Portals

“Share off mind, share off experience are key. A trusted relationship is necessary, even in business portals”

Internet, Intranet, Extranet, Website, Portal? What is what actually? Different names for the same thing?

The difference between these terms is the focus of the owner. The technology is basically the same.

The Internet is the public environment where anybody can go and find info, contacts, bargains, etc.

An Intranet is a network structure in the same fashion as the internet with focus on company personnel only and has exactly the same functionality as the internet. Access is regulated with login facilities. The contents is always company related

An Extranet is focused on a companies customers. Access to the extranet is granted in exchange for contact information or subscription. The contents is company and service related.

A Website is a company’s presence on the Internet. Websites have evolved from static information provision to customers into dynamic points of sale directly connecting to internal business processes. This differentiated websites and the term Portal was introduced.

A Portal is something that gives access to …, is the only entrance to… and therefore allows only privileged access. It is the only access to all relevant resources. In case of an internal Portal this means that the portal gives access to all business processes, all applications, all employees, but only to those with the right privilege. A portal can be directed outward, to the customer’s side, or inward, to the employee side. I will treat these two types of portals as one.

por·tal (pôr'tl, pōr'-) Pronunciation Key n.
A doorway, entrance, or gate, especially one that is large and imposing.
An entrance or a means of entrance: the local library, a portal of knowledge.
The portal vein.
A website considered as an entry point to other websites, often by being or providing access to a search engine.

It is well known that the doctor’s children are usually ill as the shoemaker’s children wear the most worn shoes. Companies that excel in organizing their external processes and communication have to realize that this excellence has to be met with internal processes that facilitate service workers to intervene in those external processes.

There is a strange thing to companies. They are very interested in creating a relationship resulting in transactions. But when transactions fail, they tend to look a way or at least create thresholds with the aim to slow reclamation processes. In the Netherlands companies offer new customers a 0800 number to be able contact them. This number range is free of charge for the caller – because: future customer - . Once you are a customer, there is only one means of communications left. 0900 numbers costing between €0,10 and € 0.90 per minute. Cost for usage of the mobile phone is not included. In fact companies earn money by messing up.

The basic reason for this behaviour is the cost element of after sales service. To many people involved, outsourced call centre facilities causes high cost and loss of quality and involvement.

We have seen this in recent rapidly growing markets like web-hosting, mobile telephony etc. Fast in sales, slow in service!

Other types of companies will have to deal with these problems as soon as they start extending their processes outside the company’s borders for the simple reason that the company is no longer able to decide when a business process is to start. Customers will start the process. Resulting in unpredictable use of resources. To regulate this companies throw up thresholds minimizing effort but maximizing customer frustration.

The answer to this is a different way of designing business processes. Processes have always been designed by ICT specialists who were aware of the limitations of their machinery and software. Introduction of internet type technologies have opened a new range of possibilities to design and manage business processes.

As the outside world of individuals is slowly but steadily organizing itself in social networks, interest groups, ideology communities etc. Companies have to counter this by servicing the individuals in a manner that creates respect, or run the risk to be nailed to the wall by consumers in the same fashion someone can get world famous in 24 hours. Chat rooms, bulletin boards etc. There is a strong need for a long term strategy regarding redesign of business processes.

Portal Technology is readily available and proven technology, yet companies use it to share knowledge and call it a knowledge management environment. In fact it could be the mirror image of what is happening in the outside world. Faster information in the outside world requires faster and better information in business processes.

Digitals relationships between companies and their customers require adequate management tools. Not only standard CRM and ERP type solutions, but also Customer Self Care type solutions outbound AND inbound. Showing all relevant information at any point in time to anyone authorized.

This requires two basic conditions;
1. A central identification and authorization mechanism is in place.
2. All company resources are connected.

This implies that the portal is the employee’s window to the company and its customer’s. Business processes will be redesigned on this level creating a 3 tier process structure. People are allowed to work together in different settings. From simple production tasks to complex project teamrooms where all project info and resources are combined.

Companies will in the end have to manage their new digital environment consisting of three main areas of interest.

1. External portal with processes and interactivity
2. Internal portal with processes and information
3. Networked data structures

Only the third area is a typical technology issue. The first two are a combination of communication, commerce, organization and ICT. It is evident that new ways of managing these areas create a new challenge to companies. There will be a strong change in governance. Both decision making and project management need a different approach. Multi discipline projects ask for different ways to manage knowledge and skills. The old concept of project or process owner seizes to exist

All major companies in the world have a portal installed, still far from complete or effective but still.

