Short marketing article about Google IPO

kkibak · 06-02-2004, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Google recently announced its IPO. As speculated, Google will be distributing its shares using a unique auction. This unconventional method will allow small investors to bid on shares and directly challenges the blatant bureaucracy of Wall Street.

Is Google making this move because of morals? Do they really feel that Wall Street as we know it discriminates against the “little guy”? Probably, but I would like to argue that Google has chosen this method of distribution to build brand loyalty. They are allowing their shares to be purchased by a large number of individuals, presenting themselves as “good guys,” and sticking it to Wall Street. Low and middle income households can realistically purchase Google shares; they do not have to go through brokers and other prohibitive procedures. Google has, essentially, designed its IPO in such a way that it is meaningful to Google’s users. Not only does Google hope to raise at least $2.7 billion (many speculate far more), but they are also improving their public image and brand loyalty in doing so.

On another note, the Google IPO has been long anticipated and drawn much attention. There is no doubt that Google has cleverly used this publicity as a guerilla marketing technique to advertise their auction style share distribution. Similar to the methods of Bill Gates, Google has successfully used free publicity and anticipation to market not only its shares, but its brand name (and meaning).

We are already at a point where most middle income families own computers. It will not be long before low income families follow suite. By allowing these individuals to hold shares in their company, Google has successfully made the users the owners. After all, who could be more loyal to a brand than the people who own it?

I wrote this as a quick extra credit article for my marketing class; what do you guys think? It's not supposed to be exhaustive; just discuss a couple marketing issues.