Web Advertising

Web advertising, not to mention the Internet itself, finds itself in a
stage of relative infancy and therefore provides marketers with novel
challenges and situations which need to be dealt with caution . The realm
of Web advertising is unchartered terri tory! In terms of South Africa,
the country finds itsef somewhat behind technologically. However, this may
not prove to be a disadvantage as the uncertain nature of Web advertising
may make a policy of 'watching and learning' most viable. What
implications will this new technology have for marketing? What is the
nature of Web advertising? How can a business use the medium effectively ?
Where is all this going ? These questions appear to be most pertinent in
the process of understanding interact ive marketing on the Internet. 

The qualified opinion of John Matthee, a Web site designer employed by
Adept Internet (an Internet service provider), was sought in accumulation
of a large sum of the following data. This seems appropriate as the
novelty of Web advertising at this stage h as led to generral lack of
academic data in the practicalities of advertising via this medium. 

2) THE INTERNET: AN INTRODUCTION

 2.1) Original development of the Internet What was originally created by
the US military to provide a secure means of communication in case of
nuclear war, which has now become known as the Internet, has metamorphosed
into the strategic global communications tool of our era. The end of the
cold w ar left this massive installed structure - initially dubbed
ARPANET- without much of a purpose. Soon universities, major corporations
and governments began to piggyback on to the global framework, extending
its reach and commercialising it. Known as the N et to aficionados, the
Availability of cheap, accessible and easy-to-use Net access points
throughout the world has seen the number of global Internet users increase
dramatically each month. While the convenience of electronic mail was
initial catalyst for Internet growth world wide, it's the emergence of the
World Wide Web (WWW) multimedia interface that has captured the attention
of prospective users across the globe. The resources available on the WWW
are as varied as they are extensive. There hundreds of thousands of sites
which can be broadly categorised under topics such as sport,
entertainment, finance and many more (Perlman, 1996). 

2.2) Development of Internet in South Africa Perlman (1996, p 29) ventured
that 'South Africa is major global Internet player. It currently rates in
the top 15 in the world terms of Internet growth rates.' Local user
numbers are certainly fueled by universities, companies and schools. The
genesis of South Africa's rapid Internet growth seems to stem from UniNet,
the Internet service offered to the countries major tertiary institutions
and steered from Rhod es University. This explains the phenomenon whereby
the majority of local Internet entrepreneurs - many of them are under
thirty and already multi-millionaires - come from tertiary education
backgrounds where they were weaned on readily available Internet
 access. Popular 'browser' client software for navigating the multimedia
WWW includes Netscape and Microsoft Internet Explorer. On the other end,
there exist approximately 30 local companies which call themselves ISP's
(Internet Service Providers), which operate in similar fashion to a
cellular company such as Vodacom, providing either dial-up connections to
the Internet and/or leased line connectivity to companies. This has led to
the explosion of a number of related ventures, such as companies who speci
alise in producing multimedia web pages (such as Adept Internet), Internet
commerce, cable companies and modem suppliers (Perlman, 1996). 

2.3) Technological Implications for Marketing Joseph (1996, p. 29)
concisely described the situation as such: ' Marketing, like most business
disciplines, is undergoing a period of change as a direct result of the
information revolution. The rapidly declining costs of and increasing
power of information processing technology is altering the in which
customers and businesses relate to each other. Marketers, however should
be cautious not to attempt a quantum leap from more traditional meth ods
as this is sure to bring issues such as lack expertise to the fore which
could prove disastrous (Steyn, 1996). Essentially, the point is that as a
marketing drive, the additional services supplied by technology provides
the marketer with the opportunity to gain an edge in the race to win the
consumer. More and more, new technology appears to be focusing on the add
ition of value. On an individual level, for example, the marketer may use
the technology to make himself more accessible to the consumer thus adding
to his service levels. A company may realise added value by investing in
expensive multimedia kiosks which
 introduce the subject of interactive marketing (Joseph, 1996). The
emergence of new and revolutionary technology forms a double-bladed sword,
as it can represent both an opportunity and a threat to the business. In
particular, this technology places an interesting and novel challenge on
the shoulders of the modern da y marketer. The failure to utilise these
developments can put the business at a great competitive disadvantage
while even the practical application of the technology can provide major
problems caused simply by the novelty of the options, a general lack of
 expertise and the difficulty of accurate prediction (David, 1997). The
process must begin with the individual himself. A marketer who is not
pushing the bounds of personal technological progression is most likely
not inclined to do the same for the company (Joseph, 1996). Joseph (1996,
p.29) concluded that 'The Internet, multi-faceted appliances and even the
creation of new applications for old technology are all the domain of the
marketing visionary.'

3) THE INTRODUCTION OF INTERACTIVE MARKETING ON THE INTERNET

Internationally, the Internet medium is successfully selling everything
from nuts and bolts to motorcars, property and traditional mail order
products. A pertinent question that arises is: 'What forces led to either
the accidental emergence of interactive
 marketing on the internet or the realisation of a need for the
development of an alternative marketing medium that satisfied specific
consumer or marketer needs?' Steyn (1996, p.13) introduces the concept of
interactive marketing through the words:'Interactive marketing uses new
technologies to overcome practical database and direct marketing problems
whilst building more rewarding customer relationships'. 

