Terra Networks’ recent $12.5 billion
purchase of Lycos Inc. illustrated a
continuing drive by portals to broaden their focus in an effort to stand out
in a crowded pack. The latest statistics indicate one of the biggest future
trends is likely to be a move to reach outside the U.S. to nations with
their own fast-growing Net populations.
So far, online global marketing has barely reached its peak. According to
the GartnerGroup Inc., worldwide B2B
e-commerce, which hit $145 billion in 1999, is projected to surpass $7.29
trillion in 2004.
A plethora of niche Web sites currently focus on marketing to specific
ethnic groups. More of these specialized sites are coming to the fore. To
say the least, the global marketplace, each day, is becoming smaller and
more competitive.
“There is a lot of demand from consumers and business in geographies outside
of North America,” noted Don DePalma, vice president of corporate strategy
for Idiom, a provider of Web
globalization solutions for e-business. “There really is no longer a choice
about globalizing your business. That decision has already been made for
you. Even if you are getting traffic with an English-only site today, you
may be losing out on the future.”
DePalma advises international marketers to focus on the four “Ps”: product,
positioning, price and promotion. “You have to have a product that makes
sense and you have to have a product that travels well,” he said.
“Customization is also key. You need to meet the needs of different cultural
communities within the U.S. as well as in different countries. Through
technology, Web sites can now reach out to domestic and foreign consumers
who may have never had the opportunity to shop online before in their native
or preferred language.”
Asia-Links.com has taken that
advice to heart. The company, an Asian portal site, markets electronics
products between North America and Asia.
“We provide American business with instant access to electronic component
buyers and suppliers throughout Asia,” said Tri Phan, director of marketing,
who believe his company to be the first Asian-focused B2B portal.
“By bringing manufacturers and suppliers together, the pricing value becomes
significant. Suppliers are able to choose from the manufactures they want or
who have an inventory of out-of-stock parts, and the site can also handle
RFQs for those who are looking for a bid on a particular item, such as
memory chips for a particular product.”
Marketing to two distinctly different cultures is no easy task, Phan
admitted. “There are misperceptions about doing business overseas. People
are wary of any overseas transaction” he said. “In Asia, people tend to
prefer more personal relationships, even with business transactions. But,
the Internet has helped to open that up. With the recent downfall and
recovery of the Asian marketplace, we are helping to bridge relationships.”
HelloAsia.com positions itself as a
business site geared to servicing Asian portals. The company rewards users
throughout Asia for their social and ecommerce relationships. “The portal
was developed and personalized for consumers in Asia and features AsiaMail,
an email solution in multiple Asian languages, and AsiaRewards,” explained
Jim Preissler, vice president of strategy. “Members earn AsiaReward points
for engaging in activities such as shopping, communicating and participating
in special events. Rewards include travel, entrainment and variety of
consumer goods and electronics.”
Indeed, Asian sites are pumping up the volume on B2B e-commerce. Gartner
Group anticipates Asia to leap into B2B with a vengeance and forecasts that
the region’s B2B e-commerce will soarto $9
92 billion by 2004, an impressive
rise from $9.2 billion in 1999.
Hurst Linn, U.S. general manager and vice president of business development
at Sina.com, said his company has exploded
over the past five years. He reported that in February 2000 his company saw
a growth of 16.6 million page views compared to 2.6 million one year before.
“Our mistake was that we did not expand fast enough,” Linn said. “In this
area, you need to finds niche applications and expand rapidly. What we
ultimately learned was to scale out as quickly as possible while targeting
as wide a group as possible.”
Sina.com is a Chinese-focused Internet company bringing comprehensive,
user-friendly and fun online experience to Chinese users worldwide.
“We offer a Chinese language portal network of four localized Web sites
targeting China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, a regional commonly referred to as
Greater China, and overseas Chinese in North America.”
Visitors to the site access local and international content and features
covering topics of interest to the Chinese community.
“They can also purchase products from our online stores, or SinaMalls,
located in China and North America sites and purchase airline tickets on our
Taiwan site,” Linn said. “In addition, we offer proprietary software
products that enable users to more easily access Chinese Internet content.
