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June, 2003 |
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Marketing |
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Web
Marketing Tricks While
the traditional business plan of a “Brick and Mortar” company has
always included extensive advertisement, the same cannot be said about
many Internet businesses. Many webmasters go to great lengths to craft
wonderful web sites, putting little or no thought into advertising them.
And any business that doesn’t advertise is doomed to failure. Web
sites need to advertise and promote themselves to create traffic on
their site, to stay in business, and to grow. Businesses
on the Internet share a kind of equality that Brick and Mortar
businesses do not. When a visitor arrives at a website, they really have
no idea how large or small that company may be. In the Brick and
Mortar world, it is easy to distinguish between the two—the larger
will have the bigger store, flashier advertising, and a more expansive
inventory. On the Internet however, small companies can project an
uncharacteristically large presence by creating and properly promoting
their web sites. While the Brick and Mortar retail world is
consolidating and merging towards giant discount oriented retailers, the
Internet is teeming with thousands of small, successful companies who
might not otherwise be able to compete, or even start-up, in the Brick
and Mortar world. No
matter how large or small your company is, you need to advertise.
Unfortunately for most small businesses, Dot-com or otherwise,
traditional advertising methods require immense capital and human
resources. This is exactly why many smaller businesses fail—they spend
too many of their resources in trying to compete on somebody else’s
turf. The
most obvious medium of advertisement is television. However,
television’s effectiveness in attracting customers is questionable.
Its effectiveness lies in achieving brand recognition. Yet at this point
most businesses are trying to increase traffic to their websites and
gain more customers—brand recognition can wait until after the IPO.
Television advertising is also the most expensive medium. More than one
previously unknown Dot-com spent all of their available resources on a
Super Bowl spot. They may or may not have been successful, but
nevertheless, they spent millions of dollars for 30 seconds of airtime.
Most businesses are more shrewd when it comes to spending their dollars,
and they want more than just thirty seconds of exposure. Banner
Ads and mass mailing If
you thought that targeting an Internet-based audience would be more
effective at driving traffic to a website, you would be right.
Banner ads and mass-mailings are much less expensive than television.
However, they have their limitations as well. While remarkably
cheaper than a TV spot, a small banner ad on a major portal website can
still cost over six thousand dollars a month. Furthermore, it is
generally agreed that banners are not a cost effective way to bring
visitors to a website. Most potential customers see banners as
just a nuisance. Mass mailings have a similar drawback. If
you opt out of spending money for your own list, you can buy space in
someone else’s. But you’ll be competing for the customers
attention with whoever else bought space. Another disadvantage
that banner ads and mass-mailings have is that they aren’t targeting
the people who are most likely to be interested in the content you have
to offer. They may reach a wide audience, but most of that
audience will recoil in horror, yell “Spam!”, and delete your
expensive ad before having the opportunity to realize that you are
exactly what they’re looking for. While both traditional methods
can and do work, they require a lot of what most of us don’t have:
money. Ad
Engines The
most cost-effective advertisement would have to be both cheap and
targeted at exactly the right customer. Years ago this was
something of a pipe dream—today it is a reality. The Internet is
the most comprehensive source of information in human history. But
like any library of knowledge, it must be catalogued and organized to be
used effectively. And therein lies the perfect solution:
search engines. Like the card catalog of a library, search engines
are a customer’s way of sifting through the Web to filter out what
they’re looking for. And what better way to make sure you are
found then to have an influence on what they find? Search engine
listings meet both of our criteria in terms of focus and affordability.
No other form of advertising is so focused that the customer is actually
searching for you. A search engine user is a highly receptive and
targeted audience because you are not trying to sell them on something
they don’t already want. They have come looking for you and they
already want what you specifically have to offer. According
to the Georgia Institute of Technology, 88% of Internet users find new
web sites through search engine listings. WebCMO data shows that
in a side-by-side comparison of different forms of promotion, search
engine listings are the number one way to generate traffic on websites.
Search engine listings send droves of visitors to your site and they are
free. There are plenty of websites where traffic has increased
ten-fold as a result of good search engine positioning. Nothing could be
better, but there is a catch. Get
top-listed Getting
listed on a search engine below 499 other websites simply won’t work.
