What you need to know to
integrate the Internet into your marketing plan

SHOULD YOU be on the Internet? Do you have something truly useful to offer your customers via this medium? Do your they expect you to be on the Internet? Does Wall Street? Can the Internet help you achieve sales and/or brand awareness cost effectively? Have competitive pressures made an Internet initiative imperative?

If so, then make sure the Internet effort fits with your organization's overall marketing communications strategy, says Rich Giuliani, Creative Partner of Leap Partnership.

"The online campaign should fulfill the same brand promise as the traditional campaign." reinforcing the look, feel and message of the company's advertising, promotions, PR, etc.

"In the world of the Web," he says, "strong, clear, consistent brand positioning is essential. There are millions of sites. You need to be distinctive and different to stand out. A compelling brand position adds value."

And don't just use the Web site as an online brochure. Understand its capabilities and use the full spectrum of tools it provides.

For example, Giuliani recommends, design the Web site to drive sales. "If possible, include a direct ordering mechanism for initiating an immediate sale on line."

If that won't work, capturing name, address and other contact data to deliver information -- such as dealer location or inventory status -- can facilitate a future sale.

"Treat the Web as your fastest and most efficient customer research tool," he says. "Use it to get customer feedback (good and bad) on your company's products and services and to gather immediate reactions to new offerings or competitive actions."

Employ its two-way capabilities to gather detailed demographic, lifestyle and product use information for customer databases as well as to deliver information, products and services to customers instantly.

Marketers should also look at ways the Web can make their customers' lives easier. "Give them more information, more service, more quickly," he says. "In the process, you'll build a stronger bond with your customers."

Giuliani also encourages marketers to prepare against potential pitfalls in the client/vendor relationship. "The transfer of resources and information can be challenging," he notes, "and education is needed for both client and vendor."

Lack of a solid business plan and lack of communication between various client divisions can present problems as can coordinating efforts among client divisions.

Budgeting, approval/revision processes and staffing must be clearly understood by both client and vendor.

Giuliani's insights were shared at Chicago AMA's first Internet Marketing Strategy Conference, coordinated by 1996/97 Chicago Chapter President Jillian Johnson of Market Data Corporation with volunteers Curt Stenger of MDC, Bob Biancamano of First Chicago NBD and Tracy Warren of Ogilvy & Mather.

Nine Parts of a Comprehensive Internet Strategy

According to Leap Partnership's Rich Giuliani, the following elements -- supported by a good client/vendor relationship -- are essential for building an effective Internet strategy:

Develop synergy with the traditional marketing campaign
Evaluate technologies
Define inter-departmental participation
Determine budget and business model
Identify the internal project team
Compile the competitive analysis
Understand the user
Define short- and long-term objectives
Establish criteria for success

quakeroatmeal.com

Although its target market wasn't in the heavy Web user category, Quaker Oats Company saw an opportunity to gain Internet experience and to disseminate recipes and information about the FDA health claim when it began developing an Internet marketing strategy for Quaker Oatmeal early last year.

Implementation began just two months later, reports Maureen Meier, Quaker's Manager of Consumer Relationships, thanks to the efforts of a cross functional team which positioned the site as one part of a communication strategy and developed an operating plan based upon the business plans and site objectives.

This group -- representing marketing, marketing research, consumer response and information services -- "managed up" to sway negative opinions of the Internet held by some members of senior management by explaining that the site would be used to build brand equity and by identifying low cost ways of building the site.

Objectives of the site:

To build and strengthen the relationship with Quaker Oatmeal consumers
To be a well-respected and credible source of info on health and well- begin
To promote the use of oats and Quaker products
To become an integrated part of the communication strategies for the business

Today, Quaker is embracing OatMail as a way to build an ongoing relationship with its consumers. With one dedicated cyber representative, OatMail is generally answered within 24 hours of receipt. And the cross-functional team responds to the more technical and complex questions.

What lies ahead for quakeroatmeal.com? "Five year plans are difficult to develop as technology will drive the future of the Internet," says Meier. "We'll need to revisit yearly as technological developments may present new strategic opportunities.

"Reality is happening faster than anticipated; we're currently one to two years ahead of plan. We will remain flexible; the Web site plan needs to change concurrently with the business plan.

truck.eaton.com

Four key factors drove Eaton Corporation to look at Web opportunities for its Roadranger product, says Don Alles, Manager of Marketing Communications for the company, namely

That electronic documents will eclipse print...eventually
Internet's four "I's" -- interactive, individualization, immediate and inexpensive
Customers expecting -- and demanding -- it as a business tool
Customer usage ramping up.

Eaton's Internet site objectives, he explains, were to improve and enhance brand contact and communications with customers, especially innovative first-adopters, to provide enhanced utility to conventional communications methods, to provide enhanced product support tools to field personnel, to create methods and tools unique to the medium and to reinforce Eaton's leadership perceptions.

To serve its many site audiences -- including end user customers, OEM customers, OEM dealer customers, aftermarket channel members, eaton personnel, and journalists among others -- a strategy was developed to maximize use of existing materials and information. Other strategic considerations included keeping the site fresh and lively and, at the same time,. functional and engaging, building in interactive features, making the site user-intuitive and requiring/requesting user registration.

The strategy also focused on measuring site use, growing the site according to user demand, promoting the site and linking to other industry sites, and integrating with Eaton's marketing communications strategies and tactics.

What has it learned from its site? Alles says, "Catch the wave! Ride the popularity. Ask your customers what they want and need. Deliver the function first, form later. Measure, measure, measure. Think non-linear. Establish personal relationships with users. Multi-purpose your documentation. Be a partner with your Web site provider. Do what you can't do anywhere else.

"The organization which comes out with a truly informative and engaging Web site will enjoy the same competitive advantage as the organization which introduces an informative and engaging product."

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