We have successfully created a a global Chinese community where visitors can
read news, obtain information, exchange ideas, establish relationships and
conduct business.”
etang.com is a Mainland China portal
aimed at attracting a “Generation Yellow” audience. “Generation Yellow
refers to Mainland Chinese ages 18 to 35,” stated Dale LeFebvre, chief
financial officer and head of U.S. operations. “This demographic group
accounts for 85.8 percent of Chinese Internet users. They have a high level
of disposable income, pursue modern lifestyles and play a significant role
in the commercialization of China in the twenty-first century.”
Services provided by etang.com include a search engine, e-mail, Web page
hosting, bulletin boards, news, local information and chat rooms.
“Our site also serves as a portal to leading local city guides for Shanghai.
Beijing and Guangzhou, as well as a portal to other consumer vertical Web
sites, including careers.etang.com and sites for
college students, personal finance, women and entertainment.” he said. “We
reach out audience through sponsorship and advertising, ecommerce models and
sponsorship verticals.
“We have a truck with our logo on it, which is seen at job fairs, which we
sponsor. We also have a presence in local shopping malls,” he continued.
“There is a synergy in going after college students and then helping them
get jobs. Generation Yellow is an great audience to target. They are
receptive, open to learning about new brands and they are financially
independent.”
In North America, Click2Asia works
at catering to Asian audiences in the U.S. and Canada.
According to Mark Laing, senior vice president of sales, the company has
gone to great lengths to attract a younger, “kooky” audience. “We have had
great success by promoting our portal through nightclubs and local community
activities,” he explained. “For example, we go to nightclubs and hold
giveaways, and we have a van, the click2asia mobile, that is seen at events
throughout town. Features of the site include Dream Dates, where we match up
customers and film their dates; paid personal ads, celebrity profiles,
online games, music, chat rooms and e-mail.”
Click2Asia’s initial promotional campaign succeeded in gaining the
attention of its local Los Angeles-area community, said Laing.
“We had a ‘Free the Nuts’ campaign, in which five of our employe
es lived and
worked under live web cams at the office, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The goal was to stay in the building until the site had 500,000 members.
Visitors to the Web site were able to tune in and view the ‘nuts’ via a
webcam. The effort took three months. Not only did this event create a
relationship with the community, but it helped strengthen the site and
demonstrated the inner workings of life at an Internet start-up and all of
the challenges and pressures to build a premier Asian global Internet site.”
Internet usage in the U.S. varies with ethnicity, according to e21 Market
Research Services. For example, in 1999 Internet use by African-Americans is
reported to have gone up to 26 percent, a 10 percent increase over 1997.
Africana.com, based in the Boston area
reaches out to Black communities throughout the world. E-commerce offerings
include two pieces of intellectual property, the CD-ROM Ancarta
Africana, which focuses on the culture and history of African Americans
and Africa, and the print encyclopedia, Africana. Books, music,
magazines, posters and software are also sold.
“We are an intellectual site, which differentiates us,” said Darrol Roberts,
chief operating officer. “We have a competitive advantage because we focus
on education. Our site was founded by several renowned African Americas at
Harvard, including Drs. Henry Louis Gates Jr., and Anthony Appiah, who
co-authored Ancarta Africana, and includes content contributed by
well-known speakers and scholars. Our mission is to empower black minds, to
inform, to bridge the digital divide, to entertain — all with a black
perspective.”
To accomplish this, the site has created partnerships in the U.S., as well
as in Africa, the Caribbean and Europe.
“Our content is truly global. We broadcast Radio Africana, which helps
people to keep in touch with where they used to live,” says Roberts. “Plus
our site provides content to educators, such as suggesting lesson plans. Our
corporate partnerships include working with Microsoft and Perseus Books in
an Adopt-A-School program, initiated by the not-for-profit Educational
Netcasting Foundation, and individual programs in which our intellectual
properties are distributed to public schools and libraries.
“We also have a diversity program in which Corporate America is invited to
have a one-on-one relationship with persons of African American descent in
the U.S.,” Roberts said. “For instance, corporations, such as CitiGroup,
which is actively involved in educational initiatives within our site, are
encouraged to contribute to funding, develop diversity programs and adapt
jobs to meet the needs of a more digitally competent minority workforce.”
One of the missions of BlackVoices.com is to work with
Fortune 1000 companies who are seeking employees.
“We have the largest postings of resumes on-site as part of a major human
resources campaign,” says Barry Cooper, founder and chief executive officer.
“We work with such prestigious firms as the FBI, Hewlett-Packard and Nextel
in posting employment opportunities on our site. Further, resumes are also
posted, which potential employers can study.”
