Then soon other players came such as Pepsi who also tried to penetrate the market. With the introduction of Pepsi into the market, the market share was divided, sales volume for both commodities went low and the prices also lowered. The product life cycle of some of these products may go far beyond the expected limit, and this is attributed to the brand equity they have. Use of Interactive television and online services in marketing

Marketers have nowadays ventured more into interactive television and online services to improve on advertising their products because through such innovations they can easily reach their targeted groups. For instance, product manufacturers have found ways to advertise their products in video games especially for this product highly consumed by children.

Through online services, marketers have the opportunity to conduct surveys which will enable them to know how their products are competing and are being perceived in the market. Manufacturers are using more of e-commerce to pass most of their goods to customers, through electronic sales in websites such as ebay, amazon and CNET among others. They have reduced part of the expense while they would have incurred if they were to follow the normal sales and supply chain.

Innovations in interactive televisions have assisted marketers to improve their product promotion techniques because, through the various interactive services such as that with TV set, with TV program content, TV related content an TV services, the manufacturers can avail some of their products and their usage instruction at the TV user's reach. Through the various features available on interactivity with a TV-related content, this type of interactive TV helps the viewers to acquire more product information from the TV about advertised products and to make it better for marketers; the TV users can buy the product through a feature known as "t-commerce" Boone & Kurtz, 2011()

This high technology improvement has made it easier for marketers to reach a broader group of their targeted population because most of these technologies are interrelated and some of the information can be accessed from most devices people have Philip Kotler & Kevin Lane Keller, 2008.

For instance, interactive TV can be synchronized to various devices such as mobile devices and computers with internet, therefore, some of this information aired on TV can be passed across. Many marketers rely on digital TV to advertise their products as compared to the common use of the internet because a recent survey done on the adoption rate of both Digital TV, and the Internet is that, the Internet's adoption rate greatly varies with the social groups as compared to the Digital TV which is adopted in great numbers across social groups. An example being the Pizza companies who have been using interactive TV advertising for quite some time now. The interactive TV gives them the opportunity to show the customers the current menu they have and at the same time the customers can order the pizza from there.

One of the advantages Interactive TV ads have is that they can be aired beyond the maximum 30 seconds linear TV ads, therefore, giving them more time to expand their brand messages. On the internet, marketing has been made even more possible through the use of small widgets (small software applications like games), which can be passes from one person to another, one friend to another via websites like tweeter and Facebook. Cell phones are also used to pass information concerning certain products, with the high cell phone users; cell phone advertising has become one of the leading ways in which manufacturers can pass information Boone & Kurtz, 2011()

Telecom providers have made it easier for marketers because with the amount of personal information they have on their cell phone users such as credit card information, personal information and the user's current location has made it easy for advertising agents to give the cell phone user just the right information he/she needs on a given product Davis & Yung, 2005.

The telecom companies can work together with marketers to lure the customer to buy certain products by sending coupons to customers as they are passing through a place where that the product is sold Boone & Kurtz, 2011()

Personal and business-related privacy issues

With the increased use of the internet to conduct various transactions, most personal information from the consumers is being captured by the companies. This information includes; social security numbers, home address, names, credit and debit card details among others. These are sensitive information and must be stored securely in a company's...

Although this information helps companies to predict market trends and budget for its consumers, it is still necessary for companies to keep such information away from the public's view because some people may use them for illegal gains Robert C. Blattberg, Kim, & Neslin, 2008(; Philip Kotler & Kevin Lane Keller, 2008)
The growth of database marketing is not receiving support from the public since some of the information has found its way into the hands of wrong people. The lack of trust the public has on this system has made it difficult for companies to continue gathering consumer information. There have been cases of the public worrying of how some unrelated consumer providers or scammers got their names and personal details. In addition, many consumers find themselves profiled and grouped into various specialized list without their consent Milne & Rohm, 2000.

This classification or profiling is against the consumers' constitutional rights, and this forms part of the issues that discourage the growth of database profiling.

Consumers are also reluctant towards issuing of personal information to some of the transactions that require them because over the years, this information has been used by malicious people like the ones who send people junk mail, viruses through the mail and spam mail. The consumers and businesses are concerned with third party access. Customers are complaining that some of the companies they conduct business with end up selling their personal information to the third party whom they do not know. On the other hand, customers feel it is not in the interest of these companies to inquire about their personal information and so they feel, such information are private and should remain private Ashworth & Clinton, 2006()

Most customers are reluctant to give the companies their personal information because, they feel that they are sacrificing their privacy over the better services promised which do not bare equal benefit to their sacrifice. They also have issues with some the information they give may have errors caused by computers and so the company may in-return have a bad image on them without either their knowledge or the firm's knowledge. Hence, this gives them the fear of promoting the growth of database marketing.

How privacy issues can be addressed

Business and privacy issues can be addressed through training of the company's sales employees to know how to gather and store only useful information in the customer's file. Privacy issues can also be addressed by having separate databases for all the collected data. Data such as those for employees, services, distributors, suppliers and that for customers should be handled separately to avoid exposure of such vital information to anyone Philip Kotler & Kevin Lane Keller, 2008.

With the right use, of the database containing personal, most companies have become profitable and competitive; an example being the Royal Bank, which uses properly, their database for marketing, and this has enabled them to have a competitive edge over other players in the banking industry. Unlike the normal advertisement practices done by various banks, Royal insists on retaining their customers by keeping them informed of their new activities via emails and letters. This marketing move has helped them to retain the customers it has and even attract new ones through their brand loyalists.

Privacy issues are also being solved through removal of names across direct marketing channel. This has helped to reduce the customer's faith in giving information hence sustaining the growth of database marketing. This move was suggested by the Direct Marketing Association, they further suggested that consumers should be given control over their personal information in that, they should be aware that such companies are collecting such personal information and have knowledge of the methods available to restrict the use. In addition, there is the need to regulate online marketers since they are the ones who receives a big volume of personal consumer information R.C. Blattberg, Kim, Kim, & Neslin, 2008(; Milne & Rohm, 2000)

Companies can address privacy issue by first removing the doubt the customers have concerned the usage of whatever information it is being given to them. Most companies are currently working on the maintaining the trust between them and their customers Ashworth & Clinton, 2006.

For instance, a recent survey carried out showed that companies like eBay, HP and Amazon were the most trusted companies, and so, the rampant privacy issues experienced by other companies do not affect their database growth in any way since the buyers…