ISBA Conference Report: Pulling On The Net

John Terris, Chairman of Cobbe Smith Terris, gave a short speech on how advertisers are starting to learn marketing effectiveness on the Internet and ways of measuring its impact.

He started by pointing out major flaws on why the Internet may not work as a marketing medium. He said that the Internet is chaotic: it was never designed for this purpose; it can sometimes be difficult to access; it is swamped with technical jargon; it can sometimes be slow and most often disappointing.

Positive points noted for media effectiveness on the Internet are the growing popularity of the Web (demonstrated by the profusion of Internet magazines available in retail outlets); its saturation in quality press; and the large number of cybercafes in the UK (over 150). The number of Internet sites has grown from 2,000 to 250,000 in the last eighteen months and 37 out of the top 50 brands have Web sites.

Mr Terris points out that for a Web site to be successful, there must be interaction from all parties, such as cooperation between the sales force, advertisers, designers and technical experts. It is dangerous to leave it alone with a single party; for example leaving it to the technical experts may result in the site being covered in technical jargon which may repel rather than attract customers.

For a site to be successful John Terris says that it needs to be kept fresh so people will keep coming back for more, it must be interactive and viewers should be encouraged to subscribe. There should be a minimum of heavy graphics and site construction must not be rushed. Once it is live it should be publicised everywhere.

The speech was concluded with the message that one must be prepared to learn about the Internet as it is too important to be left alone.