Why are people on the web?
No longer the antiquated search engine of yesteryear, the web is a powerful and multifaceted resource on which almost anyone can see their query answered instantaneously, and then some: In answering our questions, the web formulates our communities and identities. The Google Online Marketing Challenge provides an opportunity for students to further their identities as advertisers, and businesses worldwide to expand their virtual selves.
For the Google Online Marketing Challenge (GOMC), I plan to work with Kokua Market Cooperative. Kokua is “the only natural foods co-op in Hawaii”. Founded by a group of Honolulu residents in 1970, Kokua market is unique in that it is governed by the community members, specifically, the co-op “owners” who have helped to create it. Much like the internet, kokua has started to create an identity of more than just a co-op market. Kokua is a place to enjoy a sense of Honolulu community, independence, and health and is a sect unto itself in regards to local businesses.
While Kokua’s online audience could be virtually anyone interested in co-ops or island produce, the primary audience on the web is Honolulu community members.
This includes, but is not limited to the owners and local- farmers who supply kokua with a substantial portion of their merchandise. Moreover, in regards to general clientele base, almost everyone on Oahu could be incorporated. This is given the fact that the co-op sells food, heath, and beauty items for everyone from across the dietary spectrum and they do not limit their clientele base solely to vegetarians, raw vegans, marcobiotic dieters et. al. Kokua is one of the only grocery stores in Hawaii which is almost all-organic, substantially local, and offers an enormous bulk section and a gourmet deli with macrobiotic and vegetarian selections.
Therefore, Kokua should cater their website first and foremost to their customers. Kokua already has a website and a facebook page- which is excellent! However, there are several non textual dimensions, as mentioned by Reijo Savolainen and Jarkko Kari in their article on “User-defined relevance criteria in web searching” which would be rather auspicious to Kokua’s business and take Kokua’s already well-established website to the next level.
The first dimension Kokua might wish to optimize on their site is that of novelty. There is a “history” page, but no “about us” page. While the “about us” information is insinuated throughout the site, and/ or could be inferred by most users, a well-defined about us page would be useful in promulgating Kokua’s identity of 2012 vis à vis their founding history , and give users an idea of why they want to shop their now, not just support a local landmark.
The second dimension on which Kokua could improve their page is the dimension of clarity, specifically on the home page. When users arrive to the home page, there is a lot of action going on: videos to watch, news blogs to read, social media to subscribe to. For visitors who are relatively tech savvy, this may not be entirely problematic to navigate through. However, for some visitors, this could be stimulus overload. Subsequently, as clarity is not optimally established, the dimension of time-contraints is not in balance either. Methods Kokua could use to alleviate these issues is by moving some of the social media to the social media tab, and moving the news on the front to a “news” tab , or keeping the news exclusive to a news letter subscription.
What makes Kokua so delicious is the good food and the sense of community one feels in the store. There are already several videos on the site featuring this sentiment, however, this could be intensified by cultivating of affectiveness. As Savolainen and Kari describe it, “the extent to which…information or source of information provide the user with pleasure, enjoyment or entertainment” . More pictures of food, recipes, videos and interviews about people enjoying the store and buying local, as well as blog posts community members enjoying their ability to make the choice to buy local, organic and healthy food and support the community would be very affective. This could be allocated to the about us page, or the social media page as previously mentioned.
The final non textual dimension on which kokua could obtain more users is that of language. Honolulu is a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic captial of the globe. Many inidividuals who shop at the store do not speak English as their mother tongue. Japanese, Chinese, French, Spanish, Ilokano options on the top right hand corner would exacerbate the sense of community and welcome shoppers already feel inside the store.
In regards to textual dimensions there are an array of textual search queries which the GOMC could bring to the site like bulk, macrobiotic , “community owned”, “all- natural” , “aryuvedic” , “special diets”, “vegan”, “raw- vegan”, “vegetarian”, “natural beaty products”, just to name a few.
hanakaiics 
I too am considering a local business as the topic of my project, and it’s interesting to see another’s perspective on the matter. The first thing that really red flagged me about the organization is the lack of a history page. One of the greatest benefits of a small company is the sense of a local identity. They are more than just a store with product, otherwise we would all go to walmart, save a buck or two and call it a day.
I do agree that your main audience would be members of the local community. We want everyone to support local businesses and keep the economy in our state as strong as we can. Within the local community I would say that there is a more specific target audience, the pro-health niche. These are the people who are willing to go out of their way and spend a bit more money to promote their good health. The thing that separates Kokua from a walmart or a Safeway seems to be the health benefits of their store, and should be the main selling point of why they are still in business.
I definitely think a trend in this class is wanting to support a local business. This is inextricable in Hawaii as “local” is not only beneficial for the economy and the environment but also on a cultural level.
