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Net Gains (Jun 02, 98) |
The first week of the month can only mean one thing - it's bookmark
time again! This month, Net Gains asked Mr. Ashish Mahadwar, Vice
President - Marketing & Business Development, Planetasia.com,
to fire up his browser and visit his favourite sites on the Web.
Ashish, who has been hooked onto the Net since 1995, recalls that
his most memorable experience to date was a dinner with John Sculley
(remember the book "From Pepsi to Apple ?), in New York in
December 1996, where the latter shared his vision of the Internet
marketplace.
Our first stop is Infobeat (http://www.infobeat.com) - a daily
email service on happenings in the Internet
industry, with updates on news, takeovers, deals etc. InfoBeat
gathers its news and information from newsfeeds and wire services,
such as Reuters, SportsTicker and The Weather Channel. Filtering
systems - both software and human - are used to ensure that subscribers
receive personalized, requested information that is accurate and
concise.
What I found interesting in the site was the
business model they use. Normally, free services are advertiser
supported - where they earn their money from the advertisements
displayed on the site. In addition, Infobeat uses a carrot and
stick approach to earn money through their users. They offer bonus
products like comics, regular columns, crosswords, and other fun
and games provided users buy / sign up for some advertiser products
- like buying a book from Amazon.com (for which Infobeat gets
a commission), or flowers, software, and other items from other
sites. They also offer an email reminder facility that besides
reminding you of the occasion, also provides instant gift suggestions
that match your reminders event (this of course from the product
catalog of the sponsor). While this idea is not really feasible
as yet in India, in the US, where ordering online is a reality,
this is an easy marketing strategy for the sponsor, since they
get their target audience ready on a silver platter!
The Red Herring (http://www.herring.com) is
the next on Ashish's list - a monthly publication covering the
business side of technology. This site has a wealth of information
from the venture capital industry - whose getting funding, for
what, what works, what doesn't, new ideas and concepts.
The Titanic Movie website (http://www.titanicmovie.com)
came in next, since the site captured the entire romance around
the movie very well, playing on the high interest levels. Ashish
found it to be a good example of how the Web can be used effectively
to supplement other promotional vehicles and build involvement
around a topic. And he's right - people are quickly realising
the utility of this relatively new medium that's a mother of all
media, that can (and should) be built into their current marketing
and media mix. The site is split into two parts : the past (dealing
with history) and the present (revolving around the movie). If
you visit the site with a graphical browser, you'll be fed with
tidbits that you can click on for more information. The usual
elements of any movie website are there : downloadable screensavers
(2.6 Mb), desktop patterns, images, clips, interviews with the
cast and complete information about the movie. A unique feature
here is the email a marconigram facility that allows you to send
friends a message from the Titanic. While the site would keep
you engrossed for over the 3 hours and 14 minutes that the movie
would, there's no substitute for seeing the movie with someone
you love, so don't even try!
Finally, Websitegarage (http://www.websitegarage.com)
ends the list, a great site to analyse your website and give it
a tuneup. For a more detailed look at the website, go through
the April 28th, 1998, issue of Net Gains.