Forrester stated three relevant issues to portals

1. “The portal becomes as essential as e-mail and telephony.”
2. “The allure of new features, combined with lessons learned (…) is an irresistible opportunity to give portals a second or third shot.”
3. “Ambitious firms extend portals to partners and customers.”

The first statement has all ready been proven true. Sales of portal technology is at the moment the fastest growing sector in software sales.

The second will prove itself shortly. When introducing new concepts like for instance VoIP (.. or rather Internet Telephony), no intensive implementation projects are needed. Simply add the function to the portal and it is available to all users.

Portals come in all sizes and shapes and they are not easy to compare. An easy way to categorize them is the ambition level in the portal.

Ambition levels

In recent studies of business cases we found three levels of ambition;
1. Function based, providing (personalized) information.
2. Activity based, providing (personalized) knowledge and communication facilities.
3. Task based, providing (personalized) guidance and prioritization.
Ultimately aligning activities with business objectives and goals.

A portal consists of a number of generic business functions – aside from identity management and authorization – that enable users to work with the resources or processes.

o Communication tools like mail, instant messaging, video conference, meeting maker, etc.
o Collaboration tools like, document sharing, discussion platform, knowledge finder etc.
o Content management systems using push and pull mechanisms supplying news and information.

o Clippings, RSS, Press Releases etc.
o Workflow management processing tasks, documents, etc.
o Personal space
o Business Intelligence
o Web-services
o Knowledge Management Facilities

Employees or customers will create their own way off working with these new environments. Many companies allow departments and individuals to create their own space and presence within the portal. New ways of exchanging information new way of planning a career, new ways of managing activities will arise from these portals.

There are all ready excellent examples in the area of open-source” collaboration. On the Geneva Car Show showed a new model of an environmental friendly vehicle was presented, entirely designed in an open portal environment by technicians and scientists all over the world.

In a large infrastructural project I have worked in myself teamrooms with project planning facilities, instant messaging and document sharing, resulting in perfect collaboration.

Portals have a lot of benefits coming with them. We already identified the ease of introduction of new technologies. Portals glue everything together thus creating a standardization of infrastructure, communications etc. The technology also enables benefits of a non financial character;
1. Save time, More time for value added activities like strategy development and innovation
2. Create flexibility. Easily implement new technologies. Portal platform can be used by internal AND external stakeholders at the same time.

3. Share Knowledge and

4. Increase productivity by implementing simple workflows, and give users their own digital space to have them come back regularly and work with the portal through natural motivation.
5. Improve decision making by creating best practices, business cases and benchmarks etc.

The financial benefits will differ per situation. Standard financial benefits how ever lie with standardization activities. The infrastructure (both hard and software) and supporting processes can be standardized easily. Simple cost saving can come from P&O processes like declarations, trips administration, easier communication facilities. Faster access to information, and so on.

The burden off legacy systems

All companies, large and small have a legacy of old systems. These systems are often of a design incapable of dealing with real-time processes the customer wants in interactive environments.

Getting your legacy systems web based is normally far to costly

Circumvention of legacy systems with a portal type layer is the only strategy that incorporates two ingredient for future success.

1. Modern interfaces for customers and customer service workers.
2. No des investment and loss of knowledge by forced replacement of legacy systems.

It is necessary to draw up a business case showing at least actual cost and predicted cost cuttings. Use this to evaluate final results and you will notice that portals make companies better.

Cases

Recently I initiated a program to realise an internal portal for an international media company. We researched best practices and came up with many interesting cases. They all showed the same pattern. Only from reorganising support processes an internal portal can be financed. ROI period lies regularly under 1 year. The real benefits in the area of knowledge management and flexible re-styling of business processes are difficult to calculate because many benefits are of a quality nature, so these cases may com in handy.


Summary

Means : Portal technology is the fastest growing ICT market world wide and this is only the beginning. Without portal technology companies are just not agile enough to keep u the pace of rapid changes in technology

Message : The single point of entry must be clear about what it stands for. It will be – in fact – your shop window, behind which your entire product catalogue will be available.

Media : Portals need to be tuned to portable devices and tuned to the context. Geographical context is key. “Sat-nav” suppliers have a great future.

Technology push

"The invention of new technology pushes functionality forward. It forces competition to innovate and find new product / market combinations outside day to day business."

The first personal media devices were introduced in the late 80’s. So called portable phones were available. They were large, they were heavy, they were ugly but they were the first tot deliver the promise of communication independent of time and/or place.

