billboards. This method can be irrit ating to the browser because the
advertisements appear while subscribers are using the service even though
they did not request an ad (Kotler, 1997).
A fourth option is to hire an advertising agency to create and place an
advertisement at a popular site on the Web, similar to buying timeslots on
a television channel. Advertising on search engines such as Lycos and
Yahoo also proves to be effective although very expensive (J. Matthee,
personal communication, 20 April 1998).
Using E-mail A company can encourage prospects and customers to send
questions, suggestions, and even complaints to the company, using the
company using the companies E-mail address. Customer service
representatives can respond to the customers in a short time via E-m ail
(Kotler, 1997).
5) WEB ADVERTISING DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA
In South Africa, the Internet is still restricted to very niched market
providing companies with the chance to exploit this opportunity and build
a database of visitors to their site. This situation is quite obviously
attributable to the economics of Sout h Africa’s social class structure.
This is an advantage because marketers can use this information to create
accurate profiles of the visitors to their site and develop personalised
advertising efforts, which are especially crucial in the sphere of Web ad
vertising. Currently, in South Africa, Computicket
(http://www.computicket.com) has taken the lead in online bookings
although services that are provided by Computicket naturally lean towards
the use of the Internet as a medium (Douvos, 1996). David Frankel of
Internet Solutions summed up the South African situation neatly by saying
that ‘…. People are still getting their hands around it [the Internet]
and working out how to make money out of it. I don’t think that anyone is
doing so at prese nt in South Africa, although a lot of people are
trying.’ IS-Commercial a division Internet Solutions scored a South
African first in 1996 in the development of a software engine that
searched only South African Web resources. This introduced a new aspect to
Web advertising in South Africa as it means that local
Web users no longer have to sift through a colossal amount of topical
hypertext links from around the globe. Advertising on the South African
Web has surely benefited from this development which makes South African
relevant material far more accessible a nd therefore implies increases Web
site hit rates. The search engine that was developed is called Ananzi and
is currently the second most hit Web site in the country. Advertisers now
have the opportunity of placing an icon on this page which immediately g
ives them a formidable brand prescience (Williams, 1997). A host of Web
page advertising companies have sprung up in South Africa, including an
upstart from Port Elizabeth, called Web Advertising, which have succeeded
in forming a technology and capability sharing association with the United
States advertising a gency Web advertising (Perlman, 1996). After
unprecedented growth in the Internet in 1996, The Loerie awards included a
new category in 1997 dedicated to Web creativity and corporate use of the
Internet.
6) WEB ADVERTISING AND THE BUSINESS
6.1) Introduction
Companies are increasingly recognising the importance of applying a
full-systems perspective in using their communication tools. The aim is to
set the overall communication budget and the right allocation of funds to
each communication tool. Web advertis ing is becoming a more and more
vital component of a firm’s advertising budget and therefore demands
sensible and rational consideration and planning. The dynamics and
relative novelty of Web advertising makes it crucial that the progressive
business, which is proposing a Web advertising campaign, draw up a
comprehensive advertising program.
It is vital for organisations that are considering an Internet marketing
strategy to effectively coordinate each component. The bottomline is that
organisations are putting themselves into the global marketplace. It is
thus important for people to be crit ical of what works well and what
meets their need with an Internet marketing strategy (Perlman, 1996). By
using the standard advertising program process (Kotler, 1997) as a base,
it is simple to outline the characteristics of the Internet which a
business must take into consideration when planning a Web advertising
campaign. The various steps involved in t he process of planning an
advertising program are depicted in section 5.2.1 below and the specific
characteristics of the Internet are superimposed into this framework in
section 5.2.2 through section 5.2.7.
6.2) Developing and Managing an Advertising Program
6.2.1) Introduction to the Advertising Program Process In developing an
advertising program, marketing managers must always start by identifying
the target market and buyer motives. This applies, perhaps even more so,
to the new advertising alternative represented by the Internet. The next
step is to make fiv e major decisions in developing an advertising
campaign, known as the five Ms: * Mission: What are the advertising
objectives? * Money: How much can be spent? * Message: What message should
be sent? * Media: What media should be used? * Measurement: How should the
results be evaluated?