You need to get a listing near the top of your category to collect all
the traffic a search engine can deliver. But the good news is that
you can dramatically improve your positioning with a little bit of elbow
grease. All it takes is some key modifications to your website and
a little thought. It’s not that hard and you can do it.
Using a program like AddWeb 6 to guide you through this process is the
ideal way to simplify your work. It guides you through every
aspect of the Search Engine Positioning process so you don’t have to
be a tech-savvy guru to get excellent results. With good search
engine listings a small business can project a large image on the
Internet and get the kind of traffic that so many big business sites
get. Compiled
by Nubiz Desk Ad
professionals always listen this exhortation that we should not copy
foreign ads and we should be original. Still, knowingly or unknowingly
there is a lot of copying of foreign ads (or to put it in better words,
getting inspired by the Ads of better developed advertising markets).
Sometimes it goes even to the extent that the client says, “Why
don’t you make our ad like that ABC ad of that XYZ country?” As
a result what happens is that either the same ABC foreign ad is copied
or a similar ad is made leaving everyone guilty conscious that we could
not be original and we copied someone else’s ad, or, the agency
upfront says, “No. We don’t want to copy. We want to be original.” I
feel that both the reactions are wrong and emotionally motivated. Ad
professionals can be found to be emotional like that. The often repeated
maxim “Don’t be Emotional, be Practical, be Rational” is seldom
followed. I
basically feel that there is absolutely no harm in copying, or rather
getting motivated by, European, American or any country’s ads. The
important aspect is to see whether we are – -
fulfilling the basic objective of the advertisement -
being relevant as per the need of the local market The
first and the foremost duty of an advertising agency is to churn out
result-oriented advertising for the clients. The following story
illustrates the importance of result-oriented ad. In
ancient Greece two armies were at war with each other, with Cicero and
Demonsthnes on the opposite sides. As was the custom in those days, both
Cicero and Demonsthnes gave a very motivating fiery speech to
their respective armies before the battle started. When
Cicero finished, his men said with tears in their eyes, “How well our
leader spoke! There is no one in today’s world who can speak as good
as him.” On
the other hand, when Demonsthnes finished speaking, his men said
“Let’s march and win the battle.” Like
Demonsthnes, our endeavour must be to produce result-oriented ads for
our clients. Yes,
the ad can have twists and turns to make it rememberable (in other words
– be creative). But what’s the use of the creative if people
remember the ad, but not the brand? In
a nutshell Get
an original idea Get
motivated by foreign ads Do
research before making the ad Do
whatever But
make the ads effective. No need to be guilty conscious, as long as the
ad. *
fulfills the objective and gets the desired result for the client *
is relevant with respect to the local social and cultural environment (Thapa
is associated with Advertising Avenues) New
Launches Cleaning and polishing shoes may be a drudgery. But no longer. Akhil Trading Concern (P) Ltd. has introduced in Nepal automatic shoe polishers and brushes imported from China. At
present five variants of the machine branded Silroad are available in
Nepal, say the company sources. They include two hotel models (suitable
for hotels and apartments) and four standard models (suitable for homes,
factories and offices).
The
product price ranges from Rs 1,800 to Rs 30,000.
Ashirvad
flour KL
Dugar Group, a business house majoring in foods, has launched a new
brand of wheat flour “Ashirvad” which it claims to contain iron,
vitamin ‘A’ and folic acid in essential quantities.
The
new product is presented in 2 kg and 5 kg packages and priced Rs. 40 and
Rs. 95 respectively.
According
to the Group, the nutrients are mixed in the product in proportion as
prescribed by the government and Micro-nutrient Initiative Nepal.
The
Group has also been selling, for over seven months now, a cooking medium
enriched by Vitamin A.
