The following article appeared within a sponsored supplement to Strategy:
Canadians embrace the Internet
Whether you’re ready for it or not, you’re now a citizen of the Global Village.
It is a world which never sleeps, and never stops changing. It is an expanding network of opportunities – a world-wide evolution brought on by technology – and it’s here to stay.
Across the globe, there are currently more than twenty-three million households connected to the World Wide Web. That figure is estimated to grow to more than sixty million by the year 2000. The impact of that level of interconnection cannot begin to be calculated.
Here at home, Canadians are helping to lead the way into this new world. We have received this new technology into our homes like few other nations have. The statistics reveal that computer and Internet technology is infusing itself into our daily routine. More than 40% of Canadian homes have personal computers. Almost seven million Canadians – 23% – currently have Internet access, and another 15% will have it by the end of this year. More than one out of every three Canadians will be online by the end of 1997. (Source: Angus Reid, 1996)
Online activity is not only growing exponentially, it is also starting to cut into the time Canadians spend with more traditional forms of media. Fifty-eight percent of Internet users watch less television since they linked themselves to the limitless world of information and communication available to them on the Net. The Internet is not just a passive medium. It can connect you to the world. (Source: Jupiter Communications, 1997)
Given all this information, businesses have an important decision to make: do they stay on the sidelines and wait to see how it all turns out, or do they get in on the ground floor and make the most of the opportunities opening up before them? The smart money is getting into the loop now, and learning all the ways this new medium can help make their business that much more successful, that much more involved with their customers.
Canadians are leaders in this new medium. According to a CommerceNet/Neilson survey conducted in March of this year, 53% of Internet users in Canada had used information they had found on the Internet to make a decision about a purchase. More than 15% went on to carry out that transaction over the Web. Consumers have turned on to this medium already. It’s now up to business to catch up.
Fast Fact
The Sympatico Service: Canada’s largest Internet Online service
In the first year of operation, the Sympatico service has become the number one Internet service provider to Canadians. Internet access for Sympatico members is available in both French and English, in every province and in both territories of Canada. Across the nation, there are more than 250,000 member households currently connected, with an average of two users per household. That number is growing at an average rate of approximately 15,000 new member households each month.
The Sympatico Web site is available to all Internet users. Almost 15% of traffic to the Web site are by non-members looking to take advantage of the excellent material and guidance the Sympatico site offers online. This is a service that lives up to its slogan: ‘Sympatico, The Internet Service for Everyone.’
By The Numbers
Sympatico Members Are:
Converging
58% are Male, 42% Female
– 46% of new users are female
Established
60% are aged 25 – 49
Educated
52% hold a University degree
Affluent
53% have a household income of $51,000 or more
Interested
98% use the Web for personal use
Connected
51% use the Web for business and personal reasons
Committed
53% spend 25 or more hours per month online
(Source: Angus Reid, 1996 & MediaLinx)
The Sympatico service speaks volumes
– The number of Sympatico households in Canada – 250,000
– The average number of users per household – 2
– The Sympatico service is growing at the rate of approximately 15,000 households per month
– The Sympatico Home Page alone receives more than 1.5 million page views per week
– HealthyWay hosts 275,000 page views every month
– The entire Sympatico Web site is currently receiving more than 3.5 million page views per week
– The Canada411 directory receives more than a million page views weekly
The Sympatico Service: Canada’s guide to the Internet
This boundless electronic world is very much a reflection of the real world we live in. It’s a teeming place, full of activity and opportunity. It’s common for a novice, or even the more experienced user, to get lost in the endless mazes of connections and links.
There is a common misconception about the Internet some new users fall prey to. The Internet is not a television set with millions of channels. It d’esn’t just present you with information. You ask for information you want. But, without a destination in mind, instead of discovering the untapped wonders of the Global Village, users will spend a lot of time staring at a grey screen wondering what all the fuss was about. It’s important, therefore, that people have a resource they can look to for guidance, to help them adapt to the new medium and teach them how to make the most out of it.
‘A lot of people have had a frustrating introduction to the Net,’ says Scott Remborg, Senior Vice President, Internet, at MediaLinx Interactive, Limited Partnership. ‘You’re thrown some software, and you get on. Your introduction can be very broad – it all depends on who took you there. If you get taken by the right organization, we believe that you will find something compelling for you.’
The Sympatico service wants to help you unearth the world of information and opportunity available on the Web, and that starts by helping you find your feet – electronically, that is. The Internet is an evolving, kinetic medium, and a lot of people on it want to feel that they belong somewhere. They want a place where they’re surrounded by others who share a common understanding of the massive world which modern electronics has suddenly opened up for them. ‘The Internet has a huge value in being global, but all of us have a sense of belonging to something much smaller,’ says Remborg. ‘That smallness d’esn’t necessarily have to be geographical, although there is going to be a geographical, language element to a lot of it. But, it’s more than that. The Sympatico service, being Canadian, makes people feel a little more comfortable. We’re creating a home for Canadians online. The Internet is huge. Our role is to create that sense of place for Canadians.’
