{"id":961,"date":"2015-10-03T16:46:38","date_gmt":"2015-10-03T20:46:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/the-knot-valuable-network-effects-in-an-evergreen-industry\/"},"modified":"2015-10-19T18:10:26","modified_gmt":"2015-10-19T22:10:26","slug":"the-knot-maximizing-value-in-an-evergreen-industry","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/the-knot-maximizing-value-in-an-evergreen-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"The Knot : Maximizing Value in an Evergreen Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAmazing news! Congrats! Where do you want to get married? Have you thought about destination wedding? Are you thinking Spring or Fall wedding? What color will your bridesmaids will wear??\u201d \u2013 <\/em>My future mother-in-law\u202630 minutes after my fianc\u00e9 proposed.<\/p>\n

Planning a wedding?\u00a0 If so, you\u2019ve most likely visited TheKnot.com (an XO Group brand) at some point during the process (8 out of 10 brides visit and use The Knot).\u00a0 With 6.1 million monthly unique visitors and over two times the relative market share of its closest competitor (WeddingWire), The Knot has become the #1 wedding website offering its users extensive listings on local wedding services (venues, bands, caterers, etc.), personalized planning tools for managing budget and calendar, images\/articles for trends and inspiration, general wedding\/etiquette advice, active community forums, and product suggestions supplemented through The Knot\u2019s ecommerce shop.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Value Creation: \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"How<\/a><\/p>\n

The Knot has essentially become the largest, trusted online wedding resource.\u00a0 The platform creates value through its ability to cater to a variety of users with varying levels of need — from being the \u201cone stop shop\u201d for individuals who need lots of handholding through the planning process (e.g. \u201cI just got engaged, what do I do next?\u201d), to being the \u201conly-as-needed\u201d directory for those who simply want to do research trends or look up a vendor.\u00a0 Rather than relying on the referrals and contacts of a sole wedding planner or a single vendor, users of The Knot have access to some 300,000 local vendors across the country and utilize the thousands of user reviews to best compare their options.\u00a0 With the average wedding cost now at $31,213, The Knot offers the opportunity to compare services easily and reliably; by creating a platform that allows users to sort by reviews, price, service, theme, and location, The Knot has helped streamline and alleviate a lot of the stress that often accompanies planning such an important life event.<\/p>\n

Value Capture:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Screen<\/a>
My actual “My Knot” page with tools, suggestions, inspiration, and well placed ads (I spent yesterday morning looking at wedding invitation vendors…)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Despite its large and growing user base, The Knot does not charge users to access the platform.\u00a0 Some value is captured from users through The Knot Shop (its ecommerce platform), it\u2019s print magazine, and its wedding website business, where users can pay to upgrade from the largely freemium model for customized website features.\u00a0 However, The Knot captures most of its value from local and national vendors looking to advertise their services to the millions of users on the site and in their print magazines.\u00a0 Vendors can pay additional fees to receive preferential\/sponsored search listings with higher visibility.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Network Effects:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Like many other platforms, we see direct network effects coming into play with the users on The Knot.\u00a0 As the user base grows, the value derived from other users increases through the additional reviews provided and increased online community engagement (e.g. \u201cthe more reviews and personal stories I can read about this user\u2019s experience with this band, the better I feel about reaching out to and booking the band.\u201d).<\/p>\n

We can observe indirect network effects between The Knot\u2019s user community and vendors\/third-party companies.\u00a0 Vendors and other companies that are targeting young couples stand to benefit from The Knot\u2019s large user base through more targeted marketing as many of the users are likely to visit The Knot to research a variety of tangentially related aspects to weddings on The Knot.<\/p>\n

Layers and Layers .. and Layers of Network Effects?\"Screen<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