This apparently was so revolutionary that people took all the disadvantages for granted and started using the portable phones.

The new technology now overthrows the entire communications market. In the Netherlands the penetration of mobile devices is a staggering 102,9%. That is more devices than people!!

The innovations as seen in the market still lack too much direction to be certain of new dominant designs. Innovations can be seen in the areas of;
1. Basic machinery (Technology)
2. Business orientation (Business models)
3. Lifestyle orientation (Information distribution)
4. Entertainment (Leisure concepts)

But it seems evident that the ultimate personal media devices will emerge within the next 10 years. These are so personal that you will take carry them with you at all times (beach, bathroom, party, work, travel, etc). A nice current day example is the head band that transfer MP3 audio signals directly to the skull. Fantastic for outdoor activities under all sorts of conditions. Even swimming is possible.

I expect that these new media centres are to have functions like online music and video streams, Ability to project (wall, towel, paper etc.) and be hands free at all times.

Look for instance at the new Portable Play Station by Sony and realise yourself that this is just a first generation solution. Within 15 years at least two new generations will be introduced with superior technology, superior communication possibilities and superior and more diverse functionality. May be you can even read books online, chilling in you hammock.

Still a major shift in mobile devices lies ahead. Think of he promise that voice technology holds in using interactivity anywhere and anytime, without additional gadgets as keyboards, styluses.

This technology push will influence the interaction between media and its content on one side and the “consumer” on the other.

Technology has always enabled the rise of new media. The figure below shows the introduction of new technology and the resulting introduction of new or better media types.

ince the introduction of personal devices innovations have followed each other in rapid succession. What functionality will follow and how can old school media companies integrate this in their distribution channels. The life cycle theory states that there is still no dominant technical design in personal devices, not the machines themselves, nor the way they are connected. Wireless possibilities tumble over each other. ATF3, GSM, EDGE, UMTS. I’m sure that after these 3 generations a 4th and dominant distribution system will emerge with few providers to choose from. The same goes for the devices. From simple telephone to multifunctional device, incorporating a wide range of functionalities like; Telephone, Computer, Audio / Video player / TV, Book, Wallet, ID, Passport, Drivers license, Health records, etc.

In short all of you. Everything is possible. Fantastic in one way, a frightening thought in an other. Your complete profile stored in one place. The device will hold the key to everything. I will not go in to ‘Big Brother” discussions. But there is an urgent need for privacy legislation and privacy technology.

Technology push always behaves in the same fashion. In the period I was responsible for business development with a Dutch based ICT Company, we addressed the topic intensively. Central theorems were discontinuity and life cycle management. I will describe the latter in a separate chapter.

Discontinuity always follows the introduction of innovations. All supporting systems, all basic technology, all communication theory will be stirred up once more

But there is also good news. The introduction of new competition brings out the best in old school professionals. People hate change, they will find ways to defend themselves slowing the success of the new technology / medium.

Here’s a nice example

The introduction of a new energy source – electricity – took 60 years to overhaul steam technology in terms of market share. In these 60 years steam technology improved over 30% in efficiency. Something they hadn’t achieved in the 50 years before the introduction of electricity. Competition and new technology, an inspiration for us all.

Summary

Means : Expect strong and rapid innovation in the fields of infrastructure (the network), functionality (Webx.0 programs), and nodes (personal devices). Be cautious with investments and analyse the technology push and the status of life cycles. Best use lease constructions to service your digital needs.

Message : Show off your innovative actions, customers love it.

Media : There is no room for the introduction of new media left. May be holographic projection is one step further than second life and its look-a-likes. The information distribution network is complete but still limited in capacity.

Consumer behavior and media

“New communication techniques force communication professionals to focus on the individual consumer, and to create a comfortable “trusted” environment in which the advertising message plays a limited role”

Every marketer executes an analysis off current competition on a regular basis. The central question being: what or who are my competitors?

In the case of lets say - Coca Cola - you could say that competition is PEPSI, FANTA and 7-UP. Some would argue that when the time is there to consume Coca Cola others may choose wine or coffee thus expanding the definition of competition. You could also state that competition is every fluid that passes any consumers throat, making even water competition. Not an easy task competing with water!

What this says is that there is a maximum to a product a consumer can handle in a fixed amount of time. This also applies to media. Consumers have only a fixed amount of time to spend on media and news gathering.

