Dotcoms which fail to live up to their advertising now face being
shunned by consumers, a trend demonstrating the fact that online has
caught up with offline.
Speakers at the MarCom Asia 2000 Conference in Hong Kong said that five
years ago when the Internet was just taking off, consumers were very
forgiving because they treated anything cyber as a novelty which offered
an exciting vision of the future.
Today, however, there is no shortage of bad 'Net experiences. The
scams.
Dissatisfaction with the product or service. Late delivery.
In addition, people have become used to using the 'Net for communication
and information-gathering so their outlook on the new medium is more
mature.
Yahoo! Asia's vice-president and managing director Savio Chow said, "In
the mid to late 1990s, people were forgiving because everything was so
new. But their mindset has changed. They are definitely much more
demanding and sophisticated. When they make a purchase, there is little
or no differentiation in their minds over whether it was on or
offline."
Mr Garry Titterton, president and CEO of D'Arcy Asia-Pacific said
advertisers and marketers operating in both the virtual and bricks and
mortar store are given almost no margin of error by consumers.
"The consumer will no longer tolerate seeing glossy TV commercials and
then going to a store to have a less than satisfying experience. Or
having entered a Web site and ordered a product feel sold short by its
quality.
"The customer experience must be of seamless excellence to underpin the
brand promise. Disparity between an expensive promise and clumsy
delivery will never create a great brand," he said.
Because 'Net consumers are more sophisticated and demanding, dotcoms
have to be as interactive as they claim.
Ogilvy AsiaNet general manager Sean Rach said, "Brands once acted as a
shorthand for speech - a message to the masses as it were. That message
is now two-way - and if you ignore their voices, they'll rebel.
"You need a clear dialogue process. Not only answering questions but
adding to customer equity."
But Mr Rach stressed that core truths about branding remained the same
on and offline.
"Strong brand equity is earned over time, not bought overnight. Branding
is not about the naming. It is about the totality of the experience," he
said.
Yahoo!'s Mr Chow said that Internet marketers are now also talking about
cost per experience (CPE) and return on attention (ROA), in addition to
clickthrough rates, numbers of unique visitors and return on
investment.
However, he acknowledged that the method to measure CPE and ROA was
still in the planning stage.
MarCom Asia 2000 was organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development
Council; co-organised by MEDIA and sponsored by AXN.