The Sympatico site is a Canadian community, or more accurately, a community of communities. It acts as a home base from which members can begin their sojourns onto the Web. The Sympatico home page is that base. It’s deceptively calm, considering the amount of activity and wealth of knowledge it plays host to. Logging on at www.sympatico.ca is like dropping into the organized chaos of a carnival. There is so much to see and do, and it’s all right there in a single locale, ready for you to take advantage of it at your leisure.
Front and centre on the Sympatico home page are features which change daily. The topics presented reflect the news-making headlines that day, or broader issues that are capturing the interest of Canadians. It’s more than just editorial, it’s informative and interactive, with links to Internet sites that allow you to further explore the subject matter that you find compelling. Currently, the features focus on everything from the federal election to Hockey playoff coverage. There have also been features on less news-driven subjects such as Mother’s Day and Easter, for example. The central focus is always on providing an informative and interesting blend of topics that will appeal to a wide range of people.
For visitors who just want the facts, NewsExpress reports the headlines, and offers links to major Canadian news providers who continue the story in more depth. There is weather provided by The Weather Network, offered to you for your location specifically when you log on as a member. Canada411 is also an incredible service – a searchable electronic telephone directory, with more than ten million Canadian listings for both businesses and individuals.
There is no shortage of attractions to keep you better informed and continuously entertained. Robin Armstrong’s horoscopes are updated daily. To help you plan your time away from the computer, there is a feature called Around Town, with plenty of local information on events and activities. The Sympatico site is also the home to the Web versions of Canadian Living magazine as well as Sympatico Netlife magazine, TV Guide Live, Canadian Gardening and Snow G’er.
HealthyWay has become an integral part of the Sympatico Web site. It is a storehouse of medical-and health-related information, and it also offers tips on keeping healthy and staying fit. HealthyWay’s more popular features include the more than eight thousand links to medical and health-related sites on the Web, discussion forums and online magazines.
There are more than 75 moderated and hosted discussion forums on the Sympatico Web site. They allow visitors the opportunity to express their opinions, or to ask questions of the thousands of people who pass through the site every hour. The forums cover the full gamut of interests, from gardening to sports, from Body and Soul to The Gripevine – a place where people can share their workplace gripes with the rest of the world.
The Sympatico site also offers a world of online entertainment and learning for kids. ‘Kids Only’ is exactly that, a place for kids to have fun and be as silly as they want to be. Unlike some of their parents, children have no problem interacting over the Web. This area is an excellent and controlled environment to introduce them to the medium. There are plenty of discussion forums for kids to take part in, as well as a link to Kids Help Phone and Bell Online, an online service that helps kids in distress find answers and communicate with each other. It is also a service that MediaLinx helps support.
No list could completely cover the business, leisure and information areas which are accessible through the Sympatico home page. The site is expansive, offering something for any visitor who enters it, and Canadians are proving this by showing up in large numbers.
There is very much a sense of community on the Sympatico site, even if it is virtual. It’s a very busy place, and serves as home and friendly refuge to many Canadians. The entire site receives more than fifteen million page views a month. Each week, it hosts more than three and a half million page views – pages accessed by visitors, who come by to catch up on what’s new and see what’s happening on the site. Some of the services are especially popular. Canada411 receives more than one million page views every week. The ever-expanding HealthyWay area sees more than 275,000 page views every month, a figure which is growing as fast as the area itself. The Sympatico site is a thriving community.
There are perhaps two lesser-known reasons for the site’s incredible success, besides the excellent material it offers to Canadians on a regular basis. Both have their foundation in the fact that the Sympatico service is a partnership between MediaLinx and twelve telecommunications companies from across the country (please see ‘Building On Solid Foundations’). Because of this connection, the Sympatico name brings an important element of brand equity along with it. The partnership allows Sympatico members to feel confident in the fact that their service will be as reliable as the service the telecommunications companies have historically provided them with. Canadians have grown to trust in this service. We take it for granted that we are always going to get a dial tone when we lift the receiver. That history of reliability makes for a solid foundation of trust which the community atmosphere of the Sympatico site is built on.
That trust also extends to the tone which the Sympatico site provides for its visitors. Users can be confident in the fact that this is an environment suitable for all members of the family.
Jane Minett, the site’s Executive Producer, best describes the positioning and reason for the success of the service. ‘There is a Canadian identity, and I think Canadians are really relating to the service we provide. The World Wide Web is open, but thousands of Canadians are choosing to stay within the context of the Sympatico site. It’s not ‘Canadiana’. It’s framed with the Canadian spirit.’
Background: Building on Solid Foundations
To grow and thrive, it’s important for any business to have solid roots. The Sympatico online service definitely has both. The service is a joint effort between MediaLinx Interactive, Limited Partnership and twelve local telecommunications partners throughout Canada. When it was first launched on November 29, 1995, the Sympatico site was available to consumers in Ontario and Quebec. The service has grown since that time and is now available in every province and territory in Canada. In one and a half years, twelve telecommunications companies from every region of Canada. With the addition of NorthwesTel in November of last year, the Sympatico service is now available to Canadians from coast to coast to coast.
The Sympatico partnership includes MediaLinx and:
There are four ‘pillars’ which make the Sympatico service possible. Each regional telecommunications company is responsible for connectivity – delivering the service into homes across the country – and providing member support services, including around the clock toll-free support in some regions.