Mobile phones and the internet were introduced as new media in the early ’90ties. The main differences with “old media” are the fact that they are personal and interactive. This may seem obvious, but the impact of these differences is immense. People were able to connect to each other in a different fashion in the invisible virtual world.

Young and old

The virtual environment has one aspect to it that makes it very different to get used to. Research shows that people of the pre internet generation have less affinity with the digital world than people grown up with mobile phones and the internet. These differences are very persistent. My daughter teaches my mother how to send an SMS message en again and again ends up sending it for her.

This difference in behaviour has been reason for marketeers and publishers to target new initiatives at the younger generation first.

This even accentuated the difference between young and old. Despite the “Internet Winter” in 2002 a new revolution unrolls itself meanwhile, incorporating young and old. Since these differences are diminishing I will leave this aspect out .

Virtual (=not real?)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Look up virtual in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
The term virtual is a concept applied in many fields with somewhat differing connotations, and also, differing denotations.
Colloquially, 'virtual' has a similar meaning to ' quasi-' or 'pseudo-' (prefixes which themselves have quite different meanings), meaning something that is almost something else, particularly when used in the adverbial form e.g., "He's virtually [almost] my boyfriend". The term recently has been defined philosophically as, that which is not real, but may display the full qualities of the real.

Unlike in the physical world no roadmaps exist for the fast growing digital world, so who can tell what’s in it? Structure portals have grown in abundance, structuring the information on the net. Later search engines emerged, actively and automatically structuring information (but with a commercial motivation). Personal search agents are already available but not still not widely used.

As with the brain, virtual networks establish themselves. When a connection – or relationship – is satisfactory, the relationship will be used more frequently in the future, becoming a dominant path. This mechanism is based on a principle known as positive feedback. This principle is common in education, training and marketing. It influences behaviour in a positive way.

Once a path is dominant it will remain so since people are habitual and basically very loyal.

Still, the invisibility of information in new media requires a different approach towards customer behaviour. Customers have to de directed to or presented with the desired information. Other media are necessary to achieve the desired results.

Multi tasking

Media savvy people are able to use multiple media at the same time. This is like reading a book while listening to the radio. Recent research in The Netherlands executed by “Spot” shows that 64% of the time people are watching TV exclusively, while during the other 36% they have other activities besides watching TV. They state that other media have lower percentages of exclusive attention.
TV 64%
Surfing the Net 45%
Reading a magazine 39%
Mobile telephone 33%
Reading a News Paper 32%
Listening to the radio 7%
“Spot” is an organization that tries to attract as much advertising money to TV stations, so their research may be biased. Nevertheless, TV is as entertaining wallpaper, always there, while other media have a higher access threshold.

One has to ask oneself if multitasking is really possible. We all know how hard it is to do two things well at the same time. However clever, the brain has limited senses.

Since attention for a medium can also be expressed in media value (- or advertising income -) a market analysis for example for magazines should extend itself to all other media types available. Of course one could argue that the newly introduced media types are only frequently used by the younger generation. That it’s weight in the analysis should be seen in relation to its use. One has to bear in mind that the penetration ratio of these new types of media is gaining force rapidly.

There is a historical aspect to this all. Our society has developed rapidly after the Second World War We had to work together as teams to build up our lives on the rumbles of war. Broadcast behaviour and media were useful ingredients to find back our common identity. It took some twenty years and a new generation to realize that individual values like freedom of choice were at least as important as common values. It took a revolution of flowers in the western world to close the difference between generations. Nowadays individuality is common sense. Even young adults deliberately develop their own style and value sets. They even publish it in their own digital social networks.

I’m not educated to analyse sociological developments but there seems to be a strange correlation between the type of information distribution and the current social context. The broadcast media of the 50’s and 60’s and the social environment at the time, only one goal: rebuild society. The networked media of today and the individual perception of the younger generation have a more individual angle.

Broadcast media are losing their role as a trusted friend to media that are able to create more complex relationships such as the internet and especially the mobile devices. Let us compare media on the level of screens and see what role they play in people’s lives.

Screens

This matrix below lists types of screens versus distance which results in a span of attention (media value).

The same exercise is valid for paper means of presentation.
Poster – leaflet – catalogue - news paper – magazine – ‘blog’.
The reader’s attention extends itself over a longer period of time towards the end of the chain. I intentionally added the blog type at the end of the chain because I believe there is no paper alternative replacing or out-smarting the current day magazine on short notice. Two reasons follow;

The paper magazine as it is today is at the end of its life cycle. Only price and distribution are discriminators. Old brands lead the market and new introductions fail in rapid succession, but magazines and new paper are here to stay they will have to find their place and synergy with other media.

