Selling vehicles via Internet at this time seems like a distant goal. On the other hand, informing the consumer using this new communication medium - in conjunction with traditional ones - seems to be an option made possible by technological development that should be taken into consideration.

New media, including the Internet, are slowly catching up with traditional media but, in our opinion, are still very far from becoming mass communication channels accessible to everyone. The cause of this delay can be found in the general lack of knowledge in the field of information technology, and in the high cost of computers.

Informing, therefore, rather than selling, seems to be the most effective approach for marketers to use in the automotive industry at this stage, when considering the Internet. Simple banners and static websites, however, are not exploiting the full potential of this medium. In fact, in order to differentiate itself from traditional media, an Internet site needs to be interactive, quick-loading, and able to customize information about products and services offered.

Online advertising must have as its main objective informing clients about new products (the way that traditional advertising does) but also providing that extra edge that can be expressed in new ways of interacting with the user, seeking to create a direct and personalized dialogue with the customer. Such a tool must be able to create a positive perception of a product, whether at its first launch or long after its introduction to the market, in sync with the needs and desires of the consumer market for which it was designed.

In this way an Internet advertising campaign could allow a smaller outlay of financial resources while still giving the marketing group the ability to customize with greater confidence those sites and portals where your exact demographic usually surfs.

Personally I believe that the potential of advertising online can be summarized in the concept of selectivity: an advertising message can be almost "scientifically" delivered online on those channels where we are already aware of the characteristics of the users. For marketers, this must seem like a dream come true, but this could also be a trap that we must avoid: the Internet is not the solution to every problem. It's enough to look at the banner click-through rates to understand the limits of Internet advertising. We don't want to be discouraged by these statistics, but we want to emphasize the qualities of this medium which allow us to create two-way communication with the user and which, above all, give the user the final decision of when and how much to deal with advertising. Also not to be underestimated is the potential for small investors who need such a means of advertising, allowing even the smallest businesses with limited budgets to make themselves visible to the buying public: an advertising method which can hit its mark with surgical precision, but which must necessarily be used with a carefully thought-out strategy as its base.

Informing, not selling; advertising but also creating a personalized and continuous relationship with present and prospective clients; this is the approach that Mercedes-Benz Van Department has chosen for planning its Internet advertising with respect to the launch of the new compact van, the Vaneo, which will be on the market in March 2002. While we'll keep that traditional balance between online and offline advertising activities, the Internet has given us the means to start a dialogue with potential clients, letting them see that the Vaneo is a very approachable car and easy for everyone to get familiar with. And how unusual would this be, for a car to position itself as a perfect solution to the needs of a particular user!

For the launch of the Vaneo we have believed and continue to believe strongly in the potential of online strategic planning. This is a totally different advertising campaign in terms of outlook and objectives from the ones we have done with traditional mass media, where the objective was primarily to allow the products to be visible to a large audience: a campaign instead that puts the emphasis on the intrinsic potential of the medium (confirmed by the great success of the chat communities) by creating interactive relationships with consumers. From this point of view Internet advertising must be used and supported, in anticipation of future developments in the medium itself and of changes in the lifestyle of our society.

Budgeting for the future: US Internet companies are raising instead of cutting their marketing budgets. Results from a recent survey by Launch Pad and Blanc & Otus prove that while spending grows advertisers are targeting their messages more and more precisely. As a result especially direct marketing is growing - budgets for email marketing have grown by as much as 300 %.

The numbers: Online marketing investments have grown to 2.8 billion US Dollar (last year: 2.2 billion). At the same time market analysts warn that the renewed growth might result in a "killer factor": Too much of a good thing can still have bad results. Too much spamming and unsolicited emails might endanger the possibility to reach prospective clients in the future.

More information:
http://www.lpad.com/cgi-local/SoftCart.15.exe/news/budget_survey_01.html?E+scstore
(The study is available for a fee only)

Anyone who invests 50,000 Euro into an online marketing campaign will want clear proof how effective the advertising is. No problem. Every ad-server or email marketing system delivers detailed statistics.