Community involvement is another means of gaining support. “With the African
American community, nothing works better than grass roots. To stand out, you
have to understand the community you are targeting and get that community
involved, We generate civic organizations, community groups, high schools,
fraternities, colleges and alumni organizations,” he said. “In June, for
example, we have a three-day offline event in Orlando, called Summer Splash.
Those who attend will be part of a three-day vacation package in which they
can go to Disney World as part of a larger group.
“Radio has been a powerful driver in getting the word out abo
ut our
offerings,” he added. “We have had major campaigns in Atlanta, New York, Los
Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia and Washington, DC, and those have
worked very well for us.”
bet.com is a recently launched portal that
aims to attract two black segments, according to Stacey Turner, vice
president of marketing for BET Holdings Inc., the site’s parent.
“We are targeting the 18- to 24-year-old group and the 24- to 49-year olds,”
she said. “We have found that different searching habits exist between the
two. The younger group is interested in music, entertainment and community,
while the older is interested in news, health and fitness. Our marketing
plan divides up the audience and we are meeting the needs of the broad
spectrum.”
bet.com is breaking into the Internet marketplace by leveraging its existing
brand.
“We already have a name within the Black community,” Turner said. “It is
integral that we have a strong parent company. That provides leverage. We
already have brand awareness and relationships already established and we
have the capital to back us.”
Another explosive demographic for on-line growth is the Latin American
segment. According to estimates from Jupiter Communications, the number of
Latin American Internet users will rise from 5 million to more than 9
million by year’s end. Within three years, the company predicts the segment
will account for 23 million online. Further, according to GartnerGroup, the
Latin American B2B market reached $1 billion in 1999 and anticipates that
figure will leap to $124 billion in 20004.
“To date, this market has been under serviced. Hispanic marketing is one
of the fastest growing marketplaces online,” stated Lara Migliassi,
spokesperson for espanol.com. “The
site, which is in Spanish, is primarily for Hispanics in the United States.
Presently we are working on creating an English version of our product.”
Since the beginning, the site has focused on ecommerce, according to
Migliassi. “We try to offer product selections on behalf of all Hispanic
groups; the audience is diverse. For example, musical tastes among the
Hispanic segments differ, so we cater to all. We provide music, books,
videos, and DVDs,” she said. “Advertising is done through strategic
alliances, such as Telemundo. Plus we promote ourselves in Spanish-speaking
markets, such as New York, Dallas, Chicago and Los Angeles.” Focus groups
were held to establish what products attracted each segment.
latino.com is an English- and
Spanish-language site aimed at U.S.-based Hispanics between the ages of 18
and 45. “We run radio ads to establish awareness,” said Lavonne Luguis,
president and chief executive officer. “We also work with outdoor
billboards, subway advertising and banner ads.
“Right now this site is culturally relevant. We offer a job bank, job
recruiting, email, personal ads, a reader’s corner, recipes, trivia
questions with prizes and weekly chats with celebrities or politicians,” she
said. “We are looking to establish products and services within our
offerings. We are also holding an online sweepstakes where people have to
register online to participate. In addition, we send out weekly newsletters
in either English or Spanish, in HTML or plain text.
When designing Web pages for an ethnically-specific audience, it is
important to pay attention television commercials and other advertisements
that focus on that arena, advised Turodrique Fuad, creative director of
Papermedia.com, a Web design firm. “For instance, if you are marketing to
Asians, include photographs of Asian people on the site,” he recommended.
“You have to be very aware of the image you want and then you have to create
it and market it properly.”
New2USA.com has taken an innovative
approa
ch in its embrace of international online opportunities. The site
caters to newcomers to the U.S.
“We work with relocation companies and universities,” said Anton
Abunssar, director or marketing and communications. “Our content, which is
updated daily, helps to provide assistance with such tasks as getting a
phone hookup, working with motor vehicle departments in obtaining a license,
establishing a credit history or providing assistance with job hunting and
interviewing.
“Our studies have identified an aggressive purchasing trend with this
audience,” he continued. “During a pre-defined time frame, this audience
will need to purchase a home, buy a car, establish banking relationships and
more, ” he said. “To provide services, we try to give a 360-degree view of
the U.S. We have a travel and transportation section, a finance section,
immigration information, legal housing advice, health and safety tips and a
focus on education and careers. We also have a link that allows our audience
to select from 500 newspapers around the world, which helps them to feel
closer to their homes.”