XO Group (parent company of The Knot) has clearly realized the value in creating a platform with huge network effects \u2013 especially in an \u201cevergreen\u201d industry that continually renews itself year after year (an average 2.3 billion marriages each year<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0in the U.S.).\u00a0 The XO Group has sought to build on its existing community by offering an even broader proposition: assisting its users in other major milestones in life after the wedding through The Bump (for expecting\/first time parents) and The Nest (for first time home owners).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAmazing news! Congrats! Where do you want to get married? Have you thought about destination wedding? Are you thinking Spring or Fall wedding? What color will your bridesmaids will wear??\u201d \u2013 My future mother-in-law\u202630 minutes after my fianc\u00e9 proposed. Planning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":962,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[432,433],"class_list":["post-961","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-theknot","category-weddings"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/assignment\/competing-with-network-effects\/","yoast_head":"\nThe Knot : Maximizing Value in an Evergreen Industry - Digital Innovation and Transformation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/the-knot-maximizing-value-in-an-evergreen-industry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Knot : Maximizing Value in an Evergreen Industry - Digital Innovation and Transformation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u201cAmazing news! Congrats! Where do you want to get married? Have you thought about destination wedding? Are you thinking Spring or Fall wedding? What color will your bridesmaids will wear??\u201d \u2013 My future mother-in-law\u202630 minutes after my fianc\u00e9 proposed. Planning […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/the-knot-maximizing-value-in-an-evergreen-industry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Digital Innovation and Transformation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-10-19T22:10:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/10\/the_knot_logo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"521\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"521\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/the-knot-maximizing-value-in-an-evergreen-industry\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/the-knot-maximizing-value-in-an-evergreen-industry\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Knot : Maximizing Value in an Evergreen Industry - Digital Innovation and Transformation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/the-knot-maximizing-value-in-an-evergreen-industry\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/the-knot-maximizing-value-in-an-evergreen-industry\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2015\\\/10\\\/the_knot_logo.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-10-03T20:46:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-10-19T22:10:26+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/the-knot-maximizing-value-in-an-evergreen-industry\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/the-knot-maximizing-value-in-an-evergreen-industry\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/the-knot-maximizing-value-in-an-evergreen-industry\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2015\\\/10\\\/the_knot_logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2015\\\/10\\\/the_knot_logo.jpg\",\"width\":521,\"height\":521},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/the-knot-maximizing-value-in-an-evergreen-industry\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Submissions\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/submission\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"The Knot : Maximizing Value in an Evergreen Industry\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/\",\"name\":\"Digital Innovation and Transformation\",\"description\":\"MBA Student Perspectives\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"性视界Action\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-digit\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Knot : Maximizing Value in an Evergreen Industry - Digital Innovation and Transformation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/the-knot-maximizing-value-in-an-evergreen-industry\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Knot : Maximizing Value in an Evergreen Industry - Digital Innovation and Transformation","og_description":"\u201cAmazing news! Congrats! Where do you want to get married? Have you thought about destination wedding? Are you thinking Spring or Fall wedding? What color will your bridesmaids will wear??\u201d \u2013 My future mother-in-law\u202630 minutes after my fianc\u00e9 proposed. Planning […]","og_url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/the-knot-maximizing-value-in-an-evergreen-industry\/","og_site_name":"Digital Innovation and Transformation","article_modified_time":"2015-10-19T22:10:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":521,"height":521,"url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/10\/the_knot_logo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/the-knot-maximizing-value-in-an-evergreen-industry\/","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/the-knot-maximizing-value-in-an-evergreen-industry\/","name":"The Knot : Maximizing Value in an Evergreen Industry - Digital Innovation and Transformation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/the-knot-maximizing-value-in-an-evergreen-industry\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/the-knot-maximizing-value-in-an-evergreen-industry\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/10\/the_knot_logo.jpg","datePublished":"2015-10-03T20:46:38+00:00","dateModified":"2015-10-19T22:10:26+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/the-knot-maximizing-value-in-an-evergreen-industry\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/the-knot-maximizing-value-in-an-evergreen-industry\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/the-knot-maximizing-value-in-an-evergreen-industry\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/10\/the_knot_logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/10\/the_knot_logo.jpg","width":521,"height":521},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/the-knot-maximizing-value-in-an-evergreen-industry\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Submissions","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/submission\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"The Knot : Maximizing Value in an Evergreen Industry"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/#website","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/","name":"Digital Innovation and Transformation","description":"MBA Student Perspectives","potentialAction":[{"@type":"性视界Action","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/hck-submission"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-digit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}