6.2.2) SWOT Analysis This step is a necessity when studying the
feasibility of any intended business proposition and when the planning of
that operation takes place. It involves a study of the firm’s internal
strengths and weaknesses as well as the external opportunities and threats
presented by circumstances in the environment. Web advertising provides a
special challenge to marketers and planners due to its relative infancy,
which brings previously un-encountered circumstances to the fore. In
terms of internal strengths and weaknesses, it is common practice at this
stage in Web advertising for businesses to approach Internet service
providers such as Adept Internet to manage the intricacies of advertising
on the Internet. Therefore, issues concerning ability to actually place an
effective advertisement on the Internet are shifted to specialised
companies. According to Trafex managing director David Pegg ‘ …few
organisations have the technical skills and financial resources to
establish a nd manage a sophisticated private trading network. It makes
sense for companies to focus on their core business and let experts look
after their trading partner connections.’ The study of external threats
and opportunities in Web advertising largely involves market analysis and
the attempt to identify the company’s typical customer, how they can be
enticed to visit the company’s web site and how they can convinced to keep
on v isiting the web site. Web site design companies and dedicated tracing
companies who try to check the demographics of a visitor to site are
coming to the fore, creating an entirely new industries in the process
(Perlman, 1996). Research in South Africa cla ssifies the Web user base as
a niche, particularly from the point of view that the users tend to share
characteristics that make them a targetable segment. Profile of the model
Web user: Internet surfers would certainly be considered technologically
progr essive, innovators and early-adopters. In terms of demographic
profiles, the mean age of users worldwide is around 35 years, with
approximately 50% having tertiary education and mostly earning A incomes.
Male users have outnumbered female users in the pas t but gender parity
has recently been reached (Rath, 1997).
6.2.3) Advertising objectives It is not uncommon with the advent of the
Internet and the advertising possibilities that it provides that many
companies become rash in their plans for Web advertising. This can be
disastrous without first analysing the objectives of a promotion via the
web. The essence of the medium is still to be assessed in relation to the
way business can be conducted.
6.2.4) How much can be spent? The direct set up costs to the marketer are
likely to be in excess of R100 000 for an above-average site but, further
to this cost, are costs if site maintenance, enhancements and server
storage. The direct and indirect costs of Web site development are t
herefore not insignificant, requiring considerable capital, time and
energy to establish and to keep it alive (Rath, 1997). Smaller scale
businesses, for example a coffee shop such as Fandango in Stellenbosch,
which wishes to utilise Web advertising, can expect to pay from R1000 for
web site design. A site such as this could be linked to four other sites
and also requires cons tant maintenance which often entails higher costs
than the development of the Web site (J. Matthee, personal communication,
20 April 1998).
6.2.5) Message It should be stressed that Internet site development is
part of the marketing function and does not fall within the realm of the
Information Technology Department. Management is often tempted to allow
the IT department to create a Web site because it woul d seem to offer the
most cost-effective solution. However, the sites that have been designed
by programmers are notable for their lack of creativity and generally do
not entice the viewer. This, in essence, revolves around the question of
the Web sites me ssage (Rath, 1997). The principles that apply to media
such as television and radio are generally applicable to message
formulation on a Web site although valuable information that is dynamic
seems to be the key (J. Matthee, personal communication, 20 April 1998).
6.2.6) Medium The Internet as an advertising medium has a number of
inherent advantages and disadvantages which are discussed in section 7.
6.2.7) Measure and Evaluate Performance To quantify a Web sites
contribution to revenue is often quite difficult. Where sales are
generated more-or-less directly off the Net, the company’s return on
investment is a matter of simple arithmetic. However, where the company
provides an added value service via the Net, the site’s contribution to
the bottom line is far less easy to quantify (Rath, 1997). In terms of
actual Web site design effectiveness, processes are still largely
undefined. Many online organisations do exist, however, that monitor and
provide Web site statistics, namely number of hits and how for how long
visitors stayed at the site, for
a fee (J. Matthee, personal communication, 20 April 1998). Furthermore,
information can be obtained detailing the demographics of visitors to a
Web sit although this is more difficult. This can enable a company to
measure the Web site’s effectiveness in terms of reaching the company’s
target market. It is quite c ommon now for the Web itself to be used for
research purposes with companies asking Web users for personal responses
to products, sites and messages. This also provides feedback on the sites
effectiveness and facilitates corrective action.