MediaLinx’ responsibility lies in creating and maintaining the Sympatico Web site, as well as designing the software required to make it happen. MediaLinx makes all the creative decisions for the Sympatico site, choosing what material g’es online, and the manner in which it is presented.
This close association between MediaLinx and the telecommunications companies ensures a solid, trustworthy foundation for the site. The Sympatico site represents a long-term commitment on the part of all parties involved, to explore both the technology which makes the World Wide Web possible, and the galaxy of information and communication which it opens up to Canadians.
In addition to the trust the participation generates, the regional telecommunication companies bring other benefits to Sympatico members. With the explosion of the Net’s popularity, some servers were overwhelmed by the flood of traffic. Sympatico’s servers are regional, handling the member load for each province and territory independently. The regionalisation of the service reduces the chance for a busy signal and delayed log on time and gives members access to local support.
To Canadians, this solid partnership means their online experience will be as entertaining and informative as it is reliable.
Why should a business go online?
A company which is reluctant to assume some kind of role in the online community is failing to understand the potential benefits of reaching out to customers over the Internet. Certainly, an argument can be made for the effectiveness of traditional media. Television, radio and print have become effective communications tools, however marketing through these media evolved slowly over time until it became what we’re familiar with today. It wasn’t that long ago that commercial breaks were just short pitches read by program announcers. That’s quite a distance from the hour-long infomercials which have now become commonplace on television.
The Internet hold-outs claim that the medium is untried and still uncertain. Why should advertisers take a risk and dedicate resources to a medium which is only a few years old? Without question, the mass media was, and still is, an effective tool, but this electronic medium offers opportunities its forbearers couldn’t dream of.
It has taken a number of years, but Canadian advertisers are beginning to acknowledge the advantages this medium offers. According to Darin Brown, Director of the Interactive Group at Leo Burnett, advertisers are starting to turn onto it in larger and larger numbers. ‘They’re very much committed to it now. The last two years have been the Web’s shake down. In many ways we’re about a year and a half behind the U.S. in terms of acceptance. We have similar penetration numbers, both in households that have a computer and households that are on the Net, but because the U.S. economies of scale are ten-fold, they tend to be willing to experiment more with discretionary funds. A couple of hundred thousand dollars to do a Web program is peanuts to them, but it’s a huge chunk of money to a Canadian advertiser. Canadian advertisers were initially much more reticent to jump on and just experiment. They wanted to learn and get educated first. Because we now have a number of case studies that have proven it to be very successful, I think they’re seeing that it can be a very viable, powerful medium.’
The Internet is a powerful medium for advertisers, and the size and scope to which it has grown has proven that it will have considerable endurance and value well into the future. The Internet is changing the advertising paradigm to an incredible degree, because it has remarkable advantages over traditional media.
Interactivity is the key to the whole medium. Not only can you deliver a message, you can invite the consumer to respond to it, with an immediacy which no other medium can offer. You can provide your customers with as much information as you feel is necessary, or you can give them an opportunity to tell you about themselves. The medium makes one-to-one communication possible.
With that level of interactivity possible, the Web is really a transaction medium. You can buy and sell on the Web. You can move money, purchase items or arrange for services from, or to, anywhere in the world. That’s a claim no other medium can make. The Internet gives you the opportunity to speak to your audience, but then takes the level of interaction one step further. It allows you the ability to close the sale right then and there.
Unlike mass media, your presence on the Internet is unlimited. Television and radio only allow you thirty seconds to pitch your message. Print is confined by the edges of the page, and the two dimensions of the medium. The level of interaction you can generate online is limited only by the amount of interaction your visitor wants to take part in. Gary Anderson, General Manager, Internet Business Development at MediaLinx, points out that both sides really benefit from the medium. ‘From the advertiser’s perspective, he gets to display as much information as he wants about his product or service. From a consumer’s point of view, he can get as much information as he wants, without limitations.’ Being online means you can deliver your message to your customers, when they want it, day or night, to any degree. The electronic media is only confined by your commitment to it.
The interaction with your customers is completely monitorable, giving you a greater feel for the return you’re getting on your online investment. You get feedback on your venture in real-time. ‘From an advertiser’s perspective, this is the most measurable medium they have,’ points out Anderson. ‘You can tell an advertiser that a particular ad was seen a certain amount of times. There’s no guesswork involved.’ That degree of accuracy is important because this medium is being forced to prove itself far more than television or other forms of mass media ever were. Technology makes the figures available to the advertiser in a concrete form. The ability to tell exactly how many people were exposed to your advertisement gives you an instant indication of the viability of your efforts online.
The World Wide Web provides the most effective targetting tool made available to advertisers yet. Target marketing is the accepted next step in the evolution of how business will relate to their customers. Largely dependent on the recent accessibility of affordable and fast computers, targetting puts the power of the database in the hands of the advertiser, allowing them to fine tune their campaigns so they can focus specifically. That gives them the opportunity to build effective acquisition or retention campaigns, whatever their needs might be.
The Internet provides the best tool for targetting because the Web is a medium which allows advertisers to speak to their consumers on a one-to-one basis. It’s more than a high-tech form of what is already available in mass media, although it is capable of delivering the message to entire populations of people efficiently. Used more effectively, however, it is a tool which allows you to get the attention of your customers as individuals, and offer your message to them in a form they will understand and can appreciate.