How many banners where delivered, how often someone saw the message and how often he reacted by clicking on it to get more information. Some reports even deliver statistics how much turn over a particular ad campaign brought in. What could a client possibly want more?

No ad in a printed medium not a TV trailer could tell you that. So? Did the online advertising industry reach an optimum how to control success for it's clients?

No. There is something missing in the system: The possibility to get consistent numbers from different vendors. So far there is no clear standard for measuring online advertising, there are conflicting research reports and statistics generated by different ad serving companies tend to be hard to judge on a common basis.

"If you are an advertising client and your ads show up on a number of different websites from different publishers, you usually get very different results. Results that might differ from each other by 20 to 40 %", says Doug Knopper, Vice president of DoubleClick Diameter on the current situation.

Background: Measuring online advertising means counting a range of different results once a banner ad has been delivered. Page impressions, ad clicks, conversion rates are elements to describe whether the campaign has been a success or not.

This is where the current problem starts: The definitions of what an ad click or a conversion is differs greatly. One website publisher might count page impressions while the pages are still loading. In another case the same is only done when the full page has been downloaded.

Another source of differences lies in the basic technology that is used to analyse the campaign. The industry distinguishes three different approaches: user-, server- or format-orientated. The results of such analysis might differ greatly and can not be judged on a common basis.

At current there are national and international initiatives trying to that aim to create a common standard for all measurement.

More information:
http://www.channelseven.com/newsbeat/index.shtml
http://www.fasteurope.org
http://www.iab.net

There might be strong competition, but at the same time all online media shares a common interest in standardized counting standards. There is still a way to go, but the goal that needs to be achieved is pretty clear: A common standard how to measure online advertising. Both on a national and an international level associations work towards this end.

Leading the way are US trade associations such as the Federal Advertising Stakeholders Taskforce (FAST) as well as the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).

A brief overview of these initiatives:

FAST Europe
Originally founded by Procter & Gamble FAST is the only organisation that has already suggested far reaching guidelines. On this basis Fast Europe has worked out new suggestions especially for European online advertising. The guidelines are aiming at all forms of online advertising.

Examples regarding usage tracking:
• A first step is a clear definitions of each advertising form and the standard how it is counted
• A second step is a standard that allows to compare each counted element (both for websites as well as independent research)
• A third step is standards that help to compare online advertising with traditional media, especially regarding the reach of reach of the medium.

Extensive descriptions of different projects can be downloaded from:
http://www.fasteurope.org

IAB
At the end of 2001 the IAB aims to publish common guidelines for online advertising standards. The project started in May this year. In phase one PricewaterhouseCoopers developed a report covering all existing online advertising standards. Based on this of common definitions have been fixed.

350 definitions can be reviewed in the "IAB Glossary of Interactive Advertising Terms". In a second phase ABC Interactive as an independent market researcher is now investigating differences between user-, server- and forma-orientated online measuring methods.

More information:
http://www.iab.net
http://www.abcinteractiveaudits.com

Is it just a test or will it last? More and more spanish companies start to charge users for online content. Current offerings mostly fall into two areas: High-interest news or trade associations that
serve small target groups are typical for testing pay-per-view models at current. We collected some actual examples.

Overview of examples:

Newspapers
El Mundo started to charge users for since mid October. Readers can subscribe to an online-version of the evening edition for a yearly price of 40 Euro. This offering includes a three months test for three month. The day edition can still be accessed for free.

More information:
http://www.elmundo.es/servicios

La Vanguardia from Barcelona publishes the free business newsletter „Simograma“. Each edition contains up to ten feature articles. Subscribers whishing access to older articles in the extensive
archive has – costs range between 100 Euro for a full year an 10 Euro per month.

More information:
http://www.lavanguardia.es/mailnews

Associations
Secretaria Plus is a trade association for secretaries and personal assistants. Access to it's business orientated newsletter "Magazine Plus" costs 17 Euro for members and 31 Euro for
non-members. The content consists of business articles and standardized business information that can be downloaded.