Browse vs. read

The difference between browsing vs. reading must not be left unnoticed. There is a relationship between the quantity and depth of information that is transferred from medium to user and the medium used. It is not easy to read long articles on a computer screen or the internet. It is virtually impossible to browse and understand a scientific dissertation on a mobile phone screen.
Although my lists of screens and paper media are incomplete they draw a picture of a long historic development that will come to an end shortly. The noun ’media’ became regular in speech and journalism in the 1920’s. The etymology of the word media, where intermediate is meant, is off course much older.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source media
"newspapers, radio, TV, etc." 1927, perhaps abstracted from mass media (1923, a technical term in advertising), pl. of medium, on notion of "intermediate agency," a sense first found 1605.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper

The claim of marketeers is that they sell products by drawing customer’s attention with the use of communication media. They have to influence the customer’s behaviour towards that specific end and will use the most effective way of communication.

They will invest in three main issues; First they’ll maximize the number of eyeballs or viewer ratings. Secondly they’ll try to maximize the span of attention (in actual minutes or in visit frequency). Thirdly they will send the appropriate message.

Types of marketing

The figure below relates types of marketing to the span of attention in the same way I related screens to the span of attention.

The introduction of new media on a historic scale show that until the beginning of the twentieth century media were only paper and mainly used for information exchange. The use of newspapers was reserved for the upper class. Marketing became evident when newspaper makers found themselves in a world full of competition and had to find new revenues. Although the word marketing is as old as the Middle Ages. The profession originates from the early 1920’s. Could there be a relationship between the use of the word media en the birth of a new profession?

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source
mar·ket·ing /ˈmɑr kɪ tɪŋ/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[mahr-ki-ting] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1.
the act of buying or selling in a market.

2.
the total of activities involved in the transfer of goods from the producer or seller to the consumer or buyer, including advertising, shipping, storing, and selling.
[Origin: 1555–65; market + -ing1 ]
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006

Now a days consumers are confronted with a wide range of information sources to choose from. The sources chosen are often habitual. Older people refer to newspapers while the younger generation relates to digital sources. The first mass newspapers emerged with the new printing techniques around 1900. Magazines followed shortly. Of course newspapers and magazines have been in existence long before that, but here I would like to apply the mass type of the product. (The first magazine was Gentleman’s Magazine in 1731.)

Introduction of new media has come to an end. Modern media can reach anyone, anytime and anywhere. What more can an info carrier achieve. From now on innovations will take place in the areas of context, media synergy and consumer participation. In other words; functionality – software – application?

Customers have to divide their attention between media. Their time is limited to an absolute maximum and they have a lot to choose from; News paper, Radio, Film, Book, Telephone, Television, Magazine, PC, Mobile Telephone, Internet, Personal Media Centre, PSP and so on…

This means that all these media have to compete for a share of attention or a share of mind. Compete with water so to speak. This also means that new competitors will come out of the wall they are never your regular competitors, because your competitors will likely follow your strategy..

Mega Consumer Trends

Marketing research defines six mega trends for the next two decades or so. Here they are;

o Back to the roots (time for your self)
o Clanning (participate, self confirmation)
o Being alive (consciousness, health, life)
o Cocooning (protection and comfort)
o Egonomics (consumers seeks recognition)
o Vigilante consumer (in search for value, guard quality, represent customers , environment)

These trends all show that the consumer is in the central position. They chose when and where to consume and under which circumstances.

According to trendwatching.com trends for 2007 are;

o Status lifestyles (show – off )
o Transparency Tyranny (bad producer behaviour will be punished)
o WEB + (consumer generated web environments web 2.0 etc may be up to 5.0)
o Trysumers (try before you buy)
o Global brain (join forces, social networking etc.)

These trends all show high consumer involvement. Share of mind is key in modern publishing and/or marketing. Publishers and marketeers need to innovate or they will lose their grip on consumer behaviour and thus on their own media value.

A whole new attention related economy will develop.

Summary

Means : Do follow technology trends and place them in the appropriate life cycle. Don’t fall for fashionable solutions but look at the true value of infrastructures. Web 2.0+ will be the driving force behind new introductions of network based applications, independently available of place, time and device.

Message : Marketing and communication initiatives should always aim at customer participation. Treat customers as equals. They are media sensitive and ask for proof. Make them belong. Don’t show off!!