An online effort is especially successful when it is made in conjunction with efforts in traditional media. A Web presence can augment a campaign, becoming the final destination for consumers who are interested in your product. ‘They wouldn’t come and visit us unless they had some kind of interest in what we were offering,’ says Darin Brown of Leo Burnett. ‘We know people in Canada are not finding our sites through search engines. If you ever go to a search engine and type something, you get ten thousand possible entries. So, we really know the traffic is coming from the address we put on our traditional advertising.’ Once consumers make it to that final online destination, advertisers have a limitless opportunity to make the most of that contact. The Internet provides the medium which can deliver a message of any length or scope.
Canadian advertisers are coming to the conclusion that the Net isn’t just another place to blindly shout their ads at consumers. It’s a communication medium, it’s an information medium, and most importantly for them, it’s a transaction medium. Online, they can virtually sit down with their customers one-to-one and find out what they’re thinking.
Case study: Making Music for Marketers on the Net
Some companies have already taken the plunge and are finding an eager and receptive audience online. Beginning last February, Sony Music Entertainment, Music World, and the Sympatico Web site launched a joint promotion to advertise Canadian recording artists on the Net.
A micro-site, a dedicated three-page block of space, was established within the Sympatico Web site for a twelve week promotion, linked to and occasionally promoted from the home page. Every week in this area, Sony features a new Canadian artist, with facts and bios introducing them to online Canadians. Taking full advantage of the medium, surfers are also given the chance to hear a complete song from the album through their Internet connection. The songs are changed daily, ensuring that interest remains high through the whole week of the artist’s promotion.
On a separate part of the micro-site, there are coupons which offer varying discounts toward product featured at Music World. Like the featured artist, these change weekly, and they accommodate a wide variety of musical tastes. Sympatico members only have to print the virtual coupons off to take advantage of them. They can be redeemed at any Music World store.
The promotion has been an overwhelming success for all three parties. Sony Music Entertainment promotes their artists, and gets the added shelf space the promotion ensures in the retail stores. Music World benefits from online promotion, and gains from the sales the virtual coupons bring to their outlets, and the Sympatico site sees an increase in daily traffic as fans drop by to listen to new songs and explore the area.
Ken Schäfer, Director of the Consumer Technology Group at Sony Music Entertainment, is extremely happy with the results of the promotion so far, and definitely plans to take advantage of the medium again. ‘Working with Sympatico allowed us to reach a large Canadian audience quickly and cost-effectively. We decided to tie in one of our national retail partners and therefore needed a way to reach a broad national audience. Sympatico was our first choice. The results were increased awareness for our artists, the retailer, and most importantly, a measurable increase in sales.’
Content sites like these are where Schäfer believes promotions are headed. Online promotions provide whole new areas of opportunity for Sony and their artists, and developing marketing strategies for this new medium is a major part of their focus. They have a dedicated six person team looking for opportunities, trying to find ways to use this new medium to get consumer attention.
Judging by the results so far, they may have found one.
What the Sympatico service offers
‘Everything in the Internet world is happening at a much faster clip than anything any technology industry has seen previously,’ says Scott Remborg, MediaLinx Senior Vice President, Internet. ‘The growth of the Internet itself has taken off since 1984. It’s grown from essentially zero to fifteen percent in terms of households in that short period of time.’ Cycles on the World Wide Web race at the same break-neck speed as the technology which made it possible. According to Remborg, companies who don’t get involved now are going to be left behind. ‘To sit back and wait is absolutely ludicrous.’
The Web is an interesting paradox in that its most notable advantage also seems to be its most notable liability. It’s all uncharted territory waiting to be claimed. Far too many companies are tying themselves into knots trying to define it in terms of other media they have more experience with, instead of looking at it as an independent field of opportunity. Remborg sees this approach as a big problem. ‘This medium has so many characteristics that are unique to it. There’s a lot of talk about television and channels, and I think this is a total misrepresentation of what it is about. I think it causes people to think of it as television – and the common reaction is understandable. ‘Well, I’ve already got a television.’ This medium has its own characteristics, and that’s really what’s going to make this thing happen. Television was not radio with pictures. It’s a totally different medium than radio. It also hasn’t displaced radio. Neither radio nor television has displaced print media. The Internet will not displace them either. It will complement them.’
The Internet is another avenue available to companies who want to open a dialogue with their consumers. Realizing this, many advertisers have been scrambling to build a Web site in order to have a presence on the Net, but presence isn’t enough. The Internet isn’t a place for corporate brochures, it’s a place to open a franchise, build a new store, or create a massive outlet.
Just as much thought should go into every company’s foray into the electronic world as g’es into choosing a site for another store or factory. The Internet offers a chance to build presence in the marketplace, in the same manner a well placed retail outlet can build presence in the real world. Gary Anderson, General Manager of Business Development on the Internet for MediaLinx, tries to put it in terms most corporations will understand: ‘It’s not good enough to have a Web site. You have to put it on a busy street corner in the right neighbourhood – and that’s what the Sympatico site provides. People open their businesses and put them in very specific locations based on the demographics and volume of consumers they want to reach. There’s a reason why they put them in a mall or on a street corner: They want to be seen. They want to be where the consumers go. Where do the consumers go on the Internet? They go to specific destinations that provide them with the environment they seek.’
