Information Technology has led to a fundamental change in the way products and services are marketed globally. It has helped Companies and nations to take a proactive role in searching for customers worldwide and also make it easier for customers to find suppliers. It has helped companies to be efficient in all aspects of global marketing.

However, in the 80’s and 90’s the high cost of acquisition and development meant that only larger organisations such as major supermarket chains, automobile industry and the banking sector were able to gain the greatest benefit from IT through speed, efficiency and economies of scale.

Then came the Internet, which changed the balance of the five forces, in industry after industry. The old debate on whether “IT would centralise or decentralise organisations” becomes irrelevant. Innovative start ups dominated the “information revolution” followed by the Dot com melt down.

What does the future hold? Will only the lean and mean survive? Will the internet lead to the proliferation of SMIs? Would global localization create more multinationals, driving smaller local producers out of business?

“The problem with our time is that the future is not what it used to be”

The internet will take us back to the very fundamentals of “marketing”. That is to provide solutions and to satisfy needs profitably.

In order to survive, organisations will need to focus on the customer needs; for price, quality and ease of acquisition. Customer loyalty will turn into supplier loyalty.

How loyal are you as a supplier to your customer?

The marketing 4 P’s has to become the strategic 6 P’s

The 5 C’s will have to be redefined around the “customer”

The traditional “value chain” will need an “information bypass”

The five forces will never be at an equilibrium state

Barriers to entry raised by corporations will be shifted.

The only winners will be those with an “Auto focus lens pointing at the customer” with innovative dynamic use of the Internet. Who is your customer? Who are your competitors? Describe your current customer/consumer. Where will they be in five years time? What’s coming down the pipe line in terms of technological change? Could circuit switching technology be a thing of the past in less than 5 year, with the cost of a telephone call being relatively insignificant?

Could telecommute-ing and hot desking replace the rush hour and the rat race. Could the “paperless office” and the cashless society finally emerge? Official economic statistics will be the tip of the iceberg, with the black economy replaced by the information economy.

Redefine the maslow hierarchy and the customer being just an “e-identity”.

Where and how does your company fit in? How would your sales staff negotiate a deal, handle objections, close that sale with that e-buyer? What does the future really hold for your organisation and job security?

The old warning was “EDI or DIE”. The new warning might be Integrate with Internet or disintegrate. Plan to see every citizen having access to the internet. Be loyal to your customer. Your website will be your only “travelling salesman”

The Internet  salesmanship rules.

The internet customer- Traditional customer

Very short attention span – Get attention and hold

The customer has a choice – Sell unique solutions

Quick decision maker -Be there when the customer wants

Brand loyalty means confidence -Let the customer experience the system

Needs to be guided towards a decision -Help the customer to close the sale

Needs it now -Give what he wants, when he wants.

Who are your competitors now? Who would be your competitors in two years time?

Marketing on the Web.

Is your web page an “advertisement or a retail shop?

Running a profitable e-commerce site entails numerous tasks that are as old as retailing. Firms must design their web pages with:

the look and feel that agree with the target audience

market strategy to produce a uniform customer experience

merchandising must be wisely chosen to be complementary

Include “sale” offers as in retailing

Have customer care tools to help the customer to navigate easily along shopping aisles.

Minimise returns and query by providing product service instructions

Lillian Vernon Corp., in the US which offers everything from handmade dolls to personalized pencils spent $ 4.5 million on upgrading their website.

E-mail marketing.

“Existing customers are e-mail marketers’ most lucrative target” according to a survey of 50 retail websites that focus on consumers. E mail marketing is effective for customer surveys and coupons for free samples. However, e mail marketing, unless carefully executed could backfire.

Internet marketing ethics

Here are some guiding rules as a code of ethics when using the internet for marketing.

Do not market directly at children under 16 to purchase without parental consent.

If you promise to deliver within a set time, ensure that you do so.

Accept goods that are proven to be faulty or below advertised quality.

Be fair and truthful in your advertising

Disclose warrantee terms

The Internet has grown beyond the wildest expectations and is a dynamic system. This literally means that each time you log on, there is always something new. It is always better to rely on the net than to go on written down lists of sites.