Return
of Heinz Products After
a gap of three years, Heinz products are back in the Nepal market. Amravati
International (P) Ltd, AIPL has been appointed as the authorized sales
agent of Heinz India (P) Ltd., the producer of such brands as Complain,
Glucon-D, Heinz Tomato Ketchup, Complan Crunch, Timers Biscuits and
Nycil Prickly Heat Powder. Heinz India is a wholly owned affiliate of
H.J. Heinz, USA. AIPL
is also preparing to import other Heinz products such as, Farex Infant
Cereal, Heinz Baked Bean, Mayonnaise, Salad Dressing and others
depending upon market demand. AIPL
is a trading arm of Soaltee Group and has been involved also in airline
ticketing and pharmaceutical imports. Nepal Made coil spring mattress Charisma
Classic Consumer Products (P) Ltd. has introduced Nepal made coil spring
mattress branded Charisma Classic. Claimed
to be manufactured using high tensile Bornell steel wires, heat-treated
to stop further sagging, the product is made from superior non-allergic
material, making it completely safe even for children, says the company. The
product is priced Rs. 25,000 per unit and carries a five year warranty. Ad
of the month You
may often wonder at the effectiveness of the car ads that are appearing
in Nepali media. Though any specific information about the effect in
terms of the sales figures are not available, Nubiz has tried to
evaluate the car ads of Nepali print media in terms of the creative
ideas and their execution. First
such ad that we took this month is the one about fuel efficiency of
Indica car being marketed in Nepal by Sipradi Trading. “A very
appealing visual, minimal copy and very good placement”, commented
Nubiz panelists about the ad. “Nobody will miss noticing it.” In
contrast, almost all of the other car ads that appeared in the print
media were rated substandard by our panelists. Take
the example of Ford Ikon and Kia Sportage marketed by TM Dugar Group and
Continental Trading Enterprise respe- The
Ford car ad is not matching with the features of the car that the ad
claims, points out one panelist. Though they are mentioned in the ad,
the features are not properly highlighted. Thus, even if someone may
notice the ad, he or she may not notice the distinguishing features of
the car. The ad offers a very fantastic advantage to the buyers (a big
car at the price of a small car), but that is the last thing that the
prospect will notice in the ad. But
there is another ad for Kia car – the Rio Sedan, which is rated good
by the panelists of Nubiz. “This is good ad as a reminder”, said one
panelist. But another panelist pointed out that it is not clear about
what it claims as “value packed” and “complements your
lifestyle”. Another good point about this ad is the good positioning
(of the ad that is) so that it does not go unnoticed. It
seems that most of the car ads in Nepal are there just because the
agents feel like advertising to fulfill the requirements of the
principals. The objectives of increasing sales, enhancing brand image
and reassuring those who already own the brand are generally missing.
“A black and white ad for a car worth Rs. 2 million is simply
incongruous”, agreed all the members of the Nubiz panel of ad
analysts. Perhaps
the advertisers are trying to save the expenses. “Then they should go
for media that is less costly than the daily newspaper and has more
focused circulation within the target market for those cars”, advised
one panelist. If
one goes by the logic that color ad will be better for a car than
a black and white, the ad for Daihatsu Charade seems better. However,
the print quality is not so good and it also suffers the weakness of
lengthy text unpleasantly cluttered in the ad. Again the wisdom of going
to better focused media than to the dailies holds good. By
that logic the ad about Maruti Alto, marketed by Arun Intercontinental
Traders, that appeared in this very magazine Nubiz in May issue was
considered well-positioned, as all the panelists agreed. But they were
not so nice about the quality and execution of the creative. First,
it did not adequately highlight the “car of the year 2002” fact.
Second, it does not mention about the price. Third, there seems to be no
link between the upper and lower portions of the ad, thus giving the
impression that these are two separate ads. “That means the upper
portion is a wastage of money”, clarified one panelist. Advertorial Motorbikes
are the product categories now being most vigorously advertised in Nepal
and it is in this category of products that the advertisers and their
agencies are coming up with utmost ingenuity. For this reason, we could
not resist mentioning the advertorial that Hansraj Hulaschand & Co.,
the marketer of Kawasaki Bajaj, came up with for its latest product Cal
115, being marketed with the catch word Hoodibabaa. It seems the style
of advertorial that Pepsi Cola started in Nepal, is getting popular. The
advertorial for Cal 115 was positioned very well as it appeared as a
strip on the bottom of the first page of the newspaper. However, the
panelists point out that the advertisers should have mentioned somewhere
that it was an advertorial. Being not careful about it, they left some
ground for those media watchers who are very particular about the code
of conduct of journalism. |
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