MEDIA ZONE

THE INTERNET: MEDIUM IN NEED OF A MESSENGER

By JOE FRANGO

04-12-2000

The reign of the dotcom is upon us. And yet it is not the Internet alone that is driving dotcom fever. Prematurely proclaimed the dominant medium of the 21" century, irresistible on its own terms, the Internet is not so much an information superhighway as a one-way street in need of intersections from other media to bring business to town. Want to get the word out about your dotcom? Even the most vigorous online campaign of e-mails, animated banner ads, and pop-ups won't suffice. Cyber entrepreneurs must resort to more traditional means to reach the public.

It is interesting to note that not long ago the advent of the Internet signaled the demise of print. Now, dotcoms have discovered that one of the most effective ways to drive traffic to their sites is with print advertising campaigns. Madison Avenue is awash with venture capital funneling to it through a vast sieve of dotcom hopefuls. Dotcom direct mail, print ads, billboards, and posters proliferate across the advertising landscape.

Of course, the still-dominant medium, television, has also been a major force in shaping public consciousness of the Internet. By placing a premium on TV advertising, the dotcom have reaffirmed television's stature as the medium boasting the most cultural and commercial clout. The fact that television holds the widest audience captive makes it the arbiter of public perceptions about the Web (It is also the medium that can best simulate the interactive experience.) Sales figures for dotcom advertising on TV continue to skyrocket (1-800-Flowers.com is spending between $20 million and $30 million for its new campaign - a modest sum by today's standards), and given dotcom dependency on traditional media to promote sites, these figures can only escalate.

While much is made of "multimedia" and the inevitable integration of television and the Web - the next hi-tech horizon to be reached - it seems likely that TV will remain an independent and indispensable promotional vehicle for the Internet. Although there is technological overlap between the two media, they are fundamentally distinct. Television is passive. The Web, of course, is interactive. The appeal of each medium may be mutually exclusive.

In the process of playing a critical role in the evolution of the online medium that was "destined" to overwhelm them, traditional media often underscore their superior power and finesse. Offline campaigns purport to mimic the sites they promote, and yet the edgy allure of their online "look" often makes the sites themselves seem anticlimactic. Lured by slick ad blitzes to sites that offer everything from financial advice to pet products, the public goes online to find web pages that appear cobbled together with bargain-basement creative. Hi-tech looks suspiciously lowbrow.

This is a case not merely of advertising oversell, but of the Internet lacking the sophistication and creativity of the traditional media which promote it. Aside from nagging tech issues like credit card security and site navigability, today's web sites often bear the telltale signs of a promotional medium still in its infancy. Consequently, despite all the hype surrounding interactivity, they frequently seem primitive, clumsily conceived, even static. This is no doubt because interactive agencies, while capitalizing on the novelty of the Net, are also victims of it. The fact is that the Web lacks the history and pedigree necessary to supply enough seasoned talent to meet demand. The result is so many services, so little variation (and innovation).

And so few success stories. Eight out of ten Internet start-ups fail, and IPOs notoriously turn into IOUs for countless people in the gold rush to Silicon Valley (despite the de facto merger with Madison Avenue). Nevertheless, with their relentless barrage of print, TV, and even radio advertising, the dotcoms may be achieving an unexpected form of media dominance. They are expanding the boundaries of cyberspace beyond the Internet, invading public space to create a collective web consciousness offline as well as on. Online sales may be disappointing, the venture capitalists may be growing impatient, but public awareness of the Net is as frenzied as the NASDAQ. Amazon.com hasn't even turned a profit, but everybody knows about it. And, in a bizarre twist of the pixel-versus-print debate, it has built an empire on - books. Irony may be the essence of e-commerce.