LESSON 1: MIDTERM Internet Communications Objectives

POWERFUL RICH MEDIA

Why the rapid adoption of the Internet?

No other medium, other than black-and-white

television, has been adopted as rapidly as the Internet.
Today an estimated 71 percent of households in North
America are connected. The reasons for this
phenomenon vary:

• The general public has a desire for information,

control of that information, speed, and
convenience.
Snapple Creates Interest
• Businesses are looking for effective customer
targeting, and more direct feedback.

Technology has also contributed to adoption of the

Internet by facilitating high-speed access, instituting
safeguards that increased confidence in the medium,
and two-way communication flow.

The website

This slide shows how Snapple attempts to use the Web

to generate interest in their site as well as in their
product. Snapple, in its attempt to attract visitors and
hold their interest, has created a fun site with many
places to visit while learning about Snapple product. An
information center, games, product information, sales
items, and even an opportunity to personalize the site
are all available.

Using Web Sites to Build Image

Many Web sites are designed to reflect the image a

company wants to portray. This slide shows the
consumer website www.akademiks.com, which is an
• Good overall context excellent example of a website used for image building.

• Customization Not all companies have been successful in creating a

brand image on the Internet. Branding and image-
• Content creating strategies must be specifically adapted to this
• Connections medium.

• Communication Branding is Complicated

• Commerce

To attract visitors to the site and have them return to it

requires a combination of creativity, effective
marketing, and continual updating of the site.
 E-Commerce Trends

Branding is a complicated process, especially on the

Internet.

• New or less well-known brands may E-commerce continues to grow at a very fast pace.
have to assume different strategies Walmart.com, the online sales channel for Wal-Mart,
than those used by more established recorded over 500 million visitors and $1.17 billion in
brand. sales in 2005, and expected a 40 percent increase in
visitors in 2006. Circuit City allows customers to order
• The Internet, like other direct-response
online and pick up merchandise at the store. Others,
media, are best suited to a highly
including Amazon and eBay have Internet sites only.
targeted audience. Branding, on the
other hand, requires a broad, generic The strong growth of E-commerce is expected to
audience. continue, in both business-to-business and consumer
markets.
• Successful branding does not take place
overnight. When marketers discover The Internet and IMC
that the Internet will not allow them to
establish their brands quickly, many
return to a focus on ROI or the bottom
line.

E-Commerce

As part of the IMC program, the Internet will be most

effective when integrated with other media, including:
This slide demonstrates another use of the Internet, • Advertising
which is the direct sale of goods and services. E-
Commerce has become an important part of the • Sales promotion
worldwide web, both to consumers and to businesses. • Personal selling
E-commerce may be a primary objective for a Web site- • Public relations
only business, but it may be a secondary objective of
businesses that sell primarily through their brick-and- • Direct marketing
mortar stores.
Research studies have shown that by integrating the
Internet with other IMC components, overall
communication is more effective. In addition, getting
visitors to come to one’s website may require effective
use of other IMC program elements.
Advertising on the Internet (Part 1)
The slide shows various forms of advertising that can be
done on the Internet. These include:
• Banners—the most common form of
ads that appear on web pages, they
appear as side panels, skyscrapers, or
verticals
• Sponsorships—companies pay to
sponsor a section of the site, or the
sponsor provides dollars in return for
name association and also provides
content
• Pop-Ups/Pop-Unders—ads that appear
underneath the Web page and become
visible only when the user leaves the
site
• Interstitials—ads that appear on the
screen while you are waiting for the
site’s content to download
• Push Technologies— technology which
allows the website to “push”
information to the potential customer
rather than waiting for them to find it
• Links—a link to a different site that
provides related or similar information
or materials
Typical Banner Ads
banner ads, which encourage the viewer to click
through for more information about the product.
Banner ads are the most common form of advertising
found on the Internet. Unfortunately, banner ads are
not very effective. They have low scores on recall and
click-through rates.
Advertising on the Internet (Part 2)
The slide shows various forms of advertising that can be
done on the Internet. These include:
• Paid Search—the fastest growing form
of advertising on the Internet;
advertisers pay only when a consumer
clicks on an ad or link from a search
engine page
• Behavioral Targeting—based on the
targeting of consumers according to
their web-surfing behaviors
• Contextual Ads—ads based on the
content of the website on which they
appear
• Rich Media—a broad range of
interactive digital media that exhibit
dynamic motion through video, audio,
and animation
Additional Forms—there are too many forms to cover
here, but the most recognized are Podcasting, RSS
feeds, and Blogs.
Rich Media

