Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bill Harmond who wrote (73946)	8/15/1999 10:37:00 PM
From: GST	Respond to of 164684

William -- how about a Lada broken down by the roadside :)

To: Bill Harmond who wrote (73946)	8/15/1999 10:45:00 PM
From: Eric Wells	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 164684

>>We're having a correction based on interest rates. William - thanks for your post. I disagree. I think that the correction is being driven in part by interest rate concerns. But with the net stocks, I think that part of the recent decline is also due to change in investor sentiment - a desire for a "return to fundamentals" if you will. Regarding your Ferrari analogy - if after paying $200k for your Ferrari, you discover it has a Yugo engine in it, I would guess that the value of the car might realize a sudden depreciation. I'm curious, William, if you can identify anything negative about buying or holding AMZN at the moment? I don't think I've ever seen you post anything negative on the company or it's stock. And from your posts, it seems that you are quick to counter anything that others post that might be interpreted as negative. Of course, this is just an observation on my part, and I could be wrong - apologies in advance, if I am. Thanks, -Eric Wells

To: Bill Harmond who wrote (73946)	8/16/1999 7:57:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Respond to of 164684

By James Ashton LONDON, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Internet companies in Britain are logging off and relying on traditional media in the rush to build the appeal of online brands. Radio advertisements, TV commercials and even the sides of buses and cabs are being tagged with Web addresses as advertisers seek maximum visibility for brands that exist only in the virtual world. Doomsayers who thought opportunities presented by the Internet for reaching young, affluent Britons would steal market share from traditional forms of advertising have been proved wrong -- for the moment. William Reeve, research director at new media firm Fletcher Research, says that adspend in Britain by online firms flowing into old media will be close to the 40 million pounds ($62 million) he estimates is being spent on Internet advertising in 1999. But many online brands, particularly portals such as Yahoo! YHOO.O (www.yahoo.co.uk) are keen to cut marketing costs by bartering advertising offline in exchange for space on their Web sites, or establishing "contra-deals" with other Internet companies to cross-promote their brands in cyberspace, he said. "They take the view of 'what have we got that you haven't?'" said Reeve. And while some portals are willing to swap space to gain presence, online retailers such as bookseller Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O (www.amazon.co.uk) and the Microsoft-owned MSFT.O travel site Expedia (www.expedia.co.uk) are tending to spend offline to build awareness. BUILDING BRAND AWARENESS "The best way to build credibility of a brand that exists in the ether is in a medium with which the majority of the population feel comfortable," said Ilika Shelley, head of online media at Western International Media, owned by the Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. IPG.N. She estimated that major sites were spending around two million pounds each this year to promote themselves with an 80-20 split in favour of traditional media. "The majority of people aren't yet using the Internet, so if you are advertising offline, when they do go online, they are already familiar with your brand and will probably seek you out." Fletcher says that 10 million adults, or 21 percent of the British population, regularly use the Internet, up from seven million six months ago. Her company expects 18 million regular users by 2003. ExciteAtHome Corp. ATHM.O unit Excite UK (www.excite.co.uk), an online brand with one of the highest British marketing spends, claims to be the first Internet portal in the country to use television as an advertising medium. Its recent marketing campaign also used radio, newspaper promotions and ads in 240 London Underground stations. "It will never be as inexpensive as it is today to build a brand and to build market share," said Evan Rudowski, Excite UK general manager, who estimates 70 percent of the company's 10 million pound 1999 promotional budget will be spent offline. "Every day you wait, the cost goes up and the noise level (from competing brands) increases. Competitors start to add their brands to the mix and suddenly it costs more to sustain the same level of awareness." Rudowski said he was targeting "newbies" -- people who have only recently gone online -- and "intenders" -- those who will take the plunge very soon -- in order to create the first brand impression in their minds. He predicted Internet companies' marketing spend would continue to increase as the medium grew. Reeve at Fletcher said he expected Britain to eventually imitate the United States, where big-spending online brands contributed considerably to the advertising market's overall growth last year. Last month, U.S. technology news and information Web site CNET (www.cnet.com) announced a $100 million multimedia advertising campaign to run across television, radio, print, outdoor and online over the next 18 months. "Offline is simply better at creating brand awareness," Reeve said. "Online can be better at response, but in some ways it is more like direct mail than advertising." ($1=.6449 Pound) REUTERS Rtr 02:01 08-16-99