May 14, 2001
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MarketingtoWebMarketers From MarketingSherpa.com
======================= May 14, 2001 - Vol. II, Issue 18
* Subscribe FREE at http://www.marketingtowebmarketers.com *
NEWS:
- Trend Prediction: Banner Ad Sales to be Automated
- Personalization.com For Sale; Chris Locke's New Site
- BidToPrint ASP Seeks Partners
CASE STUDY:
- How TMXinteractive Got 50+ Rich Media Email Clients
Sponsor: Engage
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=====
NEWS
=====
* Trend Prediction: Banner Ad Sales to Be Automated
"We're really frustrated over here," says Hollis Thomases,
President of interactive agency WebAdvantage.net, "Previously you
couldn't get a hold of a media rep because they were all too
overloaded with prospective buyers. Now, with lay-offs and cut
backs, either there isn't anyone to speak to, or the person you
speak to is a new hire, taking the place of an overpaid rep, and
this newcomer hasn't a clue."
Thomases' complaint is one we've heard repeatedly recently.
Prospective online media buyers, especially those from small-mid-
sized agencies, can't get their calls returned. Reported
offenders include big name-brand Web sites, from About.com to
internet.com to Yahoo!.
Problem is, it's too expensive for live sales people to handhold
accounts under a certain size. So they're cherry picking. And
leaving stuff they don't want in the dust. We predict forward-
looking sites will follow Google's AdWords program lead and begin
to automate the 80% of sales that only make up 20% of income.
However, how much damage could bad advertiser relations do their
brands in the meantime? And how many smaller agencies will stop
trying to buy online media because it's just too much of a pain?
Stay tuned....
* Personalization.com For Sale; Chris Locke Has New Site
According to Jacqueline Hanson, Net Perceptions' Director
Corporate Communications, the company's Personalization.com site
and seminar series was "Outstandingly successful." Yet the
Company has put the site and events up for sale.
Net Perceptions created Personalization.com as a marketing tactic
in mid-1999. Hanson says, "Back then people were highly
skeptical whether personalization was even a concept. There was
a total vacuum of information." So, they built an unbiased
"United Nations" educational site that all the players could
participate in. The strategy: "If we can make the pie bigger,
then our portion will be correspondingly bigger."
The tactic worked. More than 10,000 interactive marketing execs
opted-in to receive the site's regular newsletter, and the
seminars were "moderately profitable." Plus, now personalization
is commonly accepted practice.
So why is Personalization.com on the block? Because, according
to Hanson, "We're fighting our own good publicity." Net
Perceptions has become so well known for personalization that
its other unrelated product lines haven't gotten the marketplace
attention they may deserve. So now the Company will focus on
them for a while instead. Interested buyers should contact CFO
Tom Donnelly at 952.842.5000 in Minnesota.
In the meantime, former Personalization.com editorial team Chris
Locke (of Cluetrain Manifesto fame) and Eric Norlin have started
their own site, the "Titanic Deck Chair Rearrangement
Corporation" (TDCRC) so if you're missing their (very strong)
opinions on marketing, you can sign up for your free newsletter
at the link below.
http://www.netperceptions.com
http://www.tdcrc.com
* BidToPrint ASP Seeks Partners
Greg Albright, Founder and President of BidToPrint.com, says he's
interested in partnerships with other vendors serving direct
marketers online. His site helps direct mail print buyers get
online bids from printers in the Mid-Atlantic region (he plans to
expand to NY area next.) Coolest feature: the instant ballpark
budgeting tool. So far print buyers from 15 organizations, both
agency-side and client-side, and about 80 vendors have joined.
To discuss partnerships - such as offering BidToPrint from your
own site in exchange for a commission - contact Albright at
galbright@bidtoprint.com
http://www.bidtoprint.com
==========
CASE STUDY : How TMXinteractive Got 50+ Rich Media Email Clients
==========
Sponsored By: Personalization & Privacy 2001
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Balancing Personalization & Privacy 2001
Featuring case studies from American Airlines' Director of AA.com
Customer Experience and FleetBoston's Managing Director & Chief
Privacy Officer. June 13-14th 2001, San Francisco, CA
More info at http://www.worldrg.com/mk107
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On May 1, 2001, just as the media was reporting that April had
been one of the worst months ever for dot-com layoffs, email
marketing agency TMXinteractive announced they were opening eight
new offices. We contacted them to learn how they managed this
feat in a down-market.
CHALLENGE
TMXinteractive's goal was to convince Fortune 500
companies and other "big" clients to try out their brand of "TV-
style" rich media email marketing. Only problem, the Company
didn't have a big marketing budget ... in fact until just a
couple of months ago they didn't even have a head of marketing.
New VP Marketing Susan Murphy filled us in on the details.
CAMPAIGN
Although almost every marketer in America could
conceivably use TMXinteractive's services, the team decided to
break their marketplace into a series of tightly defined niches,
and pursue each one in a focused fashion.
For example, TMXinteractive knew sports would be a great target
market for its services, so the company allied with famed
Baltimore Raven tight end, Shannon Sharpe. Murphy explains, "He
has a lot of commercial relationships for himself that we can
affiliate with as well." In addition, TMXinteractive bought
booths at targeted sports marketing trade shows.
TMXinteractive also decided to offer its services on a la carte
basis, from full-service creative and campaign management to just
technology and consultation. Murphy says, "A lot of our
competitors don't have that in-house creative." This made it
easy for prospective clients to test a campaign without having a
rich media creative expert on staff, or having to go to the
trouble of implementing the tech in-house first.
Lastly, TMXinteractive proactively set up a certified vendor
network, reaching out to more than two dozen leading list
providers and messaging companies to make sure they could easily
integrate with TMXinteractive's tech. Murphy plans to bring this
number to 100 by the end of the year, "Some clients have their
own vendors, do we have to make sure we work with their tech."
RESULTS
So far TMXinteractive has more than 50 clients,
including major brands such as SAP, Merrill Lynch and Calvin
Klein. According to Murphy, most clients who test the service
then become regular clients rolling out ongoing campaigns. Plus,
at a time when other ventures' investors are pulling out,
TMXinteractive's investors have urged them to open eight new
regional offices across the US.
NEXT: Murphy feels the regional offices will make a big impact
on sales, "It absolutely makes a tremendous difference having
local staff. We can reach out and touch clients whenever they
want, unlike having a central HQ and having to fly someone across
the country." She's also looking forward to doing her first rich
media email campaign on behalf of the company soon.
http://www.tmxinteractive.com
NOTE: Are you considering opening regional offices? Here's a
link to a useful story we published last year on how an Alabama-
based ad agency have grown into a major national force by using
local reps across America --
* How EngineHouse Media of Troy Alabama Trains and Manages Remote
Sales Reps Across America
http://www.marketingtowebmarketers.com/sample.cfm?contentID=631
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