From the marketers' point of view, interactivity, is the convergence of
three main advertising functions or activities: direct marketing, sales
promotion and conventional above the line advertising. The developments
allowed by interactive marketing throug h the Internet focus mainly on how
profitable market segments were identified and how these segments were
reached. Interactivity allows the opportunity to track individual
customers one at a time and to build individual relationships with each.
This indic ates the vast benefits that Internet interactivity supply in
terms of database formulation, management and utilisation. However, the
main challenge that does and will continue to plague advertisers in the
future will be persuading the viewer to try the se rvice. Interactivity
has three core characteristics: * Offer much more information than a
television advertisement. * Requires the conventional copywriting skills
combined with those of the direct marketer to turn the browsing viewers
into sales prospects. * The emphasis, simply due the nature of the medium,
is more likely to be on sales promotion type tools to entice the viewers
to visit an ad and then on constantly refreshing the content and creative
treatment, to ensure that they revisit it (Steyn, 1996) . The issues of
the nature of the Internet as an advertising medium and the creation and
maintenance of an Internet web site are addressed fully in sections 7) and
6.3) respectively. CD-ROM technology is unique in its ability to combine
vital parts of promotion, that is: print, audio and visual messages in a
package that can be distributed according to a random access database.
(Steyn, 1996). 
 Clever marketers are using the medium to draw buyers closer to their
companies as a whole and not just closer to the products or services they
provide. This emphasises the advantages interactive marketing provides in
terms of creating stronger, more unde rstanding relationships with
consumers. 
 
The introduction of interactive marketing and specifically interactive
advertising heralds the beginning of an era where customers will choose
the advertising they wish to see, when they want to see it. This proves to
be a hallmark of the contemporary con sumer who is far more informed than
his blindly accepting predecessors have been. Consumers of today are
evermore demanding personalised attention from businesses that wish to
serve them. Furthermore, the very fact that the modern consumer is better
infor med fuels his need for informed transactions with businesses. The
modern consumer wants to know what product he is buying, what its detailed
characteristics are, how he can expect it to perform, what alternatives he
is faced with and why he should pay the
 offered price for it. The nature of interactive marketing on the Internet
provides an ideal medium for the satisfaction of the demanding modern day
consumer. It is obviously of critical importance that a marketer
recognises these needs and develops syste ms for satisfying them, hence,
interactive marketing on the Internet. 

 Steyn (1996, p.13) boldly concludes that 'There is therefore no doubt
that interactive marketing is helping to overcome practical database and
direct marketing problems while building more rewarding customer
relationships.'
 
Online shopping Online shopping is an element of interactive marketing
that has found itself under the spotlight since its recent inception. 
Virtual retail sites on the Web continue to grow. Some sites are purely
promotional while on the other extreme consumers are promised the lowest
prices as the product is drop-shipped directly from the manufacturer
(Swart, 1996). Anyhow, the Internet as a shopping mall has not enjoyed a
favourable reputation as it is seen as a golden opportunity for
sophisticated thieves to obtain credit card numbers from the cable. As a
result businesses have shied from any Net-based commerce. As
 a result the Web has been trapped in a form of time warp, usable only as
an information medium and not as a transaction medium. Of the thousands of
South African companies on the Web, few offer anything more than highly
informative web sites which still leave the consumer wondering: 'I wish
the Internet could take me that one step further, SAFELY'. However, the
tide is swiftly changing due to bold technology and business moves. The
improved security and growth if the electronic-commerce infrastructure ha
s prompted optimistic projections for the future of interactive online
sales. Furthermore, South Africa suffers from an intolerable postal
problem and an effective home delivery system would have to be developed
for home shopping to be viable (Rath, 1997). However, thoughts of an
unrivalled ability to compare products, to be provid ed with product
information and to be shown product demonstrations and alternative views
will spur the quest for a workable online shopping system with great
urgency. Recently a groundbreaking development in online shopping was made
by M-Web in collaboration with over a thousand tenants ranging from large
corporations such as ABSA to small retailers and service providers. Bruce
Cohen, general manager of M-Web interact ive, claims that 'The M-Web mall
is designed to accelerate interest in online shopping by providing a
one-stop shopping environment under on virtual roof.'

4) WEB ADVERTISING

4.1) The Nature of Web advertising

It is estimated that there is more than five million commercial pages on
the Web, more than 100 companies are going online daily and that
'net-watching' has become a dedicated function within more progressive
firms. Furthermore, companies that are online are more inclined to use
this facility as a means for communicating new product developments (Rath,
1997). In practice, great achievements are being made in the sphere of
Web advertising as the initial novelty of the concept wears off and
experts in the field become more accustomed to the characteristics and
dynamics of the Internet as an advertising tool (J. Matthee, personal
communication, 20 April 1998). Nevertheless, the Internet is not yet a
proven advertising medium and as such is untested, unregulated and
unrefined (Swart.1996). This very situation often results in wise
businesses approaching Internet advertising companies that possess the
necessary expertise to advertise effectively on the Internet. The
Internet's lack of intrusiveness as a medium (see Section 7) implies that
direct marketing requires action by the consumer. In order to induce this
required action, an advertiser needs to know his audience intensely in
order to be able to entice brows ers to enter the site. Therefore, it is
the responsibility of the advertising agency not only to incorporate
above-the-line strategies but also to include the below-the-line
strategies in all their Internet clients' campaigns