The Sympatico site is that kind of a destination. It is a community. It’s a place where people gather – in the hundreds of thousands. That scale of service potential is something no retail outlet could offer. In its own way, it’s comparable to the town square in the days of the horse and carriage. ‘It’s where people come to get information,’ says Anderson. ‘It’s where they come to see what’s new, what’s going on. It’s where they get a Canadian perspective on things.’ Advertisers have an opportunity to take part in an environment that will expose their message to thousands upon thousands of Canadians every week.
The Web environment is a demanding one in that it encourages you to present your message to individuals in an interactive setting. You have to be able to make the most out of what the medium offers, and that takes specific skills. According to Darin Brown, Director of the Interactive Group at Leo Burnett, those skills are available to advertisers who are willing to make the commitment an online presence demands. Leo Burnett has been actively exploring this medium for over two years, almost as long as it has been a viable medium for business, and can speak with some authority. ‘You have to have the skills of an entertainer, because you’re now asking people to visit you,’ says Brown. ‘You need the skills of a marketer and advertiser, because you have to marry the needs of the consumer with the needs of the brand. You need the knowledge of direct response in order to close the sale.’ It’s a demanding environment, which requires some degree of flexibility so that individual marketers can reach different people in a variety of ways.
Flexibility is the key to the advertising philosophy embraced on the Sympatico Web site. Advertisers are given a choice in both the degree to which they want to become involved in the medium, and the manner in which they choose to communicate their message. Because every product and service is unique, the Sympatico site offers advertisers a choice of what direction their online commitment will take. The Sympatico Web site allows them to make as large, or as small, a commitment as they feel is necessary to help build brand value in a meaningful way.
The simplest way advertisers can make their presence known on the Sympatico Web site is through buttons and banners which can be placed throughout the site. They are the most prevalent form of advertising currently being used by advertisers online. For companies that are not already on the Web, they act as electronic billboards, advertising products and services to the hundreds of thousands of people who pass through the site on a daily basis. Businesses who already have a presence on the Web can use buttons and banners to link from the Sympatico site to their own Web sites, allowing traffic to flow with the click of a mouse. It’s an excellent way to build awareness of your site by taking advantage of the huge number of visitors on the Sympatico site. Buttons and banners are a simple and cost-effective way to build awareness, as well as generate new leads with customers who otherwise might not have visited your site.
A step up from simply establishing a basic presence online is using the Web as a tool to build the perceived value of your brand. A sponsorship of one or more of the many areas on the Sympatico site is an excellent opportunity to do this. Sponsorship gives category-exclusive ownership of the content of that portion of the site. Your company can link their brand to a piece of the financial section, or to a part of the sports or entertainment area, whatever helps to drive your message and create a sense of value in the viewer’s minds.
A sponsorship is also available for any of the special features, such as the recent Mother’s Day feature, or within the 75 or more forums which find a home on the Sympatico site. Contained within that sponsored area can be a number of your company’s banners, and links to your Web site. A credit card provider could sponsor a travel section, for example, with links to their own Web site, or if so inclined, to major airline partners or hotel chains. This level of participation on the Web allows you to build an enduring presence, and link your name with a service or source of information Sympatico members already trust and value.
Beyond the sponsorship stage, advertisers can take a more integral role in the presentation of their information through the concept of content co-branding. Content co-branding allows an advertiser to build content, incorporating their image and message with the Sympatico look and feel. It gives them the opportunity to have input on the look of their designated space, from the content of the editorial, to the graphics and interactive elements which support it. Content co-branding is the next step in the evolution of the advertorial. Not only is it a chance to tailor your message to a specific, targetted audience, it is a chance to accumulate responses, collect information, and take full advantage of the Internet as a transaction medium.
The Sympatico Web site can also play host to a micro-site for your company which is then promoted through the placement of banners and buttons at various strategic locations within the Sympatico site. For advertisers who already have a location online, a micro-site can be established within the context of the Sympatico site to promote a special occasion, or build awareness around a certain product or service. Such an area can be used to deliver a promotion, either as an aspect of a multi-dimensional advertising effort, or as an individual, stand-alone advertisement. It allows you to focus your customer attention on a certain product or service for a defined period of time, or to a degree for which normal media would not allow.
For those not on the Web, a micro-site would allow a company to build a presence on the Web without having to commit huge amounts of resources to establishing and maintaining it.
Ideally, an advertiser who is trying to build a name for themselves online will take advantage of all the opportunities the Sympatico site offers. One such company, Cadbury, combined several of the options available to them for a recent campaign. Cadbury used both a banner on the Sympatico home page, and another placed within the special Easter feature, to establish a presence for their holiday Web site.
Earlier in the planning, Cadbury had identified an opportunity for themselves to get a larger share of the Easter-morning chocolate segment. Strangely enough, that opportunity presented itself because research had shown that parents were looking for a story to tell their kids about the Easter Bunny. Children all over the country had gone to their parents asking questions about this mysterious holiday icon, but parents could only flounder for answers. There wasn’t a familiar enough tale connected to the holiday.
