Brand Building - Still Seeking The Fast Lane
In spite of the lessons inherent in the dot-com shakeout, startup online companies still continued to seek instant brand recognition. One company, X10.com, went from being a relatively unknown seller of home networking and security devices, to a leader in Internet traffic. Following a massive pop-up advertising campaign, X10.com went from 8.4 million visitors in March 2001 to 28 million in May 2001. That put it in Jupiter Media Metrix's top five, ahead of such e-commerce giants as Amazon.com and eBay. Critics pointed out that most of X10.com 's traffic was not voluntary; traffic counts were based on the number of people who viewed the pop-up browser window that featured the X10 ad, even if they closed it immediately. It remained to be seen if X10 could convert those visitors to customers and whether it could establish its brand by offering a sufficient level of service and community to its visitors.
FURTHER READING:
Berger, Warren. "After Ads That Shouted, Dot-Com Survivors Try Quieter, Cheaper Spots." New York Times, February 28, 2001.
Elliott, Stuart. "Betty Crocker: Can She Cook in Cyberspace?" New York Times, December 13, 2000.
Gilbert, Jennifer. "Running on Empty." Advertising Age, November 6, 2000.
Greenberg, Paul A. "Keep the Faith, Net Advertisers!" E-Commerce Times, January 15, 2001. Available from www.ecommercetimes.com.
Moon, Michael. Firebrands!: Building Brand Loyalty in the Internet Age. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional Book Group, 2000.
Pierce, Andrew, and Eric Almquist. "Brand Building May Face a Test." Advertising Age, April 9, 2001.
Regan, Keith. "What Makes a Good Online Brand Name?" E-Commerce Times, May 4, 2001. Available from www.ecommercetimes.com.
——. "The X10 Question: Traffic without Dollars?" E-Commerce Times, June 14, 2001. Available from www.ecommercetimes.com.
Strahler, Steven R. "Going to the Next Level." Crain's Chicago Business, September 18, 2000.
Sweeney, Terry. "Advertisers Seek More Bang for Their Web Bucks." InformationWeek, October 2, 2000.
"When E-Brands Fail: Building New Brand Value with Old Brand Tricks." Chief Executive (U.S.), May 2001.
User Comments Add a comment…