Thinking Australia’s Internet Management Newsletter takes a look at issues that go beyond the web page. If you would like to subscribe or unsubscribe see the instructions at the end of the important information that follows.

IN THIS ISSUE
1. Internet Brand Protection
1.1 Audience vs Technology: Which one is more important to your   company’s success?
2. Audience Management
2.1 Privacy: Hallmarks of Trust.
2.2 Traditional Media beware, the active consumer is here.
3. Brand Experiences
3.1 WaitLoss or Lose.
3.2 Email, the first step to transactions.
4. Offer of the Month
4.1 WebWorthy Report. 10% off.

1 Internet Brand Protection
1.1 Audience vs Technology
We’re continually amazed at how easy it is to make some people swoon at the mere sound of technological jargon. Is this what the future and the internet is bringing us?

We don’t think so.

Success on the internet is not about technological advancements, but about the advancements you make with your audience. Those companies who own their audience, own the future.

The reason so many people have been part of the stampede to the internet is that it can empower them in ways that have never been matched by any other retail experience. The ones who have understood this are those that are profiting from the new experience.

Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com and Tim Koogle, CEO of Yahoo don’t talk about the technology, they talk about their audience. The reason Kerry Packer’s ecorp received such attention when listed recently was due to the audience his sites are able to attract and maintain.

Yahoo has some 80 million visitors worldwide. Even more remarkable is that 65 million of those have provided Yahoo with their email address. If you ever wondered how a small search engine can be worth billions of dollars, ask yourself what the value is of the world’s largest and most loyal database.

Earlier this year, Amazon.com’s $US22.1 billion market valuation exceeded that of Kmart and JC Penny combined. In a recent Wired magazine article, Bezos outlined his theory of business: “We want to turn visitors into customers, and we want to make the experience as welcoming as possible… the wealth that (we) have is paper wealth, and it will exist at that level only for as long as we continue to serve our customers well.”

Not a word about technology.

Far too many large companies have failed because they see the internet as a place to make money rather than a place to create a loyal audience base. The first only follows from the second.

Every week, 3.2 million Australians watch a PBL TV program, read a PBL magazine or visit a PBL internet site. It’s not programs like Friends or sites such as ninemsn that make Mr Packer Australia’s richest person, it’s the audience his programs attract.

As another mega-rich media mogul has said, you don’t have to understand the technology, you have to understand the power of the audience the internet is attracting. Mr Rupert Murdoch then went on to state that “the internet will destroy more businesses than it creates.”

If you want to learn more about how Thinking can build your online audience, contact mark.bergin@thinking.com.au.

2. Audience Management
2.1 Privacy: Hallmarks of Trust.
Privacy is a big issue on the internet. In the US, the Direct Marketing Association has detailed a set of consumer privacy practices that members are required to follow.

The guidelines strictly state that members are to notify customers when their information is to be shared with other companies, let customers specify that they do not want their information shared and honour consumer’s requests not to send them information.

Are you treating your customers with the same respect? These privacy issues are some of the basic hallmarks of trust online. The sites that adhere to these simple forms of consumer respect are collecting an interested loyal audience.

2.2 Traditional Media Beware.
The Active Consumer is here. The internet seems to be cutting a deep furrow into the territory normally owned by traditional media. Wired homes are spending 35% less time watching videos, 29% are watching less television, 25% are listening to less radio.

These are traditional, passive, non-interactive media. We sit in front of them and allow the content to wash over us.

The lure of the internet has spawned an active consumer that goes in search of content. No longer are they happy merely waiting for it to arrive in an intrusive form through television, radio or through the letterbox.

According to Fairfield Research in the US, TV viewing has dropped from 4.5 hours daily in 1995 to 2 hours in June, 99. “People are shifting away from passive TV style entertainment,” says researcher Gary Gabelhouse. “Researching and communicating, rather than being entertained, take up 70% of the average 64 minutes a day of online time.”

The new consumers are seekers of information - beware those who try to slow them down.

To see how your online content can be designed to match the content your audience is seeking, contact mark.bergin@thinking.com.au.

3. Brand Experiences
3.1 WaitLoss or Lose.
A couple of Thinking Newsletters ago, we mentioned the Thinking WaitLoss Program. WaitLoss is the function of cutting the “wait-time” from when a customer decides to search for your product, to when he/she actually finds it.

In effect, WaitLoss looks for the most direct route from inspiration to satisfaction. According to Zona Research, slow and “waity” sites are costing businesses a lot of lost revenue.

They estimate that monthly, $US58 million is lost due to web page loading failures, $US3 million is at risk in securities trading and $US2.8 million at risk in online travel and tourism due to unacceptable download times. All up, as much as $US4.5 billion of ecommerce could be lost due to the frustration of unacceptable download times.

What is the average acceptable wait time? It’s about 8 seconds.

In one example, WaitLoss helped Thinking client Falls Creek speed up their site three-fold. As a result, visitors extended their stay by 20% and viewed 25% more content.

For an explanation of Thinking’s WaitLoss Program click here to see Newsletter 1.1.

3.2 Email - the first step to transactions.
Email is the activity used most on the internet. Some 97% of internet users send email.

84% of internet users say they can’t live without it. Just as simple computer games introduced people to computers, email is introducing people to the internet. In very little time, these new users have grown accustomed to this new online world and are using it to seek out their interests. The web is fast becoming the first port of call for many evaluative searches.

For example: 73% of net users have shopped on the web, 53% use the net to evaluate a purchase, 15% have carried out a final web transaction.

This is particularly true of people in search of a new vehicle. Figures show that in the US up to 50% of all new car purchases are evaluated on the internet. Here in Australia a www.consult survey showed a similar trend. The survey found that 25% of new car purchasers planned to compare prices, select models and establish availability of cars online.

From what we’re seeing, internet users are growing, evolving and maturing at a faster rate than most companies and their brands. And these customers are using the power of the internet and email to keep in touch and develop relationships with a whole range of new and established brands.

Are you keeping up?

There a number of innovative methods Thinking has employed to improve online evaluation. For more information, contact mark.bergin@thinking.com.au.

5. Offer of the Month - 10% off WebWorthy Report
Thinking Internet Management Services can attend to all of the issues covered in this newsletter.

One of the first starting points we recommend is a WebWorthy Report. It provides your company with a quantifiable and comprehensive benchmark of your internet presence. And importantly, it does this from your audience’s point-of-view.

It looks at such issues as your share of voice, reach, brand stature online, competitive activity, WaitLoss, potential brand risks, process and procedure, and recommendations.

During August and September, Thinking is offering 10% off a full WebWorthy Report. If you would like more information, please contact mark.bergin@thinking.com.au. Offer closes 15 September, 1999.

See you soon.

THINK MAIL is Thinking Australia’s Internet Management Newsletter. It is compiled and written by Mark Bergin and Joe Di Stefano.

For further information contact Thinking Australia.

Thinking’s mission is to help our clients establish, develop and maintain successful internet brands. We help them complete the transition from mere internet presence of their brand to the more important phase of internet brand management which covers the management of their “voice”, “experience” and “audience”.

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