Communications Objectives

Unlike other media discussed thus far in the text, the Internet is actually a hybrid of media. In part, it is a communications medium, allowing companies to create awareness, provide information, and influence attitudes, as well as pursue other communications objectives. But for some it is also a direct-response medium, allowing the user to both purchase and sell products through e-commerce. Thus, we will discuss two sets of objectives pursued by companies that use the Internet. Let's first look at some of the communications objectives these companies want to achieve.

Create Awareness Advertising on the Web can be useful in creating awareness of an organization as well as its specific product and service offerings. For small companies with limited budgets, the Web offers the opportunity to create awareness well beyond what might be achieved through traditional media. For example, a company in Los Angeles that distributed paper to business-to-business firms in the local market now conducts 80 percent of its business internationally as a result of posting its website. While a valuable tool for creating awareness—particularly for smaller companies that may have limited advertising budgets—the Internet is not likely to be the most effective of the IMC elements for achieving this objective. Advertising may be more useful for this purpose, given its larger reach.

Generate Interest A visit to CocaCola.com or Snapple.com will demonstrate how companies attempt to use the Web to generate interest in their sites as well as their Exhibit 15-3 Snapple products and services. On the Coca-Cola site, visitors can find a number of activities creates interest through to generate and maintain their interests. For example, there is "Coke Music," a click their website upon which will take you on a musical tour and allow you to create your own demo, take a quiz, and chat with others about music. If your interest is football, you can visit Coke Football Town to see where the Coke football tour is in your state. If your interests tend more to philanthropic events, you can explore the Coke Youth Partnership. While on the site, you can also learn about Coca-Cola products, the company itself, or visit the Coca-Cola Store to purchase Coca-Cola clothing, clocks, and other products. Snapple, in its attempt to attract visitors and hold their interests, has created Snap-pleton, a make-believe town with many places to visit while learning about Snapple products (Exhibit 15-3). The objectives of these sites is simple: Create interest that will bring visitors back to learn more about the products.

Disseminate Information One of the primary objectives for using the Web is to provide in-depth information about a company's products and services. In business-to-business markets, having a website has become a necessity, as more and more buyers expect that a company will have a site providing them with detailed information about its offerings. In the government sector, contracts are often put out to bid on the Internet. Information regarding requirements, specifications, submission dates, and so on, is disseminated much quicker, to more potential candidates, and at a much lower cost via the Net than it is through other media. For many consumer companies, their websites serve as a means of communicating more information about their products and services. The Huggies site discussed earlier shows how a website can facilitate this objective, while the Cheerios box shown in Exhibit 15-4 demonstrates how General Mills uses its package to refer users to its site for additional information.

Create an Image Many websites are designed to reflect the image a company wants to portray (Exhibit 15-5). For example, when you have a few minutes to spare, check out the consumer sites at www.fubu.com and www.akademiks.com or the business-to-business site at www.sharp.com (Exhibit 15-6). All of these are excellent examples of websites used for image building. Interestingly, one of the difficulties traditional marketers have experienced is that of creating a brand image on the Internet. While some of these companies have been successful, others have not fared as well and have come to realize that branding and image-creating strategies must be specifically adapted to this medium.

Create a Strong Brand As David Aaker pointed out in the introduction to this chapter, the Internet—as part of an integrated marketing communications program— can be a useful tool for branding. Unfortunately, many companies have not yet figured out how to successfully brand through the Internet. A review of the literature over the past five years will lead to a number of articles discussing this very topic and the difficulties in achieving this objective. While space does not permit an in-depth review, let's discuss just a few of the many reasons why companies attempting to create branding through the Internet may not be achieving their goals.

Branding Is a Complicated Process While creating a strong brand is not easy in any communications effort, some marketers feel that it may be even more difficult to do on the Internet. As noted by Karen Benezra, editor of Brandweek magazine,

Exhibit 15-4 Cheerios uses its package to send users to its homepage

Continue reading here: Personal Selling on the Internet

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