E-commerce transparency

Jonathan Bowers, May 24th 2007, 1:07PM

A new survey about internet consumers highlights a few very pleasing things that people like myself have been telling clients for some time. The survey by MoreComputers concentrates on the aspects of e-commerce sites that users find particularly displeasing.

Having to register before being able to buy irks more than half of us, while hidden delivery costs are a pain for over a third of us. One of the biggest 'trust rating' statistics is that 50% of those surveyed said they would never buy from a website that did not show it's telephone number. This is one thing, I am consistently advising people on.

It's also fairly ironic, because in order to find a contact number on the MoreComputers website you have to click deep into the contact us section. Eventually you find it but it might be an idea for them to take notice of their own research if they want to avoid alienating half their visitors.

Tags: consumer_confidence, e-commerce
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Online adspend up, Microsoft + ITV play catch-up

Jonathan Bowers, May 21st 2007, 3:07PM

For the first time since Internet adspend began its dizzying climb, television advertising spend has dropped. A new report into online adspend shows that in the UK internet advertising has now broken the £2bn mark. When I began watching these figures in early 2005, internet was catching up with radio spend. In the UK, we now spend almost 4x more on online ads than we do on radio advertising and display advertising has also been dwarfed.

So it is no surprise that Microsoft has just gone all out, spending a reported $6bn on online advertising company aQuantive Inc. But it's still playing catch-up with both Google and Yahoo! having made similar acquisitions previously.

I'm interested in the fate of TV adspend. Until now, overall marketing budgets had been increasing with TV spend increasing also. Now this trend has slowed and actually reversed, the future of Independent television is evolving. In the UK, ITV is the broadcaster that feels slow to respond to such changes. The new website does not live up to the hype and the other major stations appear to be drawing ahead in the IPTV race.

Interesting times ahead.

Tags: advertising, broadcasters, microsoft
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Driving a double message in web 2.0

Jonathan Bowers, May 18th 2007, 4:58PM

My viral video chart this morning alerted me to a great example of brand building. I hadn't come across GOODMagazine.com before but a recent viral video posted on YouTube has certainly brought them a wider audience. It has been online now for 10 days and received 657,871 views to date.

It's called Internet Porn, which might explain why it has enjoyed a huge amount more hits than any of the other videos in the series. But it's not what you might expect. But then maybe it is. No, it's not - it's better, because it delivers two messages. One about the online porn industry and one about the organisation behind the video.

As companies in the UK question whether social media avenues are appropriate for growing their business, innovators across the Atlantic are getting better and better at making it work.

Tags: social media, video, viral
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Businesses behind social networking

Jonathan Bowers, May 17th 2007, 10:52AM

In the UK, many businesses are discovering the benefits of working with social media in order to build their brand. It is often seen as a leap of faith for a business to put its stall out on a site like MySpace or YouTube or Flickr. Managing directors are held back by the idea of an open community, a dialogue that removes control from their grasp. Many have accepted that blogging is a viable communications tool but social networking seems the province of the consumer.

But what about this environment, the social networking arena? Is it really as open a community as they suspect? Within 2 years three of the Internet's most popular social networking sites have been bought by three of the Internet's most powerful influences - MySpace by News Corp, YouTube by Google and Flickr by Yahoo!. A story this week regarding Icelandic photographer Rebekka Guðleifsdóttir, shows that acquisition by big business can change the open nature of social networking.

Rebekka discovered her photographs were being sold by a gallery and naturally, she complained. She also posted her situation on Flickr - a site where she has built many relationships. The news spread and by the end of the first day it had appeared on Slashdot and over 100,000 people had viewed her Flickr post. Then, it and the 450 comments of support, were gone. Removed by the management.

Many say that this suppression of speech would not have happened before Yahoo's involvement. While I think that it is totally against the ethos of such a site to censor in this way, I do wonder if this style will appeal more to the MD's who currently hold back.

It is unlikely however to enthuse the creative teams who champion social networking to those managers.

Tags: censorship, socialnetworking
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Broadsheets prepare for the virtual upgrade

Jonathan Bowers, May 10th 2007, 12:05PM

Yesterday I attended a seminar session in Manchester called Meet the Northern Correspondents, which added to the newspapers' online debate. The two speakers were Helen Carter of The Guardian and James Wilson of the FT.

Helen revealed that some departments have a 'Web First' policy meaning that their stories appear on the web and then the next morning in the paper. She also talked about reporters having to take recording equipment out with them to generate both written articles and podcasting material. Projecting forward she expected to be taking a video camera out on assignments soon too. The job is becoming more and more technically demanding.

She gave companies’ blogging a welcome boost by admitting that she loves the arena and has found and researched a number of her stories through blogs.

James admitted that the FT has not embraced the web quite as fully as The Guardian yet - but intends to in the very near future. When you think about it, the FT's focus on business only mirrors UK companies in their slower adoption of the web's social opportunities than the UK public.

James also talked about the FT's model online that allowed subscribers only to view their breaking news content and about the papers intention to turn up at businesses with video cameras for interviews, just like Guardian reporters.

In other broadsheet devlopments, Shane Richmond of the Telegraph blogged about MyTelegraph a few weeks ago, which has now launched and is an online community encouraging users to blog their views and comments on the broadsheet's website.

Back at the event, possibly most telling was the response from the audience of PRs to the Internet topics. There was a sense that many were hoping the journalists would say that the newspaper was irreplaceable and the web was going to fade away in a few years.

But just as the journalists are moving out of their comfort zone, so must the PRs.

Tags: newspapers, web2.0
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