Subject: Re: using market research From: slainson@rmii.com (Suzanne Lainson) Date: Thu, 24 Oct 1996 11:20:20 -0600

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>I don't think it's a matter of niche numbers being high enough to
>attract Web publishers; just the opposite, Web publishers need to find
>niches and then attract numbers.  You can do that on the Web.  And the
>numbers needed to become profitable are far less than in the print
>world, where thousands of print niche pubs also fail every year. And,
>of course, a Web publisher need never have published anything in his
>or her life; probably better that way, because you aren't burdened by
>baggage that just doesn't apply.

Okay. Now we're getting somewhere. Going back to my skating example, I
would say that there are people out there who are interested in watching
the sport on television and are even interested in reading an article in
People about a skater, but have never read about skating on the web. Will
they ever?

We know that there are niches based on the response in other media. But how
much will we gain or lose translating that niche to the Web--both now and
in the future?

How many people want information specific to skating and how many people
prefer People where personalities in all fields are covered? Again, the
umbrella versus niche concept. Is People's niche celebrity coverage?  If we
slice and dice niches, how will we do this? Shall we just put together
sites that link the same info in different ways?

It is interesting how alternative/extreme/action sports are being packaged
as periodicals. We have periodicals covering each sport individually
(skateboarding, snowboarding, inline skating). We have periodicals covering
multiple sports (skateboarding, inline skating, and snowboarding together).
We have periodicals covering lifestyles (multiple sports plus music). And
so on.

When we look at niches, we begin to categorize interests. Will data mining
spew out enough lifestyle descriptions that advertisers will begin to
create web-sites based on consumer profiles? Once the database indicates
that there are 2000 people who use Heilmans mayonnaise, have children under
the age of five, and like StarTrek, will we get a web site for them?

Suzanne

Suzanne Lainson         SportsTrust             Integrated Marketing
slainson@rmii.com       P.O. Box 2071           Sports and Event Marketing
303 473-9884            Boulder, CO 80306       Online Marketing
For a free subscription to "Sports News You Can Use," send me an email.


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