While Kokua is healthier, it really isn’t pricier that walmart, safeway etc. for general grocery shopping ( i have done lots of price comparisons) also, eating non- gmo local foods is an investment in longrun health and therefore less hospital visits. Ideally, eating locally more will drive down demand for foods that are shipped here too, and local food will be even less expensive.
I had a strong feeling you’d choose an organization along those lines. I think I even considered this one myself when I was thinking of organizations to choose. I really like it because it promotes healthy eating and God (ooh capital G) knows that I do not have the healthiest of diets. I was born and raised on the Wai’anae coast of O’ahu and it’s very hard to NOT find locally grown foods. Sadly they’re grown in the backyard of someone’s house, but there is a lo’i kalo on Ka’ala. I think it would be good for local farmers, but maybe possibly could it expand to a larger audience statewide or even…nationwide?
Hello!
It is uber- ironic how hawaii is the perfect environment to grow foods, but they are so difficult to find sometimes and the “quick and easy meal” is a plate lunch with white rice and no vegetables or complex fats etc.
this year is international co-op year! since kokua is a co-op, they are trying to celebrate this anniversary. i am doing their pr for my communications capstone to try and increase co-op and healthy eating knowledge locally . i feel that this is the first step. there are tons of co-ops around the country which are not food related at all. (i think..) there is an electricity co-op on kauai, and a few of my friends in the bay area (*hippies*) live in co-ops, which is cool too. i am trying to figure out a way the internet can be a co op?
Hahaha it is ironic! I was wondering if this was a team if i could join. Sounds good and I really like this organization especially since I live here.
cool! hopefully we can find at least other online marketer to join us 😉
I think Kokua Market is an excellent choice for a potential GOMC organization. Looking at your suggested query terms, you might want to take a competitive intelligence approach and consider what other local organizations’ sites might be retrieved with the same search terms (I’m sure you know one place I’m thinking of, just the other side of University Ave…), and discuss with Kokua what they feel distinguishes them from their competitors, and who their target audience is. Are they more interested in promoting the co-op lifestyle generally, or in raising memberships and sales within the store? If they have something their competition doesn’t, that’s an ideal search term to include.
I think what distinguishes Kokua from other grocery stores on the island is that they have “something for everyone” ; be it meat eaters or strict vegans. Two other distinguishing factors are the co-op aspect, obviously, and , the fact that they’ve been around for so long.
While I Kokua would like to promote the co-op lifestyle and spread awareness of it in the community, I feel their primary objective is the later one you mentioned. In my correspondence with kokua- we have discussed raising membership and sales by first increasing co-op knowledge and awareness.
Hey Hana!
I like that you picked Kokua Market, especially since it’s a local company that promotes what you love (and what I’m slowly getting into)–healthy food, local food too. I agree with your ideas for their website. I was trying to find some order with everything they have on the homepage, but I wouldn’t really find it…just that it’s all there, everywhere. The media definitely needs to be together, social media items together, members and groups together and such. What I learned from a multimedia course about websites is that it’s good to follow the standard structure of common websites people may use a lot (eBay, Amazon, etc) because it makes your website easier to use. Links and other items are usually all to one side. And maybe all media could be relocated to another sub page. Language options that you have mentioned are also a good idea, and Gazen made some good suggestions; anything unique that makes them stick out would help a lot to market them.
I am all for supporting the local economy and locally grown food! Kokua Market is perfect for the GOMC.
Hey ! I am glad you’re into the idea. Would you like to join my group , then? You’re multimedia knowledge would be a great asset. Perhaps a few of the others who responded above would like to join too!!
Hello~. Someone asked to help me out with HIFF, but I haven’t asked the directors yet if they’re into it. If for some reason they don’t want to do it, I can be in your team!
I have to make a confession. I live really close to the Kokua market, yet I find I rarely shop there. When I do, it’s only because I need one or two things and I don’t want to go all the way to Foodland, Longs, etc. To be honest, I didn’t even know it existed for a while after I moved into my apartment. I think that in itself is indicative of the marketing (or lack thereof) that the Kokua market currently does. But that simply means you have a lot of room for improvement with the GOMC. I definitely think you should target people who are trying to be more health-conscious and want to try vegan or organic type foods and also want to help the local farmers and businesses.
Hey,
Thanks for your suggestions, I think they’re for sure valid. I was chatting with a friend at the coffee shop literally accross the street while doing this asignment who said in regards to kokua: yeah, i have been meaning to try that place, where is it exactly? haha. I just don’t know how much to spin the health angle. While kokua is definitely healthy, they’d like to bring in people who’s diets are not necessarily “vegan”, and rather just want to eat non-gmo foods and support local farmers.