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Belch: Advertising and
Promotion, Sixth Edition
V. Developing the
Integrated Marketing
Communications Program
15. The Internet and
Interactive Media
the net for a variety of promotions including contests, Internet films and Super Bowl
tie-ins.
Personal Selling on the Internet
The Internet has been both a benefit and a detriment to many of those involved in personal
selling—particularly those in the business-to-business market. For some, the
Internet has been a threat that might take away job opportunities. Companies have
found that they can remain effective—even increase effectiveness—by building a
strong Web presence. The high-cost and poor-reach disadvantages of personal selling
are allowing these companies to reduce new hires and even cut back on their existing
sales forces.
On the positive side, websites have been used quite effectively to enhance and support
the selling effort. As noted earlier, the Web has become a primary source of information
for millions of customers in the consumer and business-to-business markets.
Visitors to websites can gain volumes of information about a company’s products and
services. In return, the visitors become a valuable resource for leads that both internal
and external salespersons can follow up, and they become part of a prospect database.
Not only can potential customers learn about the company’s offerings, but the selling
organization can serve and qualify prospects more cost-effectively.
The Web can also be used to stimulate trial. For many companies, personal salespersons
can reach only a fraction of the potential customer base. Through trial demonstrations
and/or samples offered online, customers can determine if the offering
satisfies their needs and if so request a personal sales call. In such cases both parties
benefit from time and cost savings.
Some companies have used the Internet to improve their one-on-one relationships
with customers. By providing more information in a more timely and efficient manner,
a company enables customers to learn more about what it has to offer. This increases
the opportunity for cross-selling and customer retention. For example, Neoforma.com
links hospitals and medical supply vendors with listings of 300,000 medical products,
with pages describing separate product categories. 14 For those interested in medical
products, the site has become a one-stop shopping center (Exhibit 15-11). In addition,
by providing a website, companies can improve their response times to inquiries as
well as complaints, thereby improving customer service.
In a well-designed IMC program, the Internet and personal selling are designed to
be complementary tools—working together to increase sales. It appears that more and
more companies are coming to this realization.
Public Relations on the Internet
As with other media, the Internet is a useful medium for conducting public relations
activities. Many sites devote a portion of their content to public relations activities,
including the provision of information about the company, its philanthropic activities,
annual reports, and so on. Shel Holtz, in his book Public Relations on the Internet,
notes that the public relations industry has been slow to adopt the Internet.
Some of the more traditional public relations organizations
do not use the Net at all, while most others use it
primarily as a tool for disseminating information. Holtz
notes that the Web offers a number of opportunities to
public relations practitioners, including: (1) the development
of media relations websites, (2) the ability to provide
customized information dissemination, and (3) the
development of positive e-mail relationships.
One example of the use of public relations on the Internet
is provided by Chrysler. Working with reporters,
Chrysler developed a one-stop information source for the
media (the public could also use the site, but reporters
would have to register to use the “newsroom”). News stories
and other forms of content, photo images, and crossreferences
to other sites or media were included on the site,
© The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2003
Exhibit 15-11 Neoforma
sells products on the net
499
Chapter Fifteen The Internet and Interactive Media