‘What we’re building here,’ says Theo Sanidas, ‘is a new business model for marketers in the interactive age.’

Sanidas is president of Western Shores Group of Companies, a 10-year-old full-service direct and database marketing agency with offices in Vancouver, Toronto and Seattle. To expand into interactive marketing services, the company recently created a sister company, Western Shores Interactive Marketing Services (ws-i).

‘Western Shores has been offering full-service capability for 10 years, including on-line services. We’re not new to the Internet, but in looking at what’s happening,’ says Sanidas.

‘We saw that although general advertising agencies were adding interactive services, their main concerns were still with image and the look and feel of your Web presence. We believe those are vital concerns, but as direct marketers, our main concern comes after that: How can we use or adapt the look and feel to drive traffic and generate sales?

‘We’ve entered the era of e-commerce,’ says Sanidas. ‘A big part of our job is to apply our many years of database and direct marketing experience to create traffic and commerce-building content for clients’ Web sites, then to make sure those Web sites work to build meaningful relationships with the people who visit them.

‘Traditional direct marketing tries to generate inquiries and turn these into repeat sales,’ he says. ‘We develop Internet marketing programs that generate qualified traffic and turn Web page visits into sales.’

‘Advertising and direct marketing are well-established disciplines, with a hundred years of experience to guide them,’ says Rick Hardy, managing director of Western Shores. ‘But marketers and agencies are still looking for effective ways to deal with interactivity, with the Internet.

‘Our philosophy is that we can combine the sound and proven strategies and technologies of direct with new support technologies that are evolving for the Internet, to allow marketers to make sense and use of the data that can be generated from the Internet,’ he says.

‘The Internet is an advertising medium and, at the same time, an e-commerce medium. We combine traditional list, database and creative services with new technologies; we can record the interactions on the Web and analyze them to provide a foundation for new marketing strategies.’

To do that properly, ws-i had to set itself apart from other agencies working in interactive media by providing complete, turnkey services. So, any client wanting to use the Internet, the Web, or any other interactive form of marketing, can get all the services they need from Western Shores, from building traffic to fulfilling orders.

‘Now,’ says Sanidas, ‘we offer one-to-one marketing on the Web, and bring to it our unique understanding of what’s technologically and logistically possible plus our expertise in database marketing and our infrastructure in people, hardware and software.

‘It’s not about simply creating a Web presence,’ says Sanidas. ‘There are competent people out there in ad agencies and design firms who know how to create Web sites. What we do is create sites – or adapt existing ones – to have a direct response twist. And that means going beyond simply building a Web site and counting the number of people who visit it.

‘It means not just amassing information on Web visitors, but learning how to manage and analyze that information as the basis for strategic actions.

Western Shores’ creative director, John Friesen, says: ‘We have two goals for any marketing Web site: to drive qualified traffic to it, then, by using what we’ve learned as direct marketers, to turn those lookers into buyers by giving them reasons to buy.’

The customer is key to interactive marketing opportunities says Friesen: ‘We always look at our clients’ businesses from their customers’ point of view.’

From that perspective, Sanidas says, you find three elements are crucial if you’re to have an effective e-business:

‘One, you need to create convenience. If it’s more convenient for the customer to get on-line and perform a task versus doing it in the real world, then you’ve got a winning combination,’ he explains.

‘Number two, you need to create a dialogue, not just talk about your company. The individual logging on wants to know how you’re going to do a better job than companies with more conventional forms of service and distribution.

‘Finally, he continues, ‘your content has to deliver enticing benefits, and it has to answer the basic ‘What’s in it for me?’ that everybody implicitly asks when you ask them to do something. If you can’t answer that question almost immediately, you’ve lost the prospect, and the sale.’

For instance, ws-i is currently working on an add-on to an existing retail Web site to allow customers to track the progress of their rebate requests – in much the same way as Federal Express lets you track the progress of your package. The twist is, while you’re on-line tracking your rebate, you’re also being served offers related to the purchases you’ve made.

‘That’s a very simple example,’ says Hardy, ‘of how you can use interactivity to help companies provide service to their customers, while at the same time using knowledge about their wants, preferences and purchase history to step up your marketing efforts to them. And you can do it without overstepping the bounds of their senses of privacy – a very big issue on the Internet.’

Western Shores and its sister companies are organized to operate independently, yet co-operatively, so each one can focus on its strengths.

Western Shores Direct deals with all strategy-, creative- and database-related issues needed to market successfully.

Western Shores Interactive concentrates on all the issues related to Internet marketing (banner advertising, opt-in e-mail list development, search engine submissions and management, link exchanges, etc.); e-commerce, from credit card transactions to electronic banking; fulfillment services and general customer service. Another sister company, MediaNet Solutions, provides the Web design and development technology needed to actually get on-line.

‘Many clients are still unfamiliar with the interactive medium and may not be aware of the amount of detail work, administration and operations support they need to produce and deliver interactive marketing programs,’ says MediaNet head Lance Morginn.

‘With our complete suite of services, clients don’t have to worry about managing and maintaining their Web sites, finding a suitable Web host, or making sure they have the right software and hardware to handle internet marketing and e-commerce,’ he says.

‘By providing those services to our clients, they are able to avoid the heavy start-up costs of buying hardware and software, and hiring people with the right expertise. It’s all here at Western Shores.’

Current interactive clients include Internet companies, retail and wholesale companies, plus high tech and financial companies and fund raisers. From its new office in Seattle, ws-i now also manages several u.s.-based accounts.

Says Sanidas: ‘ws-i specializes in building virtual, interactive storefronts and getting them busy with qualified traffic that buys their goods and services. Along with all the other services we offer, we feel we’ve created a new business model for success in the Cyber Age.’

Western Shores Interactive Marketing Services

1200 West Pender Street

Suite 200

Vancouver, B.C.

V6E 2S9

Tel: 1-800-689-9959

Fax: 604-687-4990

e-mail: mail@westernshores.com

Also in this sponsored supplement:

– Technical, creative, strategic p.I1

– Armantus Inc. p.I2

– CyberSight Canada p.I3

– Lasso Communications p.I5

– Leo Burnett p.I6

– Think Interactive p.I7

– Modem Media – Poppe Tyson Canada p.I9

– Initiative Interactive p.I11