Electronic Marketing - The Impact of New Media on Marketing Communication

Computers are an indispensable too in the work place today regardless of the profession. Most of the intra-organizational transactions are done on networked computers. This has enabled people to work from any location with an Internet connection. The most common application of this is telecommuting. Currently, more than 15 million people in the US telecommute. This work culture has creating a telepolis in which people heavily work and collaborate electronically. Also, online shopping is steadily gaining ground. More and more people have been seduced by the convenience and speed of shopping online. According to Jupiter Research, U.S. consumers spent $10.8 billion on online shopping in November and December 1999, a 54 percent spike from the previous year’s levels and a 126 percent leap from the 1998 season. Both eMarketer and The NPD Group estimated that online sales in the last two months of 2000 to totaled more than $12 billion. This is a 20% rise from the previous years figure of $10.8 billion. The latest figures from the US department of Commerce’s Census Bureau show that retail e-commerce sales in the third quarter of 2002 were $11.1 billion, a 34.3 increase from last year’s third quarter figures. These numbers exclude transactions by online travel services, financial brokerages, and online ticket agents, significant market segments. It has therefore become imperative and logical for marketers shift their attention to the Internet as a marketing vehicle. In a telepolis, traditional methods of marketing communication are not effective enough since telecommuters are not exposed to traditional media. A telecommuter cannot see billboards and often reads the online version of a newspaper. This makes it only reasonable to send marketing communication through the media that is most pervasive in this lifestyle.

The Net may become the most readily available, most easily accessible place for one to make his/her advertising available to talk-back or talk-with customers. Which is not to say that traditional media won’t be a healthy, vital, viable means for carrying advertising messages to the public. However, it does mean that marketers must recognize the growing importance of the Internet, keep a close eye on almost-daily new developments, and be aware of the Internet’s importance to their target audiences”. (Entrepreneur Magazine pg. 41-1996)