The Interactive Group at Leo Burnett came up with the ‘Land of Cadbury’ Web site. It was a completely interactive area, with games and puzzles for the kids, and recipes and activities for parents planning Easter celebrations. It offered a chance for children to e-mail their questions and comments to the Great Bunny directly. Best of all, it gave kids the story they wanted, and parents the reprieve they needed. The Web site also allowed kids to keep up on the progress of the Great Bunny’s tour of Canada, something Cadbury arranged to enhance awareness of the site and the product.
Even though Leo Burnett has had years of experience online, visits to the site were double the figure they expected. The amount of e-mail sent to the Great Bunny was staggering. Mixed in with those messages from children and parents from all over the country were questions about where the featured Cadbury products were available, and how soon they were going to appear in local outlets which had run out.
The effort brought Cadbury into the homes of Canadians all across the country in a way that was meaningful for both advertiser and consumer. A national scope gives the Sympatico site an advantage over some other online providers. The Sympatico service is available from coast to coast to coast. No other online service can bring you the complete coverage it offers. Your message can be shown to all, or individual parts of the country, in either French or English.
The Sympatico site gives companies more than just opportunities to advertise, it also offers advertisers accountability, and assurance that their message is getting to the target audience for which it is intended. To make the medium even more attractive to advertisers, MediaLinx has improved the way in which ads are tracked on the Sympatico site. An intricate network of measurement tools, which can immediately indicate exactly how many people have seen a particular advertisement will allow MediaLinx to provide traffic reports to the companies that invest in this medium. They have also installed ad placement software which enables advertisers to maximize the visibility of their ads and attain the reach advertisers request. As well, the Sympatico team is planning to employ an outside firm to perform continual audits of traffic to the sites as well as the reach and exposure figures for advertisers on the site – even though recent independent audits have verified the accuracy of their numbers. The goal is to make advertisers as comfortable and confident within the medium as possible.
The new way of thinking about marketing that the Internet represents is going to be troublesome for some advertisers. The terms which describe it and the technology which makes it possible are not widely understood. Inevitably, there is going to be an adjustment period during which learning will take place. In many ways, companies that are looking to the World Wide Web are exactly like the individuals who are using it. ‘There was a first wave of people who signed up and they were technically savvy,’ describes Executive Producer, Jane Minett. ‘But then there’s this huge second wave of people. The vast majority of people on the Sympatico service now have never been on an online service before. One of the things which they said loud and clear is that the whole area is confusing. They said: ‘We’re not dumb, we just don’t know’. They feel as though they’re at a disadvantage, like they could be taken advantage of by someone they don’t quite trust. I think people feel their phone company will give them a good experience. There’s a sense of trust.’
The Sympatico service is one which advertisers can trust as well. They can trust it to be a medium which will give them the best online experience, and they can count on it to help them make the most of their presence on the Web.
Publishing: Sympatico Netlife
The size and complexity of the World Wide Web is overwhelming for many people. Anyone who has used a Net search engine to find specific information knows what an endless maze the Web can be. Sympatico Netlife is a life preserver to users drowning in a sea of information. Sympatico Netlife magazine is a joint venture between Telemedia Publishing and MediaLinx, whose goal is to enhance the online experience for the individual, whether he or she is new to the Web or a seasoned surfer.
‘We believe Netlife is a welcome companion for both novices and experienced users alike, who are trying to get the most out of the new medium,’ says Barb Warren, Associate Publisher, Sympatico Netlife.
Novices can find features which introduce them to the medium, ranging from how to use e-mail to explaining what chat groups are, and how to participate in them. The focus is on practical applications, rather than technical gobbledygook that has little meaning for the everyday user.
For more experienced Net users, the magazine is also a guide to what’s happening on the Web. The magazine rates sites, so readers can avoid bad ones and have easy access to outstanding ones – in a variety of categories, ranging from Arts and Literature to Science and Technology. Each site gets a rating out of five stars, where one star is a recommendation and five stars is a site of superior merit. Readers know they shouldn’t waste their time with sites that are marked as ‘cobwebs’. ‘We do a lot of work for the readers up front’, explains Warren, ‘reducing to an absolute minimum the amount of time they have to spend doing frustrating searches.’