The increased penetration of broadband into
households has increased the attention given to rich
media. Three common forms of advertising are
Podcasting, Really Simple Syndication (RRS), and blogs.
Additional Internet Advertising Forms
This slide shows three additional ways to deliver
advertising messages on the Internet:
• Podcasting, which is used to distribute radiolike
files for downloading into iPods and other MP3
players
• Really Simple Syndication (RSS), which is a
specification that uses XML to organize and
format Web-based content in a standard way so
that it can be distributed to multiple websites.
• Blogs, which consist primarily of periodic
articles and other writings, normally presented
in reverse chronological order.
Personal Selling on the Internet
This slide summarizes various perspectives as to
whether the Internet will replace or enhance personal
selling as we now know it. Those who feel that the
Internet will replace personal selling note that selling via
the Internet reduces the high cost of personal selling
and vastly increases reach. Those who propose that the
Internet will enhance personal selling cite the following:
• Web sites have become a primary
source of information
• Visitors become part of the potential
customer base, and can be more easily
qualified
• Improves one-on-one relationships by
providing timely information to
customers
• Stimulates trial through demonstrations
or samples offered online
• Visitors to the site can request a
personal sales call or follow-up
• Cross-selling is easier through the Web
site
In a well-designed IMC program, the Internet and
personal selling are designed to complement one
another.
Public Relations on the Internet
This slide provides an example of how Chrysler uses its
website for public relations efforts. Many companies
now use their websites to provide information about
the company, product and service information, news
and events, and an archive of press releases.
Direct Mail (Email)
 through traditional outlets. That means that there is
plenty of room for growth.

QVC, the home-shopping TV channel, and HSN, the

Home Shopping Network, have both established an
online shopping site. Although not purely home-
shopping sites, Amazon and eBay sell a lot of products
online as well.

Measures of Effectiveness

Email is often used by catalogers and others who

conduct direct marketing on the Internet. Email is highly
targeted, relies heavily on lists, and attempts to reach
those with specific needs.

Direct mail usage on the Internet continues to increase,

but has recently fallen under attack as a result of
significant increases in the use of SPAM or online junk
mail. Like its traditional direct mail counterpart, critics
of SPAM have attempted to enact legislation to prohibit • Internet-specific measures
or limit its use. • XMOS, which simultaneously measures
Internet Infomercials online and offline advertising in the
same campaign

• Traditional measures, including

• Recall and retention measures,

to determine whether viewers
remember seeing ads

• Surveys, which can be used to

determine everything from site
usage to attitudes
This slide shows some of the characteristics of another • Sales, a prime indicator of
direct marketing tool that is now being used on the effectiveness
Internet, the infomercial. Infomercials contain program
content similar to that of television. At the same time, Tracking of such things as brand awareness, ad recall,
due to its interactive capabilities, the Web allows for message association, and purchase intent
greater audience interaction.
Sources of Measurement Data
While not as common as email, the infomercial is
gaining in popularity on the Internet.

E-Commerce and Home Shopping

E-commerce, or direct sales on the Internet, has

exploded. Online spending for 2007 was expected to
exceed $400 billion, with strong growth predicted over
the next few years. In addition, up to 69 percent of
those polled said they research products online, but buy
 • Measurement problems, such as
This slide summarizes just a few of the many sources
unreliable research numbers.
available for acquiring information about the Internet,
such as Arbitron, the Audit Bureau of Circulation, and • Annoyance with such things as slow
Nielsen Net Ratings. Numerous other sources are also download, having to install additional
available, as many are well-known providers of software, and navigation difficulty.
traditional marketing information
• Clutter. As the number of ads
Internet Marketing Pros and Cons increases, the likelihood of your ad
being noticed drops accordingly.

• Potential for deception. The Center for

Media Education has referred to the
Web as “a web of deceit” in regard to
advertisers’ attempts to target children
with subtle advertising messages. In
addition, data collection often occurs
without the consumers’ knowledge,
and hacking and credit card theft are
major issues.
• Targeting capabilities • Privacy. Like their direct-marketing
• Message tailoring counterparts, Internet marketers must
not impinge upon the privacy of users.
• Interactive capabilities
• Poor reach. Although Internet numbers
• Information access are growing by leaps and bounds, its
• Sales potential reach still lags behind television.

• Creativity Irritation. Consumers are unhappy with clutter, email

SPAM, pop-ups, and pop-unders.
• Exposure

• Speed

Complementing other IMC elements

Internet Marketing Pros and Cons