Immediate Update 1-Issue 67:Putting up a website is like winking in the dark

This update stems from a newsletter we published in October 2003, and foretold future events. Those events are coming to pass now, and we are on the verge of realizing a new approach to electronic selling. We used the term WEBmercial at this time, and it still is appropriate today.

We also said that Online represents the convergence of numerous forms of media. Our speciality is DRTV and DR radio, but it can serve other forms as well. In terms of our current case study we will be discussing how this new approach integrates DRTV and DR radio using the website as a sales platform, the home of call-to-action, where revenue is generated.

BY Caswell Forrest

Where it All Started

Recently there was a program on the History Channel devoted to direct selling first in the fairs and finally how that evolved on radio and television. The most basic direct sell started when someone shouted out (an advertisement) to people close by and garnered their attention. Then that same person or someone else presented the product infront of the audience (demonstration), and finally the presenter asked people to buy the product (the offer and closing the sale) immediately.

This was the process, it was successful and a very powerful way to close sales-immediately, now, on the spot! Impulse buying at its best. The same process transfered to radio except word visualizations had to take the place of the onsite demonstration. Television changed that-audio and visual are powerful tools the presenter uses to close the sale, just like the past LIVE DEMO at the fairs.

"I hate commercials and interruptive advertising"

There is alot of discussion in the media world about rapid change and what to do about it? There is alot of talk, fear, uncertainty because media and marketing people have been locked into ways of serving their customers for years, and these formulas worked. But with the advent of so many types of media the formulas of yesterday aren't working-too much fragmentation.

Further and even more challenging is the public's real distaste for commercials and advertising in general. People don't have patience to see and hear "pitches" that hold no value for them. People are looking through "on-demand eyes" more and more every day. Not only are they negative, there is more media available that filters out unwanted commercial clutter for them. It is a trend, certainly not a fad. But people still want to explore, decide, and purchase those products/services that they want-that hasn't changed.

Make Your Building with the Right Materials

We are at a cross-roads, and this certainly applies to the current case study we are presenting in this series: The Successful Roll-out and Branding of a new and Unique Product Using Direct Response Marketing/Media. Direct sales is 100% accountable, every minute of every sales day, so we have no time or luxury to avoid new trends, and/or NOTabandon out-dated ways of doing things. Our buying public tells us constantly what we need to do as long as we listen.

Currently, the rise of the WEBmercial is exploding. It is the new platform for demonstrating products and services. It is rising with cautions and careful planning, because the marketing and media environment today demands it be so. Sloppy ideas get crushed in Internet Time and fortunes lost because people are not paying attention. NEXT ISSUE: What is a WEBmercial, how does it work, and why does it hold so much promise?