Eharmony Case Analysis
| eHarmony Case Analysis | | | | |
|
Background and Facts:
* eHarmony founded by Dr. Clark Warren and his son-in-law, Greg Forgatch, in 1998 * Officially launched in 2000 * First radio commercial in 2002 * First TV commercial in 2003 * They target serious relationship and marriage-minded individuals, offering a unique match-making product * They offer a tightly integrated system that encompasses a Personality Profile, which feeds into a patented matching algorithm, which then leads to a Guided Communication system * In 2007 Match.com launched Chemistry to directly compete against eHarmony * Direct competition: Match/Chemistry, Yahoo! Personals * Indirect competition: paid do-it-yourself sites, free do-it-yourself sites, niche sites, online social networks
Decision Dilemma:
* With the advance from direct competition and increased popularity of free personal sites and online social networks would eHarmony eventually fold amongst all of the recent competitor actions or would they be able to choose a marketing strategy that will help them innovate and prosper?
Analysis:
Contradictions:
* On page 13 it says that in 2004 a Yahoo! Personals Premier subscription costs $34.95 a month which is $15 more than Yahoo!’s regular service making it $19.95. However, when looking at Exhibit 10 it has Yahoo! Personals listed with a $29.99 cost per month which contradicts what page 13 says. Exhibit 9 even has a higher cost listed, $23.91 per month, than the stated page 13 price of $19.95. * Why does exhibit 9, 10, and 11 have prices in 2008 dollars when the case was set in October 2007?
Missing Facts or Details:
* 2004 eHarmony had 3 million registration * .40 = 1.2 million active users * No info for 2007 to compare to the competitors * eHarmony was able to convert these 1.2 million active users into paying customers 3 times more effectively than the industry standard *
|
Background and Facts:
* eHarmony founded by Dr. Clark Warren and his son-in-law, Greg Forgatch, in 1998 * Officially launched in 2000 * First radio commercial in 2002 * First TV commercial in 2003 * They target serious relationship and marriage-minded individuals, offering a unique match-making product * They offer a tightly integrated system that encompasses a Personality Profile, which feeds into a patented matching algorithm, which then leads to a Guided Communication system * In 2007 Match.com launched Chemistry to directly compete against eHarmony * Direct competition: Match/Chemistry, Yahoo! Personals * Indirect competition: paid do-it-yourself sites, free do-it-yourself sites, niche sites, online social networks
Decision Dilemma:
* With the advance from direct competition and increased popularity of free personal sites and online social networks would eHarmony eventually fold amongst all of the recent competitor actions or would they be able to choose a marketing strategy that will help them innovate and prosper?
Analysis:
Contradictions:
* On page 13 it says that in 2004 a Yahoo! Personals Premier subscription costs $34.95 a month which is $15 more than Yahoo!’s regular service making it $19.95. However, when looking at Exhibit 10 it has Yahoo! Personals listed with a $29.99 cost per month which contradicts what page 13 says. Exhibit 9 even has a higher cost listed, $23.91 per month, than the stated page 13 price of $19.95. * Why does exhibit 9, 10, and 11 have prices in 2008 dollars when the case was set in October 2007?
Missing Facts or Details:
* 2004 eHarmony had 3 million registration * .40 = 1.2 million active users * No info for 2007 to compare to the competitors * eHarmony was able to convert these 1.2 million active users into paying customers 3 times more effectively than the industry standard *