Sympatico Netlife also has an online companion site at The staff at Sympatico Netlife also practices what it preaches. The magazine operates in a virtual office. It has a small home base inside Telemedia, but otherwise the staff interacts electronically from their home offices across the country, sending stories and layouts by e-mail and direct file transfers over ISDN lines. They have a first-hand understanding of what it takes to do business over the Web, putting them in a strong position to help frustrated Internet users. Their disparate geographical locations also lets them keep their fingers on the pulse of what’s happening in each region of the country. Even with its unorthodox structure, the magazine has quickly become a Canadian publishing success story. Sympatico Netlife launched last September with a circulation of eighty thousand, and now, only five issues later, has topped one hundred and seventy thousand, seeing an increase of approximately thirty thousand homes per issue. ‘Advertisers have quickly embraced Sympatico Netlife and its exclusive ability to communicate intimately with Canada’s wired homes,’ says Warren. Clients such as Kodak, General Motors, Canada Trust and Motorola have already taken advantage of the publication’s unique position in the market. Warren believes the average Internet user is a highly desirable consumer for any advertiser. ‘Sympatico Netlife delivers well-educated, affluent consumers who are also exploring the Internet. We can talk to this exclusive audience in a medium that is comfortable, trusted and well-respected by both the reader and the advertiser.’ Sympatico Netlife is part of a package offered to Sympatico members across the country. It is also available on national newsstands or by subscription. Obviously, thousands are learning that Netlife is the best place to find out what’s online before they log on. The years to come ‘The rate at which technology changes is very very high, but the rate of adoption of technology is very low. Because the rate of change in technology is so rapid, people tend to over-emphasize the amount of impact it will have on society in the short run. The impact, I would argue, is overestimated in the short term, and underestimated in the long term. The impact this technology will be responsible for in the long term will be far greater than we give it credit for today.’ Scott Remborg, Senior Vice President, Internet, MediaLinx. The turn of the century is fast approaching, and the rate at which our world is evolving is accelerating. The Global Village is becoming a more pervasive reality with each day that passes, leaving us to cope with whatever growing pains that advancement might entail. There is little doubt the virtual world of the Internet is going to become an increasingly important place for us in the next few years. The question is, what kind of place will the Internet be in the new century and what will it mean to our lives? The most obvious answers are: busy and pervasive. As people scramble to get on the Net, the World Wide Web is going to become even more hectic than it is now. Growth on a world-wide basis is expected to climb from twenty-three million connected households to more than sixty million by the turn of the century. Multiply that by an average of two or three users per household and you can get an idea of the massive global venue the Web is going to become. Advertising revenues alone are expected to top five billion dollars by the turn of the century. Transaction revenues are forecasted to grow to almost half a billion dollars.* The Web is expected to become an ever-increasing source of business for companies, and therefore it will demand larger and more concerted investment efforts. Many people who study the growth of the medium compare the stage we find ourselves in now to the sudden expansion of television in the forties and fifties. Right now, we’re still putting up the poles and broadcasting towers, we haven’t even begun to tap into the wealth of opportunity the medium will reveal, or understand what the technology will become. (*Source: Jupiter Communications, 1997) Canadians have been world leaders in the acceptance of this technology to this point, and they will continue to be in the future. The indicators for potentially explosive Internet growth here at home is also evident. ‘More than 10% of Canadian homes are on the Net today,’ says Scott Remborg. ‘They subscribe to some kind of online service. About 20% of homes are already equipped for the Internet, meaning they have a personal computer and a modem. So, only half the potential is on the Net. More than 40% of Canadian homes have a personal computer, so only about a quarter of those Canadian homes are on the Net now.’ There is a realistic chance that here in Canada, our small share of the World Wide Web will find itself coping with four times the traffic it is currently experiencing. Millions of Canadian homes are going to be online, carrying the traffic of several million users. For a country the size of Canada, that’s a large percentage of the population who will be conducting business electronically and making use of online time. The Sympatico site is making sure it can provide a service to those potential users by expanding its access wherever possible. As of April 1997, the Sympatico service was available for Macintosh as well as PC users, in both French and English. One of the driving factors behind this growth is the increasing availability and affordability of the technology required to get online. There are many agencies, government and private, who are offering incentives for people to get caught up, and help them stake out their own place in the evolving marketplace. Recently, the governments of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, along with the major banks in those provinces, started a program to help people buy home computers. The banks offered loans to buyers at reduced interest rates, and the government waived the sales tax on the hardware. The first time the program was offered in New Brunswick, ten thousand people took advantage of it, and it’s likely to be repeated again this year. The success of the program demonstrates how technology we once thought was revolutionary is becoming increasingly mainstream. As the world gets more and more dependant on electronic information exchange, an increasing number of people will feel the need to get connected. As lightening-fast as this medium is now, it’s only going to get faster. Not only is accessibility steadily improving with faster modems – U.S. Robotics recently introduced x2 technology and the Sportster 56K modem, nearly doubling the rate at which users can interact online but the technology to take advantage of the steady flow of data is developing exponentially as well. Real-time video is only a few years away, brought on by faster modem transfer rates and increased processor speeds. That will open a whole new world of multimedia for the Internet user, and greatly increase the potential for interactive activities. Sympatico members are ready for these enhancements to technology. Our recent survey showed that even though approximately fifty percent of the members are using 28.8 modems, almost twenty-five percent indicated interest in faster access. The evolution of technological sophistication is definitely something the Sympatico team is working towards. It will enable them to take the next step in online service: adding personalization to the Web site. Members will be able to fashion a version of the Sympatico home page to accommodate their taste. Whether that means strictly sports, or news, or a combination of features, every individual will be able to build their own preferences into their online experience through the Sympatico site. Not only will it be advantageous for members to personalize the site to their taste – to save transfer time and get right to what they want – it will also be a huge advantage for advertisers, allowing them the opportunity to target that much more accurately. It’s difficult to say with certainty what the next ten years will bring for the Internet. It’s a medium which has yet to be defined, either by the experts or the everyday users. The only thing which can be said with certainty is that it is going to be the communications medium for the next century. ‘I think the reason why a lot of people are getting online is that they understand it is going to be the future for their kids,’ states Jane Minett, Executive Producer. ‘They don’t know what that means exactly, but they know that whatever this whole technological revolution is about, it’s going to be front row centre for their kids, and they better get on it.’ Net Site Profile: HealthyWay HealthyWay is a gateway to a world of medical and health information with a distinctly Canadian perspective. HealthyWay is a massive storehouse of information for both caregivers and the average consumer who wants to become more knowledgeable about their health. It’s another perfect example of how the Sympatico site offers visitors the opportunity to make the most out of the medium in a meaningful way. Most people won’t go near their doctor unless there’s something wrong, but you don’t have to be sick to visit HealthyWay. There are features in this area which will appeal to any visitor. While anyone who is suffering will undoubtably find this little corner of the Net full of invaluable information, it’s also the perfect resource for those who are healthy and want to stay that way. There is useful information on healthy eating, keeping fit, coping with disabilities, addictions, or exploring alternative medicines, to name only a few. There’s even a place for people to ask questions with anonymity, or participate in a number of hosted discussion groups. One of the most impressive features of this part of the Sympatico site is the directory of links which have been compiled there. HealthyWay offers users an opportunity to take full advantage of over eight thousand links to medical and health related sites around the Web. It’s a constantly expanding resource, with about two hundred new links being added each month. Incredibly, almost half the sites are rated for the information they provide, ensuring users get right to the data they need quickly, without wasting any online time. Obviously, that warehouse of information has to be organized in a way in which visitors will be able to make some sense of it. Users can locate the information they require through an A to Z index, a site map, a directory, or through the Body Human – just point and click where it hurts. Instantly, they’re taken to the listing of Web sites, news groups or FAQs that have the data they need. MediaLinx has also licenced the GlobalMedic Check-Up and Encyclopaedia. It’s an interactive health information tool that allows Sympatico members a chance to access an expert system linked to medical databases, and validated by Canadian doctors. The system can offer personalized suggestions based on symptoms, and propose lines of action, whether that be more research, or an immediate trip to the doctor. Sonja Halvorson, Development Manager of HealthyWay, describes the purpose of her area as to ‘bring health consumers into the loop, so that they can play an active role in their own health.’ The goal is to create an educated consumer who approaches their care team informed, and confident in their ability to participate in the decision making process. Her team is comprised of members who have more than eighty years of cumulative health experience, and who can apply that knowledge to helping visitors to the site. HealthyWay is more than just a reference tool. It has games and quizzes for young and old, a community calendar, a newsstand containing HealthyWay magazine and the Health Journal, as well as links to other health and wellness magazines. There are healthy recipes to try and a wealth of nutritional information. The site offers several interactive personal health assessments such as Life View, where users can assess health risks and learn what changes they should make in their lifestyles. For women, there’s a new Hormone Therapy Questionnaire coming which will educate them about choices they have to consider. Having only recently celebrated their one year anniversary, the team at HealthyWay has already made their mark. Besides playing host to one of the most successful aspects of the Sympatico site, they are also the winners of the People’s Choice Award for the Best World Wide Web Site presented at the 1997 International Digital Media Awards. HealthyWay should be one of the first stops on any surfer’s visit to the Sympatico community. H@bitat The Canadian Film centre was founded ten years ago by Norman Jewison as an advanced training institute for directors, producers, writers and now editors. As part of their mandate, they remain cognizant of changes and opportunities developing in all aspects of the entertainment industry. With an eye to the future, one year ago they approached MediaLinx Interactive with a plan to found a new media institute – one that will cultivate the emergence of new entertainment forms delivered through various mediums, including the Web. MediaLinx Interactive jumped at the opportunity, and with an initial investment of five hundred thousand dollars, h@bitat was born. Ana Serrano, Director of h@bitat, stresses the importance of team-based training initiatives. ‘The days of the multi-talented individual sitting in front of their computer creating a ‘Myst’ on his or her own are over. The organizational model of a growing new media business will evolve to look more like that of a film production company – products created through the synergistic efforts of a creative team, enabled by formalized management processes.’ While there will always be room on the Net for the individual to express themselves to the fullest, companies are going to have to dedicate more resources to the task. h@bitat offers two main avenues for training, the first of which is a New Media Design Program. This program is an intensive four month team-based course which teaches students necessary skills in team building, business and management processes, as well as conceptual and technology skills. The program will be soliciting applicants from many disciplines, including graphic designers or visual artists, computer programers, and writers or information architects. In the course, h@bitat will build teams of three, with one student from each discipline. Groups work in a practical, hands on, cross platform environment which will ensure they will be comfortable with Apple – a major sponsor of the program – PC, or any other technology. The objective is to enable them to better understand the functional relationship between content and the delivery medium itself. The other method of training offered by h@bitat is done through a professional development series. These are a group of workshops geared toward industry pros, including advertisers interested in exploring new media as another advertising vehicle. The workshops serve as an excellent introduction to this field for people uncertain as to how the technology is going to alter or improve their profession. Serrano has high ambitions for the medium, but understands that it is still in its infancy. ‘We believe that a ‘Citizen Kane’ for new media has not been created yet. It hasn’t emerged because a lot of new media products don’t have soul. Soul means effective storytelling, and emotional engagement.’ h@bitat is aiming to provide the Web with people who can offer it a little bit of soul.
