using their very own services, offered people a hope that the could happen to them as well. I think this kind of hope of falling in love and achieving marriage can be described as large concern of women. Appropriately, they are the cause of eHarmony’s major users at 60% and generate 2/3 of appointments to the site.

Kotler Textual content Teachings:

5. Core Proficiency: Refers to aspects of special technological and creation expertise. 2. eHarmony targets serious marriage and marriage-minded individuals, providing a unique match-making product 5. They use this to differentiate their company image and services using their competition. 5. Value Proposition: A set of rewards that the company offers to customers to fulfill their needs. 5. eHarmony gives a securely integrated program that has a Personality Profile, which feeds into a trademarked matching formula, which then contributes to a Led Communication system * eHarmony needs to maintain this growing in order to keep developing and maintaining profitability. * Industry: A team of firms that offer a product or class of goods that are close substitutes for just one another. 5. eHarmony’s success has brought competition into this kind of industry creating a surge in market development.

* Niche Market: A customer group seeking a distinctive mix of rewards. * eHarmony’s niche is definitely targeting significant relationship and marriage-minded people along with faith residential areas (with a great emphasis in women) 2. Porter’s Risk of Replace Products: A segment is usually unattractive the moment there are genuine or potential substitutes for a product. 2. eHarmony has to be wary of this. Especially given that Match features its fresh dating internet site, Chemistry. 5. Porter’s Differentiation Strategy: The organization concentrates on distinctively achieving remarkable performance in an important buyer benefit region value by a largepart with the market. 5. eHarmony accomplishes this by doing in-house R&D, using a exclusive matching formula, and other processes mentioned in the facts 5. Competitive Benefits: A company’s ability to execute in one or even more ways that the competitors simply cannot or will not likely match.

2. eHarmony acquired this simply by heavy usage of off-line advertising and marketing and by leveraging Dr . Warren’s 35 years of professional therapies experience, target groups, and in-house R&D, Something all their competition offers tried to copy but continues to be unsuccessful. * Sustainability: The business must be completely committed and willing to devote enough resources to create an enduring positioning. * This is where the importance of eHarmony’s commitment to one of the decision options turns into a factor. They could take a look at a lower-level brand extension to bring in revenue from users who happen to be unwilling to pay the premium fee. They can also look at employing their strong manufacturer equity to venture in untapped market segments, i. electronic. international and gay. One other possibility is expand internationally which has a probability of expand globally adding long lasting success.

Decision Options:

1 . Defend eHarmony’s leading placement in the online matchmaker market simply by reducing barriers and endorsing Fast Track Pros| Cons|

Increase in spending customers| Time-consuming match-making process| Increase in revenue| Losing on other specialized niche markets|

Decrease Biochemistry from getting successful| Bigger subscription prices| Keep primary competency| Lacking continuous innovation|

Maintain competitive advantage| Possible repercussion from members|

2 . Access the medium-term relationship marketplace to increase having to pay members (casual daters) Pros| Cons|

Increased client base| Elevated competition|

Increased revenue| Reduce main competency|

Keep difference with amazing algorithm| Lower fees because of less critical relationship %| Increase market share| No medium-term romance experience|

several. Growing a new business structured off of interior R&D centering on key lifestyle stages, and building a network of free eHarmony-branded websites; income mostly received from advertising. Pros| Cons|

Elevated advertising revenue| Increase costs to build a network websites| Strengthen brand image| Capricious revenue as sites will be free| Lessen short-term competitive threats| Not any market research carried out on crucial life stages subject matter| Potential for brand extensions | Possible manufacturer dilution| Embrace brand awareness| |

Potential for diversification growth| |

four. Rapid geographic expansion

Pros| Cons|

Solid European marketplace | Need to act quickly|

Untrained market segments| Competition already internationally active| Potential for larger profit | No global brand value yet| Reduce single market dependency| Simply no international marriage market research conducted| Strengthen brand image| Might not understand international preferences|

My own Decision:

2. My decision is to go with option #3: Growing a brand new business primarily based off of internal R&D centering on key your life stages, and building a network of free eHarmony-branded websites; income mostly received from advertising.

Factors:

* Long lasting success could be accomplished by eHarmony extending their brand by making use of these innovative websites centering on key your life stages and differentiating alone from its competition, i. e. Chemistry. * This will allow eHarmony to capture industry and reduce the probability of Chemistry turning into successful. 5. eHarmony contains a strong company equity that could keep all their members dedicated to all of them as they change through thesekey life stages. * Additionally there is a great chance that other brands will want to couple up with eHarmony increasing their very own brand stock portfolio. * Model: Gerber Baby Food for couples going through the parenting stage. * With revenue attained from these websites, eHarmony may re-invest it in return into all of them. Funds can then be used to boost its core competency fortifying their company image. 2. This will likewise strengthen all their brand collection, increase promoting, and support more R&D.

* Added R&D may be used to study the niche market for gays and lesbians. * With satisfactory research eHarmony could after that use their brand fairness to start a brand new website concentrating on this specialized niche demographic. * As eHarmony continues to develop their induration services and grow in business it is less likely that their direct competition, Match/Chemistry and Yahoo! Personals, will be able to contend.

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