More information:
http://www.secretariaplus.com/magazine/index.asp

Current pay-per-view projects in Spain are in early test phases. So far there is no proof to what extend users are willing to pay for such content online. Success will mainly depend on two key
factors: On one side the target group must be big enough, on the other content needs to be attractive enough to convince even sceptic users.

The easier it gets to make secure payments the more likely it is that even general interest portals will start charging for exclusive content.

More information:
http://www.europemedia.net/showfeature.asp?ArticleID=6106

AdLINK Internet Media AG has entered into an agreement to acquire the European media business of DoubleClick Inc. The transaction is subject to AdLINK shareholder approval and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2002. This acquisition will create the leading independent online media entity in Europe and allow the combined company to capture additional revenue and streamline costs.

AdLINK will acquire the European media business of DoubleClick for a value of 30.5 million Euros in cash in addition to assuming certain liabilities. United Internet AG, AdLINK's largest shareholder, will have the option to sell 15 % of AdLINK shares to DoubleClick. When this option is exercised, DoubleClick will then have an option, exercisable under certain conditions, to acquire an additional 21 % of AdLINK stock from United Internet at no additional cost. In addition, DoubleClick will be represented on the AdLINK Board after the close of this transaction. In order to ensure equal treatment of all AdLINK shareholders, United Internet will make a public purchase offer of 3.83 Euros per share to AdLINK's shareholders for 37.13 % of their respective shares.

The European media businesses of both partners will continue under the AdLINK brand. Over the long term, the combined AdLINK expects to increase revenues and expand the ad network's reach to over 50 % of European Internet users. This would make AdLINK the leading independent online media sales network in Europe. Following the transaction, the combined AdLINK expects to represent leading international web sites such as MTV Europe, Deutsche Messe AG, Deutsche Börse, Tamedia, Modern Times Group, La Tribune, EresMas, Austria Online, ADAC, IDG, Expedia, The Independent and Der Standard. As a result of the transaction, AdLINK will also expand its business operations to Italy.

In addition, AdLINK and DoubleClick have agreed to terms of a 10-year DART ad serving agreement, which commences at the close of the transaction. The two companies will also operate under a global cooperation agreement in which each company will cross sell the other company's inventory on each other's ad networks, as well as their respective media email solutions. For the first time AdLINK customers will have the opportunity to run global campaigns.

"This transaction allows us to achieve the critical mass we need for our business model," said Michael Kleindl, CEO of AdLINK Internet Media AG. "Stability, financial strength and scale in the form of increased reach and better service offerings are crucial in our business today. Additional resources, optimised products and a comprehensive suite of digital communications solutions will provide better advertising opportunities for customers and agencies."

"While the United States has seen a tremendous amount of consolidation in the online marketing industry, Europe remains fragmented," said Kevin Ryan, CEO, DoubleClick Inc. "The transaction establishes a leading online media entity in Europe and allows DoubleClick to focus its European business on expanding its technology and email offerings. This type of structure is in line with how we treat the media businesses in Asia and Japan, which have proven to be very successful joint ventures. This deal allows DoubleClick to continue to have a stake in the European online media business, and contributes to the company's ability to become profitable in 2002."

Stéphane Cordier, Vice President of International Media at DoubleClick, is expected to join AdLINK's executive management team as Chief Operating Officer. Michael Kleindl, CEO of AdLINK and Erhard Seeger, CFO of AdLINK, will continue on in their respective roles.

More information:
http://www.doubleclick.net/us/corporate/presskit/press-releases.asp?asp_object_1=&press%5Frelease%5Fid=2558

• 70 % of all internet users are interested in buying a product offered to them by email
• 37 % have already made a purchase directly after clicking on a link in an email

These are the key results from a recent survey from DoubleClick prove that acceptance of permission-base marketing is still on the rise.

