Marketing communication and the world wide web - opportunities of internet marketing described

Business Horizons, Sept-Oct, 1996 by Pierre Berthon

Many factors make this phenomenon interesting from a marketing perspective. The following factors make the medium unique:

* The customer generally has to find the marketer rather than vice versa, and to a greater extent than is the case with most other media.

* Initial presence on the medium is relatively easy and inexpensive to establish and is international by definition.

* Compared to other media, the Web provides a more or less level playing field for all participants:

1. Access opportunities are essentially equal for all players, regardless of size. No individual or organization has a "better right" to establish a place on the Web than others.

2. Share of voice is essentially uniform; no player can drown out others, It is difficult if not impossible to shout louder on the Web--the presence is not achieved by purchasing limited physical space in newspapers or magazines, or by buying time on radio or television.

3. The marketing communication cost structure is altered if the Web is used as an advertising medium. Initial setup costs on the Web are so low as to present minimal or nonexistent barriers to entry. Advertisers and media owners will have to seriously consider the communication implications of a medium in which variable costs (the cost of reaching individual contacts) tend to zero.

MARKETING AND THE WEB SITE: TWO USEFUL METAPHORS

Although some marketing scholars and managers might have begun to think about--and even acknowledge the importance of a Web site as a marketing communication tool, most of the attention so far has been devoted to describing "what the medium is." Researchers and commentators have used such surrogate measures as the size of the Web audience to indicate its potential. This might add to our general understanding of an important phenomenon. But it does not address the more specific issues, such as the communication objectives marketers might have and how they expect Web sites to achieve these objectives. Nor do these studies assess the effectiveness of this new medium from the perspectives of the recipient of the message--the buyer, to use the broadest marketing term.

It might be useful to think of the Web as a cross between an electronic trade show and a community flea market. As an electronic trade show, it resembles a giant international exhibition hall where potential buyers can enter at will and visit prospective sellers. They may do this passively by simply wandering around, enjoying the sights and sounds, pausing to pick up a pamphlet or brochure here, a sticker, key ring, or sample there. Some buyers might even become vigorously interactive in their search for information and want-satisfaction. They can talk to fellow attendees, actively seek the booths of particular exhibitors, carefully examine products and services, solicit richer information, and even engage in sales transactions with the exhibitor. In other words, they can buy things. The basic ingredients are still the same.

As a flea market, the Web possesses the fundamental characteristics of openness, informality, and interactivity--a combination of a community and a marketplace. John Sherry (1990) has provided us with rich insights into the goings-on at community flea markets, demonstrating that they provide the consumer with an alternative forum that offers additional search options. He asserts that they may provide society with a model for constructing more satisfying and adaptive marketplace options. The Web has much in common with this.