Media : To generate enough eyeballs different media or communication strategies must be used to generate media synergy within one communication concept.

Cascading media

“New publishing concepts stress the different roles of and synergies between various media and produce content, context and relationship- tools in one go!”

What would it be fantastic if your radio commercial results in booming revenues and that your customers refer to your products in every conversation they have. Fortunately it doesn’t work that way or a lot of people would lose their jobs.

Since the introduction of new media (internet, mobile phones and games) marketeers and communication specialists are trying to get the best out of each medium.

During my appointment as director of technology and business development for a large IT company we addressed the issue of synergy between media. Joint efforts with publishers and TV-producers led to interesting developments in a world that was basically dominated by technology. Even what we called “look and feel” tasted like technology. These cooperation led to the view that interactive media should “smell” good, to give the user a feeling of comfort.

Later on I developed the philosophy of “cascading media”. The idea came in the early days of they Internet when traffic was the success factor for every initiative. A conversion of a TV audience to an Internet initiative can generate such amounts of traffic that success was guaranteed.

Media Transfer

Imagine a prime time entertainment show that uses the endgame to transfer viewers to an interactive environment where the viewers can participate in the game show for the next 24 hours, returning to the next episode of the game show. The game show reports back the results of the last 24 hours and shows which of the interactive contestants have qualified for the next TV show.

Transfer of eyeballs is a concept that is hard to achieve. People are basically lazy when sitting in front of their TV set. Just ask yourself what effort it would take to get you out of your chair and behind your computer to start up the Internet. Nothing I guess. To influence behaviour with such impact requires high rewards

If it is possible to find a way to guarantee such a transfer is worth a lot of media value.

Integrated media approach is becoming a regular standard in both media and marketing. For instance the radio show that uses SMS, telephone and Internet facilities to poll opinions during transmission. The opinions are used to spice up the discussion in real time.

Marketing campaigns that include Internet subscription, SMS services, Music events and privileged e-mail communication.

The TV world is also using SMS and telephone as a viewer feedback. In this case with the aim of making as much money as possible. Call TV type programs are of a simple structure. “If you know the answer, call us and win the possibility to win a prize”. This transferring mechanism is the simplest in existence.

Nevertheless, This TV world is a lazy one. It sticks to plain TV, radio broadcast and straight forward campaigns. They support their programming with digital variations like streaming missed programs, Pod-cast etc. Only occasionally different media are incorporated into the programs / campaigns concepts.

Two random non existent examples will illustrate what I am implying;

1. Imagine a TV show called Game-Set-Match. (GSM – Global System for Mobile communications)). Of course the main driver here is the mobile phone. Answers are given in real time. Besides the studio audience anyone can play along. The GSM players outside the studio qualify for the next show. The intermediate results can be found in the Internet Control room, accessible only to those who played the game.

The span of attention of the format is prolonged long after the TV show has ended. In format advertising increases the formats media value and a massive phone income is generated.

2. I developed a combined Internet TV format called WebQuest™. I was in the early days of the Internet. Powered by a TV game show it would be the start of a digital treasure hunt. The hunt would lead the audience along certain pre planned websites of the program’s sponsors, enhancing the formats media value. Players and audience will come to the control centre to evaluate the intermediate standings, get tips and hints. Contestants can chat with each other and help or even delude the opponents. The frequency could be daily for stronger relationship and more frequent eyeballs. The results of the hunt are presented in the next TV show. The hunt can continue for weeks and the final treasure can be of considerable value.

Both formats were introduced with both public and commercial TV. It seemed a bridge to far at the time, but here we are, seven years later and still no true cross media format is programmed. Transferring the TV audience towards digital media is not an issue in TV thinking.

Transferring however, is a commercial mechanism with a lot of history. In the “paper”-days newspapers and magazines often used paper coupons to allow readers to react to a certain subject (or product). You could send in your personal data and receive a product or a sales call. We have been transferring people from;
o Advertisements to shops
o From commercial to internet
o From TV format to SMS
o From billboard to Shopping Mall
o Etc.

Transferring is the most intensive behavioural influence a marketeer can achieve. If you are able to transfer 10% of a viewer’s audience in a game show to the same game on the Internet, what would the additional media value be worth? The converted audience is an interested “intense” audience, worth more than accidental viewers. If you could lure them into leaving personal data you’d have a privileged audience you can target in the future.

