Balance needed on Web: Sponsored by Business Week

<p>Marketers must adopt a balanced approach when building an Internet </p><p>brand: proceeding too quickly or too slowly or making simple generic </p><p>statements are a recipe for disaster. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Speaking at the Business Week-organised E-Biz seminar, Steve Calder, a </p><p>partner in the US-based agency Citron Haligman and Bedecarre, said that </p><p>brands must evolve quickly to keep pace with changes in consumer </p><p>behaviour, technology and the competitive landscape. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>For instance, he said that the time between when people go online for </p><p>the first time and when they purchase for the first time over the </p><p>Internet has shrunk to just four months compared with 22 months </p><p>before. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>At the same time, however, companies cannot hope to build a strong brand </p><p>from extremely short-term and expensive advertising bursts. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Could you cook a turkey in 15 minutes?" Mr Calder asked. "Yes, but who </p><p>would want to eat it?" </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He stressed that to be successful, all brands - not just dotcom ones - </p><p>must deliver on their promise, stand for something and have a consistent </p><p>voice and message. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But for dotcoms without the traditional bricks and mortars business, </p><p>stressing key brand attributes is even more important. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He cited eToys in North America as an example. The company had a 71 per </p><p>cent market share in 1998. But that plummeted to just 16 per cent the </p><p>following year when Toys-R-Us.com made the jump into cyberspace and took </p><p>a market share of 17 per cent. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"eToys failed to establish a clear, strong branding in its first year, </p><p>but Toys-R-Us made effective use of its traditional brand which is </p><p>well-known around the world and leverage a presence on the Internet," Mr </p><p>Calder said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Mr Calder also said that marketers of Internet brands must think "out of </p><p>the box" to make their campaigns unique and, therefore, stand out from </p><p>the clutter of the growing number of dotcom advertising. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>He spoke of the US online invitation service eVite, which targeted </p><p>socially active people by placing ads with sophisticated graphics on the </p><p>floor of the wine aisle in supermarkets. The company also placed ads on </p><p>taxis, dry cleaning bags and on blimps above sports stadiums. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Dotcoms should also stop making generic statements in their ads - such </p><p>as "it is fast, easy, convenient and saves time and money, which </p><p>"consumers expect anyway", Mr Calder said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"They have to give consumers the insight that they have unique values </p><p>and propositions that they can benefit from." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The E-Biz seminar was held in both Hong Kong and Singapore. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>