More results:
• 82 % of all surveyed consumers have obtained more information about a product advertised in an email
• 70 % use information from emails for online shopping
• 86 % bought from a company that sends out emails

Most recipients opt for weekly mails on specific themes:
• 77 % want be informed about sweepstakes and special offers
• 65 % are interested in offering from local vendors and restaurants
• 57 % ask for practical tips, cooking recipes and advise how to choose

Requirement:
Relevancy and actuality are of high importance for the success of each advertising mail.

More information:
http://www.doubleclick.net/us/corporate/presskit/press-releases.asp?asp_object_1=&press%5Frelease%5Fid=2554

The rule is simple: The better you aim the more often you will hit bull's eye.
Today ad servers offer detailed and extensive ways to target almost any audience. No other medium delivers the exactness of banners and email. No matter whether a campaign is run global or locally.

Some systems even optimise the delivery of banners based on reports automatically. Banners with low click-throughs are replaced with banners with better results. Every set-up can be controlled precisely through profiles - even while the campaign is running.

An overview of available targeting profiles:

Content Targeting
• Contents: Phrases, Keywords, Editorial keyword, search expressions, themes
• Website, Directory, Section, page, page position

User Targeting
• Geographically: Country of origin, postal code, area (even with .com, .net, .org)
• Domain-Typ (.com, .edu)
• Occupation (Employer, industry, company size)

Behavioral Targeting
• Individual frequency selection (How often a person is exposed to a banner?)
• Time (weekday, time of day)
• Reach/frequency
• Sequential motives

Technology Targeting
• Inter access by country (excluding .com, .net, .org), Provider
• Browser (Type, version)
• Operating system
• ISPs
• Type of industry

Demographical targeting
• Usage of user profiles

More information:
http://www.doubleclick.net/us/advertisers/media/audience/advanced.asp?asp_object_1=&
http://www.werbeformen.de

By Amanda Chandler, Direktor of Data Protection for DoubleClick

As many of you will be aware, the European Parliament has recently adopted a proposal to the Directive on privacy in the electronic communication sector, that would make the use of cookies subject to prior and explicit consent. This Directive is still progressing through the legislative process, but if this proposal is not amended or dropped from the final version, the repercussions for
European internet users as a whole, and European digital marketers in particular, will be serious – for example the IAB UK estimates that this decision will cost the UK advertising market in the
region of GBP 17 billion (27.4 billion Euro).

Industry representatives are currently expressing their concerns about this to relevant Government ministers to try and persuade them to amend or reject this amendment. Members of the European
Parliament also need to be convinced of the negative impact that this could have on their constituents.

If you are willing to contact your local MEP to express your concerns about this, please contact
Amanda Chandler, Director of Data Protection for DoubleClick at:
achandler@doubleclick.net
for a form letter that you can use to express your concerns.

I am sure you will agree that it is important that European legislation is based on facts and does not penalise European ecommerce.

What is the current opinion of Spanish executives regarding the importance of ecommerce offerings?

67 % of Spanish executives are convinced of ecommerce opportunities. The development of websites offering goods and services develops slowly. Related to last year revenues grew only slightly, Spanish ecommerce statistically still ranges below EU averages. These were the key results of a study by consulting company Accenture.

63 % believe that language and cultural identity are main success factors. Surveys from other European countries show that these factors generally range lower in importance elsewhere. Only every third EU manager regarded these factors as equally important.

Only a low 8 % think the future of their specific company will be depended on ecommerce in the future. Still most of all interviewed regularly gather information and updates about what's going on in
this sector.

More information:
http://www.accenture.com/xd/xd.asp?it=enweb&xd=_dyn\dynamicpressrelease_363.xml

An interesting subject line and a well structured text - and advertising mails are already read - and not just that. In numbers: 45 to 70 % of the recipients would open a message, if the subject line promises interesting news. 5 to 10 % of the "curious" readers continue clicking on embedded links to get further information or a specific offer. The share of those who order or buy afterwards is 2 to
5 % on the average. The opening rates were in focus of a study by the marketer Go4emarketing.

Source:
http://www.Go4emarketing.de