Subject: Re: Ads on mail lists (was Re: Internet economics) From: lasalle@iquest.net (Kim LaSalle) Date: Tue, 8 Aug 1995 18:52:59 -0600

Steve Outing's *ranting* on August 8, 1995, was a refreshing reminder of
the realities of mailing list applications and the subtle difference
between Internet and *traditional* media.

You can't jump into the Net, take a cursory look around and make
presumptions about what the media here have to offer. You put your
reputation and the reputation of your clients at risk when you do so. The
whole creative approach must be made with the knowledge that even when
you're dealing with paid advertising, you're dealing with an active
audience in an *uncontrolled* media.

Maintaining message integrity and tracking distribution is difficult. The
audience consumes, filters and often redistributes the information.

Corporate advertising is increasingly common among mailing list discussions
like these (the Inet-Marketing list is a perfect example). However, this
type of *advertising* in no way resembles what we see in magazines or on
billboards or on TV.

This isn't broadcast. This isn't print. And it doesn't stand alone anymore
than those media should when defining the media mix.

Slogans and themes, slick advertising copy, stilted media releases, etc.,
are ineffective. Unless you're actually working within the Net equivalent
of an advertising paradigm, such as the web or paid advertising within a
BBS, it can actually be counter-productive.

Leave the traditional approaches to the traditional mediums. That is where
they work.What works here is combining content-heavy information with high
audience interaction in order to move people more quickly through the sales
process.


Kim LaSalle
LaSalle Communications
810 W. 64th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46260
Phone: 01.317.259.4691
fax: 01.317.259.0024 (call first)

lasalle@iquest.net
Author of "Life In Cyberspace"



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End of online-news-digest V1 #278
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