Will advertisers be interested in a cross media approach to reach their customers and can you sell a cross media advertisement package in one deal? I think so. Proof is already there in the market. Advertisers are shifting from loyalty programs towards integrated involvement programs.

The examples I gave so far come from the entertainment industry. But all kinds of communication will follow the same pattern. Be it commercial communication for products or services, education or even government.

The use of consecutive media in a commercial concept I call a “media cascade”. One medium refers to another intensifying the customer relationship with every step.

Media Cascades

The philosophy is based on the creation of relationships. I recognised 4 basic steps earlier that apply tot all sorts of communication (personal, commercial, non-profit, etc)

Step 1 Attention. Make sure your recognised. Shout! A simple yet attractive message is required.

Step 2 Information exchange. Tell about your product or service and check if more is needed.

Step 3 Transact. Build trust and exchange information / services or products that establishes the relationship

Step 4 Now you can start building. Connect your Relationship into your business processes and use the added value of this relationship in building new relations.

Since all steps have a different character different types of media will be used in each step. Where Step 1. is a typical broadcast step (TV, Radio, and Print) Step 3 for instance is an interactive step where to customer supplies information to you. “Warmer”, more personal media should be used because the communication is drawn to a personal and trusted level. Mobile phones and internet communities are typical in this step.

You have to realise that you have to convert people from one step to the next and so from one medium to another. Your reach (eye balls) in step one falls out into two Referral (media transfer of customers) and Waste (users that do not react). Maybe you can catch them still by adding different angles in Step 1, the most crucial step.

This integration of media results in a different approach towards marketing and business processes and as a result toward ICT since processes must be designed to accept external information (Step 3). For instance subscriber self-care portals.

Research in the USA showed already in 1998 that personal media like the internet could not boost without other media as a referral platform. Different types of media referring to the internet resulting in concrete sales were;
– TV 55%
– Radio 15%
– Print 7%
– Internet 23%

The cascades you can build around different types of communications can consist of different media. Let me give you a few examples.

In the market for government information congresses are used regularly to relate to fields like industry, healthcare etc. It is obvious that in order to generate enough attention Billboards, Broadband Advertising, etc are used. Secondly potential attendants are facilitated with a subscription facility (internet, paper forms). Once the primary exchange of information has taken place the congress becomes the relationship platform. Not only between organisation and attendants but – even more important – between attendants.

There is a distinct relationship between the message you want to send and the distance between the used media type and its user. You could divide media in 4 different categories using this rule. The closer the medium the more trusted information can be exchanged and the more interactive the relationship will be. You should also appreciate the different situation the viewer finds himself in.

Just a brief overview of screens and distances as I described in media characteristics. From these categories a media cascade could be build. I will leave the paper equivalents out this time.

Media categories

45 feet Billboards, Cinema screen, etc. The viewer finds himself in a random crowd. No interaction.
9 feet TV Screens. Viewer finds himself in a family type of situation. Remote controlled
3 feet PC/Internet. Viewer sits in his personal environment, possible with trusted friends.
0 feet Mobile Phone, PSP, iPod / iPhone etc. User/viewer is alone. Usually no one else is allowed in this environment.

Since these media types play a different role in users lives and behaviour these messages sent are different but must be tuned to the goals your organisation has set for it self.

Rightly tuned synergy between media could lead to;
. More business
. Tighter consumer relationships adding value to your portfolio
. Better tuned business processes
. Better information mining opportunities
. Better margins

Monomedia

This all does not mean that I see no existence for stand alone media. I can see magazines, TV programs, newspapers, book and so on with no additional cross reference what so ever. The thing is that the used formula must be so powerful that it automatically generates word of mouth referral.

Summary

Means : Customer interaction, the prime ingredient of a trusted relationship, requires flexible and reliable service processes. ICT supporting these processes will change rapidly over the next years. Business alignment is not enough. Business prediction is necessary. Old monolithic systems will be shielded off – encapsulated – with portal technology based on web 2.0 type solutions, creating direct input form the outside world.

Message : The message distributed over a range of media should have a strong conceptual idea behind it. It should be applicable in all 4-steps in a media cascade.

Media : Cross media marketing will increasingly dominate the marketing world.

The value chain reversed

The customer has become the main asset of a company since the introduction of interactive technology. How do we activate and manage this asset?

A company or organization can be described as the sum of its assets or as a profit and loss statement. Modern companies can also be described as the sum of its stakeholders. A few companies are already valued as the sum of their customers. These are companies build around interactive participation like audio/video postings, social networks and mobile phone operators. This trend will expand to traditional companies when they create digital customer service environments. Customer participation will increase and therefore has to be taken very seriously.

