New Book dedicated to this thread: The Internet Bubble The Red Eye in Davos By Tony Perkins Red Herring Online February 1, 1999
The Red Eye has been on sabbatical working on a new
book with former Red Herring senior editor Michael
Perkins. Called The Internet Bubble, it will be
published by Harper Business Books this spring. In fact,
I just talked to Harper VP Adrian Zackheim, who
tracked me down at the World Economic Forum in
Davos, Switzerland. He had passion in his voice.
"Everybody is talking about the Internet bubble, and we
have the book -- where the hell is it?" So needless to
say, the Red Eye would appreciate it if no one forwards
this email to Adrian, because if he knew I was writing
anything but his book -- well, it could get ugly.
If you have been reading any of
the yak about what's happening in
this lovely little Swiss ski village,
you'll know that "Responsible
Globality" is the theme du jour. As
a member of the media leaders
group, the Red Eye will be smokin'
with the big boys and giving
readers the real inside scoop on
this most powerful of conferences. Already we have
lined up private meetings with Ted Turner, Nelson
Mandela, Newt Gingrich, and Bill Gates. And Red Eye,
in conjunction with Accel Partners, will also be holding a
cocktail reception where we expect Jeff Bezos, Michael
Dell, Scott Cook, and other major geeks. So stay tuned
for the dispatches the Red Eye will publish throughout
the conference.
HIGH TECH AND HIGH TOUCH
DAVOS, SWITZERLAND -- As is always the case
when the Red Eye first lands in this snowy little Swiss
village, there is an immediate sense of feeling
overwhelmed. The first order of business is to sift
through the conference catalogue and choose from
literally hundreds of sessions, from "Doing Business in
the Digital Economy" to a "Nightcap with Yasser
Arafat."
This year the Red Eye aimed for intellectual diversity. As
I was telling Forbes Global editor Lawrence Minard in
the Davos shuttle bus, this is one of the few times the
Red Eye pulls its head out the world of technology.
For my first session, the Red Eye decided to warm up
its brain by attending Esther Dyson's lunch on "Branding
on the Web." Her panel also included Mark Thompson,
the executive producer of eSchwab, and was moderated
by the academic king of brand, David Aaker, professor
of marketing strategy at Haas School of Business, UC
Berkeley.
I admit that with my CEO of Red Herring
Communications hat on, I attended this session with
huge self interest. Red Herring Online will be the
company's biggest initiative (and risk) in 1999. Esther's
most provocative observation is that the Internet right
now is a "slippery place," where few sites have real
"friction" to hold viewers. Today's portals, for instance,
are analogous to searching the largest warehouse in the
world with a pen-sized flashlight. She predicted that in
the next 5 to 10 years, clever entrepreneurs will build
well-lit mini-worlds built upon common viewer interest
and high levels of customer service.
Mr. Thompson agreed with one of Esther's points, that
banner advertising on the Web is not cost-effective. "We
originally assumed that advertising on the Web was the
way to go, but soon the $200,000 we were charged by
the portals to place banners inflated to $12 million!" he
expressed. "We now spend that $12 million in the paper
version of the Wall Street Journal, where we get
infinitely better results."
Other interesting eSchwab facts: It costs $80 per trade if
you place your trade through a human being, either by
phone or at a physical location, while it costs $30 per
online trade; 70 percent of the trades today (totaling a
whopping $1.5 billion a day!) are made online, yet those
online traders only represent 20 percent of the total
customer assets Schwab has under management.
Being a believer that advertising on specialized sites,
such as Red Herring Online, actually has good value for
specific advertisers, the Red Eye couldn't help asking
Professor Aaker if there wasn't any brand-building value
to advertising on these sites, even if people don't click
through. "Yes, there is some cognitive value to Web
banners, but print and physical billboard ads will remain
stronger in this area for the foreseeable future," the good
professor predicted.
The moral to the session was the best way to enhance
your brand on the Web was to offer online customers
enhanced experiences by making it easy to solve their
problems. "The Golden Rule of the Internet is to interact
quickly. Don't leave your online customers hanging --
answer their email!" said Ms. Dyson. You have to love
that woman.
WHAT IS A HUMAN BEING?
Red Eye couldn't resist wandering into Brazilian author
(The Pilgrimage, The Alchemist, By The River Piedra
I Sat Down and Wept, etc.) Paulo Coelho's session,
"What is a Human Being?"
Here's an excerpt from one of the Red Eye's favorite
authors:
"After fulfilling our basic needs, humans then focus on
trying to discern who they really are -- what is their
raison d'être. Ultimately, this question is a mystery that
can only be found through faith. We do, however,
attempt to explore these life-meaning issues in three
ways: through scientific discovery, art, and religion.
"I believe the world is changing slowly, and we are
learning how to connect and better understand mystery
and the inspiration we receive from outside ourselves,
but will never be able to answer these questions
completely. What are we doing here? I don't know."
But what about the Internet?
"After living in the global village, where we were passive
recipients [presumably where our only choice was three
network stations], I believe we are going back to tribes.
Through the Internet and 200 cable channels, we now
have much greater choice and will be able to build our
new tribes, as I call them, through our specialized
collective interests, as well as common ethics and
languages. And through the Internet we can also more
easily find our tribe.
"As globalization accelerates, the stronger these new
tribes will become. This seems like a paradox, but it
really is not."
God bless Paulo Coelho and the Internet.
Check in tomorrow for highlights of The Red
Herring/Accel Partners shindig, and excepts from our
breakfast with Ted Turner.
redherring.com |