6.3) The Web site Itself
6.3.1) Web site Design Web site design is very much a grey area in terms
of the fact that Web advertising is a relatively new addition to a
business choice of promotional alternatives. However, guidelines do exist
which can increase the chance of web site effectiveness. These i nclude
questions such as: Who would use our service or product; how likely is our
target market to be on the Net and who understands the culture of this new
medium to create a site that encapsulates the brand, the culture and the
practicality of web adver tising. Other aspects are the understanding of
the need to employ the expertise of a company that specializes in design
for an interactive medium. Incorporating a wealth of useful information,
interactive games and an ease of navigation through the site have also
proved to increase Web site effectiveness (Joseph, 1997).
Experience and creativity are most definitely necessary characteristics
of a Web site designer who is usually employed by an Internet service
provider such as Adept Internet. Feedback via methods that are mentioned
in section 5.2.7 above could provide in dications of responses to Web site
design. Once again, the principles applied in the television, radio and
print media all apply to the design of a Web site. Fundamentals of
consumer behaviour and psychology should be understood by anybody
attempting to u ndertake commercial Web site design (J. Matthee, personal
communication, 20 April 1998).
6.3.2) Web Site Maintenance As with any medium of advertising, an inferior
display can be detrimental to a firm’s image. However, Web site
maintenance due to its reliance on a newly developed technology must
receive special attention. This explains why a company may induce greater
expenditure in the maintenance of a Web site than in the actual design and
creation of the sit e. Maintenance of a Web site has two implications:
Firstly, information supplied by the site must be dynamic, that is, it
must be updated regularly in order to draw browsers on the Net to revisit
the site; secondly, the site must be checked regularly to e nsure that no
errors have occurred in the content as a result of any damage to data for
instance (J. Matthee, personal communication, 20 April 1998). An example
of the second problem is clearly demonstrated by the printout of the
coffee shop Fandango’s We b site in which the main picture failed to load.
See figure 1 in section 5.4 below.
(Take note: John Matthee, who originally designed the site and who, as an employee of Adept Internet, is hired to handle the maintenance of the site, has since rectified the problem.)
6.4) Profiles of Examples
Example1: Fandango The Fandango Web site provides an example of the
importance of site maintenance. See figure 1.
Example2: SAA This provides a successful example of advertising by means
of putting up an entire site which serves a brand building exercise. The
airline’s site took all-important factors outlined above in section 5.3.1
into consideration and the result is self-evident. The site won the
prestigious Magellan award which is contested for by two million sites.
7.) THE INTERNET AS AN ADVERTISING MEDIUM
7.1) Advantages . The demographics of the average Internet surfer are
attractive enough to warrant their inclusion as an important niche market
(Rath, 1997). The Web can be transformed into a research tool, a brand
builder and an advertising medium in one swoop, something not offered by
other media (Joseph, 1996). Furthermore, unlike other media where the
advertising agency is the only link between the client and the media
owner, the Web allows the client to become the media owner. From the
company’s point of view, by buying into the technology itself, a company
ha s the ability to enter the world of cyber marketing without the
intervention of any intermediaries. Yet another competitive advantage of
this medium is that it provides advertisers with reassuringly detailed
demographics about who actually saw their advertisement, turning it into a
marketing research as well as an advertising medium (Williams, 1996).
Interactive media can operate in territories not covered by a vendor’s
sales force. It can bring the showroom and the sales pitch to the buyers
remote locations simply by dropping it in the post.
7.2) Disadvantages
Lack of Intrusiveness The persuasive elements of the Internet
advertisement usually lie at least one click away from the user’s current
location and this requires the user to be sufficiently interested in the
product or intrigued by the advertisement banner to click the to the
advert.
Limitations of Banners The Web has primarily been used for the
presentation of text and graphics onto fairly small computer screens. This
size limitation restricts the conventional Web ad to a banner asking the
user to click ‘here’ for more information. This in turn provides en dless
creative restrictions (McDonald, 1997).
Radical Fragmentation It is very difficult for any given site to draw
enough attention to itself to attract an audience large enough to matter
to an advertiser.
8) WEB ADVERTISING SCENARIOS FOR THE NEAR – TERM FUTURE
Scenario #1: Web site Shakeout There are good reasons to question whether
the Web advertising pie will prove large enough to support the numerous
commercial Web sites that are counting on it for sustenance. Recent