This book deals with the increasing role of media in customer relationships. The simple fact that customers can talk back revolutionises these B-to-B and B-to-C relationships up to the point that the value of a company will be expressed as the sum of its relationships instead of its products. The value chain reversed.

The basic ingredients of digital relationships are Marketing brought to customers through the use of the appropriate Media using the right infrastructural Means.

I will apply this 3M model when necessary to understand the impact on organisational issues like business processes, change and program management and governance.

In the spring of 1993 I was asked to start a business development unit within a large Dutch based ICT supplier. We found ourselves confronted with many questions we were not able to answer. It was the dawn of open systems standards and the dawn of a new communications phenomenon. It was called the Internet.

We had already implemented a new media knowledge unit dealing with what we then called interactive media Focussed on “Videotext”.

We changed our focus from videotext to the internet in an instant and left videotext for what it was, firmly convinced of the fact that the internet would replace videotext in the blink of an eye.

In retrospect the fun here is that videotext is neither interactive, nor new media. On the other hand videotext applications are still active in large numbers.

Since then I have given a lot of thought to different media types and asked questions like;

o Will new digital media replace the old ones?
o Can different media types reinforce each other or are they just competitors?
o Do media have the same lifecycle as normal products?
o Can people deal with more than one medium at a time?
o How is marketing affected by the introduction off a new medium?
o What values more in media; transaction or attention?
o How will interactivity influence organisations, its processes and its people?

The business development drive calls for two important ingredients. First of all technological knowledge is required. At the same time the knowledge of business processes and relationships between companies and their customers becomes relevant because the automated processes of companies affected the day-to-day life of their customers for the first time.

This may well be the basis for the new media dilemma. Traditional technology experts are basically looking inward and have to change their attitude to more external / commercial thinking.

In the years 1997 until 2000 I focussed on the possible synergy between media. I had the dream of being able to convert audiences from broadcast media towards narrowcast media, in order to be able to influence consumers in their behaviour and create relationships other than just based on pre and horizontally programmed media. I really thought that you could use TV to power up internet initiatives and even create communities.

I found the broadcast television companies and TV production companies interested in the thought, but not in the action. The magazine companies listened to these new insights and stated that digital media could never replace the paper friend function magazines represent.

In a later stage I targeted marketing companies with actually the same results.

They where all proven right when in late 2000 the internet promise collapsed. But…

Right now the early internet adopters have become of age, they have a commercial status, and they have become a market. They don’t read magazines (or only a few), they don’t read magazines (or only free of charge) they spend a lot of time on digital gaming, mobile telephones, iPod’s and what have you.

We see a shift in advertising spending towards digital media. Not on all levels but significant.

The introduction of new entertainment and information devices shows such innovative power that only from that phenomenon you can conclude that they are here to stay, that this is just the beginning.

Recent jobs for publishing companies revitalised my ideas on how media affect people, what role they play in the day to day life and why new and old media have not yet found a good synergy model.

Everything in this book is a sublimation of my own ideas on media and marketing and the technology that enables it. They are based on research, practical experience, discussions, sales pitches, presentations and projects I have done. The ideas like Media Cascades and reversed value chains are my own observations. Ideas like Life Cycle management merely an interpretation of previous studies that I leave unreferenced.

I hope to challenge your thoughts and ideas on the interaction between media and people and that it triggers you to look at your business from a different perspective.

Part I. will focus on the customer side with topics like;

Value chains
Consumer behaviour and media
Changing media landscape
Publishing dilemmas
Building relationships

Part II. deals with technology its possibilities, its usage and its effect on customers;
Technology push
Innovation
Life cycle management

Part III. Puts the different media in perspective.;
Media characteristics
Media cascades
Communities, portals and self organisation
Content production and property rights

Finally I will present you with a number of generic cases to illustrate my reasoning which I hope will challenge you.
o Publishing
o Marketing Agency
o Telecom
o Service Institution
o Logistics

I hope to show you that companies are all facing the same challenge. The use of interaction to their best interest. A lot of change lies ahead.


Three angles to look at companies.

The Means they have. This includes all assets, people, machines, software, everything. The sum off all means appears on the balance sheet that is the basis for the company’s value

The Message they send. This has to do with the image off the companies, how it wants to be recognized. It creates the social context

The Media they use to send the message to their customers

In every chapter I will go into these aspects in a brief summary