companies will also reduce the costs of the printing and distribution of promotional material, price lists and other marketing communications. In addition to increased sales and reduced costs, the Internet can be used to advantage in all of the marketing functions, for example Sales: Achieved through increasing awareness of brands and products, supporting uying decisions and enabling online purchase commum. Marketing communications: The use of the web site for the range of marketing Customer service: Supplementing phone operators with information available online and other techniques described Public relations: The Internet can be used as a new channel for public relations(PR)and provides the opportunity to publish the latest news on products, markets and people Marketing research: Through search engines and e-mail alert services, the Internet enables more efficient techniques for finding a range of market information It also enables new methods for collecting primary research online through focus groups and online questionnaires 7.1.3 How do Internet marketing communications differ from traditional marketing communications? Internet marketing differs from conventional marketing communications because of the digital medium used for communications. The Internet and other digital media such as digital television, satellite and mobile phones create new forms and models for information exchange. A useful summary of the differences between these new media and traditional media has been developed by McDonald and Wilson(1999)which they describe as the 6ls of the e-marketing mix. Note that these can be used as a strategic analysis tool, but they are not used in this context here. The 6ls are useful since they highlight factors that apply to practical aspects of Internet marketing such as personalization, direct response and marketing research, but also strategic issues of industry restructuring and integrated channel communications. By considering each of these facts of the new media, marketing managers can develop marketing plans that accommodate the characteristics of the new media. This presentation of the 6ls,, is an interpretation of these actors using new examples and diagrams to illustrate these concepts 1. Interactivity Deighton was one of the first authors to summarize the key characteristics of the Internet. He identifies the following characteristics inherent in a digital medium he customer initiates contact the customer is seeking information(pull) it is a high intensity medium -the marketer will have 100 per cent of the individual attention when he or she is viewing a web site a company can gather and store the response of the individual individual needs of the customer can be addressed and taken into account in future dialogues Traditional media are predominantly push media where the marketing message is broadcast from company to customer and other stakeholders. During this process, there is limited interaction with the customer, although interaction is encouraged in some cases such as the direct response advert or mail-order campaign. On the Internet, it is usually a customer who initiates contact and seeking information on a web site. In other words it is a pull mechanism unless e-mail is used this can be considered as a push technique). The Internet should be used to encourage two-way communication. These may be extensions of the direct-response approach. For example, FMCG supplierssuchasNestle(www.nescafe.co.uk)usetheirwebsiteasamethodofgenerating interaction by providing incentives such as competitions and sales promotions to encourage the customer to respond with their names, addresses and profile information such as age and sex 2. Intelligence The Internet can be used as a relatively low cost method of collecting marketing particularly about customer perceptions of products and services. In the competitions referred to above Nescafe are able to profile their customers on the basis of the information received in questionnaires. The Internet can be used to create two-way feedback which does not usually occurcompanies will also reduce the costs of the printing and distribution of promotional material, price lists and other marketing communications. In addition to increased sales and reduced costs, the Internet can be used to advantage in all of the marketing functions, for example: ▪ Sales: Achieved through increasing awareness of brands and products, supporting buying decisions and enabling online purchase. ▪ Marketing communications: The use of the web site for the range of marketing communication is described. ▪ Customer service: Supplementing phone operators with information available online and other techniques described. ▪ Public relations: The Internet can be used as a new channel for public relations (PR) and provides the opportunity to publish the latest news on products, markets and people. ▪ Marketing research: Through search engines and e-mail alert services, the Internet enables more efficient techniques for finding a range of market information. It also enables new methods for collecting primary research online through focus groups and online questionnaires. 7.1.3 How do Internet marketing communications differ from traditional marketing communications? Internet marketing differs from conventional marketing communications because of the digital medium used for communications. The Internet and other digital media such as digital television, satellite and mobile phones create new forms and models for information exchange. A useful summary of the differences between these new media and traditional media has been developed by McDonald and Wilson (1999) which they describe as the ’6Is of the e-marketing mix’. Note that these can be used as a strategic analysis tool, but they are not used in this context here. The 6Is are useful since they highlight factors that apply to practical aspects of Internet marketing such as personalization, direct response and marketing research, but also strategic issues of industry restructuring and integrated channel communications. By considering each of these facts of the new media, marketing managers can develop marketing plans that accommodate the characteristics of the new media. This presentation of the ‘6Is’, is an interpretation of these factors using new examples and diagrams to illustrate these concepts. 1. Interactivity Deighton was one of the first authors to summarize the key characteristics of the Internet. He identifies the following characteristics inherent in a digital medium: ▪ the customer initiates contact; ▪ the customer is seeking information (pull); ▪ it is a high intensity medium – the marketer will have 100 per cent of the individual’ attention when he or she is viewing a web site; ▪ a company can gather and store the response of the individual; ▪ individual needs of the customer can be addressed and taken into account in future dialogues. Traditional media are predominantly push media where the marketing message is broadcast from company to customer and other stakeholders. During this process, there is limited interaction with the customer, although interaction is encouraged in some cases such as the direct response advert or mail-order campaign. On the Internet, it is usually a customer who initiates contact and is seeking information on a web site. In other words it is a ‘pull’ mechanism unless e-mail is used (this can be considered as a push technique). The Internet should be used to encourage two-way communication. These may be extensions of the direct-response approach. For example, FMCG suppliers such as Nestle (www.nescafe.co.uk) use their web site as a method of generating interaction by providing incentives such as competitions and sales promotions to encourage the customer to respond with their names, addresses and profile information such as age and sex. 2. Intelligence The Internet can be used as a relatively low cost method of collecting marketing research, particularly about customer perceptions of products and services. In the competitions referred to above Nescafe are able to profile their customers on the basis of the information received in questionnaires. The Internet can be used to create two-way feedback which does not usually occur