4.2) Web advertising Channels

The origins of Web advertising are ironically rooted in what many consider
as a frustrating method called 'spamming' whereby messages concerning
products or business information were sent at random to Internet users
e-mail addresses. This crude form of ad vertising can be likened to common
junkmail found in a postbox among things of relevance such as personal
mail and bills. Things have progresses somewhat and a number of channels
have become available to the business interested in Web advertising and
rega rdless of which channel is decided upon it is common practice to
approach an online agency for aide (J. Matthee, pesonal communication, 20
April 1998). 

Creating an Electrical Storefront Thousands of businesses have established
a home page on the Internet which offer a wide variety of information such
as: descriptions of the company and its products; a company catalogue
describing product's features, availability and prices, company news,
 opportunities to speak with staff members and the ability to place an
order before leaving the site. The main objective of these sites is brand
building. Another aim may be to support an event and in this case the page
may be temporary. When a company decides to open an electronic storefront
it has two choices: 1) The company can open its own store on the Internet
through a Web server or; 2) The company can buy a location on commercial
online service. The online service will typically design the electronic
storefront for the company and advertise its addition to the shopping mall
for a limited period of time (Kotler, 1997). 

Participating in Forums, Newsgroups and Bulletin Boards These groups are
not designed for commercial purposes especially but participation may
improve a company's visibility and credibility. Bulletin boards are
specialised online services that centre on a specific topic or group.
Forums are discussion groups l ocated on commercial online services and
may operate a library, a conference room for real time chatting, and even
a classified advertisement directory. Finally, newsgroups are the
Internets version of forums, but are limited to people posting and message
s on a particular topic, rather than managing libraries or conferencing
(Kotler, 1997). 

Placing Advertisements Online A number of ways exist for companies or
individuals or companies who wish to place advertisements on commercial
online services. Firstly, major commercial online services offer an
advertisement section for listing classified advertisements whereby the
ads
 are listed according to when they arrived with the most recent arrivals
topping the list. Secondly, ads can be placed in certain newsgroups that
are set up for commercial purposes. Thirdly, ads can be placed on online
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
reports that some publishers are scaling back their web publishing ambit
ions, or shutting down sites altogether lend credence to the notion that
there will be significant 'shakeout' as commercial Web sites fail for lack
of a viable business model (McDonald, 1997). Scenario
#2:Advertising-content hybrids Advertisers who do not sell their products
directly to consumers but still want to find a way to participate in
interactive media will revert to a model that prevailed in the early days
of television sponsorship. By sponsoring a site that consumers value,
 the advertiser will hope to build positive associations for the brand.
The communication limitations of banners will be overcome by surrounding
content with imagery related to the sponsoring brand. Where practical
sponsor-friendly content will be interle aved will brand-neutral content.
Though there will be some reaction against this hybridisation on the part
of media critics and consumers alike, the form will probably still
flourish as the digital equivalent of the infomercial (McDonald, 1997).
Scenario#3: Internet service provider's provoke privacy whiplash New
generations of Internet service provider will emerge that will provide an
extraordinarily sophisticated database that captures information on how
individual subscribers use the Internet. This will enable the marketer to
customise communications back into the box in the subscriber's home and
hereby the Web will be able to live up to its promises of one-to-one
marketing (McDonald, 1997). Scenario#4: Advertisements get detached from
the media Marketers will be able to sent targeted information to
subscribers on their past Web usage patterns regardless of what current
Web sites they are visiting. In effect, they will be able to sell the
audience to advertising directly without the intermediary of the media
(McDonald, 1997). 

9) CONCLUSION

The Internets Multimedia arm, the World Wide Web, can support both
consumer marketing and trade marketing objectives. The Web is where all
the commercial activity and its importance as a new medium has been
recognised to the extent that it will be measure d in all US media
research from this year. The Web provides a company with access to a
global audience of consumers in their millions, and also to a very wide
range of companies (Rath, 1997) The Internet has provided marketers with
exciting and challenging advertising prospects. There will undoubtedly be
many lessons to be learned in the near-future concerning the intracacies
and quirks of the medium. South Africa is technologically equipped to
make full use of the Internet's capabilities and South African marketer's
are provided with an opportunity to prove themselves to a very viable
Internet market. In conclusion , the future of the Internet and Web
advertising can be encapsulated through the words of John Matthee -
'bigger and better, bigger and better...'. 

10) References

2. Direct Marketing . Supplement 96. Marketing Mix; Vol. 14, lss 6, p 1 - 43, Jul.; 1996

3. Douvos, E. Net Sales Marketing Mix; Vol. 14, lss 7, p14, Aug., 1996

4. Hopkins, B. Beyond direct marketing. Market Mix; Vol. 14, lss 7,p10, Aug. 1996

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