IN THIS ISSUE: June 21, 2001 To Archive Index Old Media Companies Leading In Humanizing Web Sites

How To Humanize Your Web Site: Follow The Lead Of
Old Media Companies

by B.L. Ochman

Let's face it, geeks still control most web sites. Instead of natural language and simple interfaces, we encounter techno-speak and the need to click as many as 40 times to get to information we want. It's an experience that is maddening for people trying to do business online. Marketeers need to take control - before it's too late.

Old Media Companies to the Rescue
At last, a tiny minority of old media companies have begun to develop new kinds of business models instead of trying to force their old models into new media. In fact, in a recent review of marketing trends, popular e-zine Iconocast exulted that "traditional marketers are getting the Net." 

These companies are humanizing their sites, leaving you with the feeling that you are dealing with thinking, knowledgeable human beings and not just with a programmer's idea of an efficient page and forms.

The interplay between customers and companies is being permanently and radically changed by the Internet. The companies who are building mutually beneficial relationships with their customers and other stakeholders are the ones to watch and learn from. Because in the long run, they're building brand loyalty and community that benefits everyone involved. 

Pepsi Saved Millions and Made Friends
Pepsi-Cola Company recently performed the extraordinary feat of creating an opt-in community of three million teenagers, who registered for an online giveaway of "Pepsi stuff."  To win prizes, they had to buy Pepsi or Mountain Dew, then enter alphanumeric codes printed in the bottle caps to create personal accounts on the pepsistuff.com site. On repeat visits they accumulated points toward winning $10 million worth of products provided by 13 different sponsors. Sony, Sam Goody and Columbia TriStar were among the partners in the site managed and cross-promoted by Yahoo!

Dave DeCecco, Pepsi's Manager, Public Relations, says that 80 percent of the teens who registered gave permission for Pepsi to contact them again about future promotions. "We now have established a relationship with a targeted community who we know uses our products and is receptive to interacting with the company. This is extremely encouraging because we saved millions of dollars with our first promotion that was done entirely online, without printed catalogs and snail mailings." Instead of pushing a company message, Pepsi researched what their audience really wants and gave it to them. Why isn't there more of this type of promotion and interaction online?

More than altruism
One beacon of light in the area of usability is AskJeeves, which, despite its dismal stock performance, is a groundbreaking provider of intuitive, intelligent question-answering technologies and natural language search and site navigation. AskJeeves Business Solutions division is providing a natural language interface for the customers of Fortune 500 companies spanning nine vertical markets. So, instead of the tortuous Boolean "find gallon AND quart AND measure," visitors can type "how many quarts are in a gallon?" and get the right answer.

"The big challenge for companies today is the sheer amount of data and information they need to present," says Rob Wrubel, Jeeves' Exec. VP of Market Development. "On average, in technology company technical support sites, for example, it can take 30 to 45 clicks to find what you are looking for." 

Stop frustrating your customers
"Customers get utterly frustrated. They are not librarians and they don't know how your information is stored. We engage the customer in a fast, targeted dialog and respond in natural language, much the same way they would interact with a knowledgeable salesperson in a store."

"Last quarter, we captured over 3 billion questions in our data system. These questions have become part of our knowledge base, which gets better over time as we keep adding questions and answers to it."

There's more than altruism involved in humanizing Web experiences. Wrubel notes that the average call to a call center costs a company $10 to $20. "If a company can answer the questions of 70,000 users who don't need to resort to e-mail or a phone call to get the information they want, there's a minimum savings of $700,000 - just from avoiding support being escalated to a human being. This is all tied to having a usable web site, and that's what we help our clients achieve."

Online answers reduce calls to humans
In combination with site re-design, reports Wrubel, JeevesAnswers reduced product support emails at Radio Shack  by 50 percent. And software manufacturer Interact Commerce reports a 30 percent reduction in call volume since AskJeeves' implementation. "Jeeves is one of the primary gauges we use in determining what new content we need - if it shows up on Jeeves, we know it is important to our customers and we create it," says Paul Selby, Interact's general manager-services. 

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Wondering why your press releases don't get great results?
You're probably not using the tools of Reality PR ^TM

B.L. Ochman has presented workshops on Reality PR for companies including Ford Motors, IBM, Preferred Hotels and others. Schedule one of these productive workshops for your company. Contact B.L. Ochman, at BLOchman@whatsnextonline.com 212.369.8312
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