System Daemons and Services continue…

Delegating Authority

In a network of any size other than a simple workgroup, it is usually necessary to delegate authority to other administrators or middle-level management personnel. When you find that you must create accounts that have privileges to perform administrative functions, do not give carte blanche access to every account. Keep track of the exact functions an account will be used for, and grant only the access rights and permissions needed.

For example, if an operator will be performing backup functions on a server, he does not need to have full rights and privileges on the server. Under Windows Servers, you can place the user's account into the Backup Operators user group to give him the capabilities he needs, without compromising all files on the system. If you have users who must be able to add or modify user accounts, check the operating-system documentation and give the users access only to the resources and data files they need.

User Accounts

Generic accounts might seem like a good idea at first thought, but they provide nothing in the way auditing. If you simply let one or more users share the root account on a Unix system, or the Administrator account on a Windows server, you will have no way of determining tracking, and resolving who did what when something goes wrong. Indeed, because you can grant the same capabilities to any new account you can create, why not do so?

Give each user who requires elevated capabilities her own account, and grant the necessary privileges to the account. This way you can track each user to be sure she does not abuse her account or use it in a way you do not expect.

When you have more than one user using the same account, there is also the likelihood that the password will be compromised and someone who is not authorized to use the account will do so.

Application Servers, Print Servers, and Web Servers

One particularly common error you can make is to put all your eggs in one basket. Instead of using one server to provide print services or file services or Web services, many administrators use one server to provide all three. This is not necessarily a good idea.

Specialized servers can limit the damage that can be done by intruders and also can make it easier to delegate authority so that a particular administrator can concentrate on a limited set of functions for a certain server. Web servers are particularly prone to attempts by hackers to intrude onto your network. New applications and technologies are being developed and deployed all the time, and the newer they are, the more likely it is that they will have bugs or other loopholes that make them more risky than other applications that run on the network.

Placing sensitive data files on a Web server simply because it is convenient to use the machine's resources is not a good idea if it is also being used as a Web server. Make it more difficult to get at these files by dedicating a file server computer to them instead.

Delegating servers is almost like delegating authority to users. When you divide up resources and partition them into manageable groups, you make it less likely that an attack on one object will result in damage to all objects.

Denial of Service (DoS) attacks are very common on networks now. This kind of attack can be done by a malicious person who takes advantage of a known weakness in a protocol or an implementation of a particular service. One common mistake that administrators make when setting up an FTP site is to place it on an ordinary server.

For example, you might want to have an FTP server that allows customers to log in to your system and download information, patches, or other files. You also might want to be able to let them upload files or messages to your site. If you are going to allow anonymous FTP access, be absolutely sure that the service is configured so that it can access only a dedicated disk or set of disks. Do not allowanonymous access to an FTP service that writes to a system disk or a data disk that is important in your network. It is quite easy for an outsider to simply fill up the disk with meaningless data, causing a system to lock up or crash, depending on the operating system. If an important data disk becomes full, it can cause an extended period of downtime, putting employees out of work for hours while yo try to first determine the cause and then remedy it!

Build Your Digital Command Canter Part 1

The popularity of Star Trek is based, in part, upon our fascination with advanced technology. We're excited when Captain Picardorders his crew to take The Enterprise to another galaxy with the simple command "Make it so." In the distant future, it seems, we'll be able to entertain our merest whim by pushing a button or by telling a computer what we want done. Powerful machines will do the rest.

To succeed at digital marketing, you need to build your own version of The Starship Enterprise. You need to develop a digital command center in your company to communicate on a day-by-day basis with your customers and prospects. Unlike a traditional marketing department — often far removed from direct contact with customers — a digital marketing department must be hardwired to Customers. E-mail messages, for example, must be read and replied to Within hours, if not minutes, and your Web site content may need to be updated and changed daily. In addition, your customer database should be constantly churning with new information uploaded from your salespeople, your customer service representatives, and your customers.

Integration in the Digital Economy

To gather, store, process, and distribute digital information, you need to integrate your company into the digital economy. In the next three to five years, you will need the following capabilities in your company.

• Every computer is connected over a network using highspeed cable. This network includes an internal e-mail system that allows for the sending and receiving of Internet e-mail messages.
• Everyone involved in your company — employees, customers, and suppliers — are able to communicate by e-mail with everyone else in your company. As bandwidth becomes greater, you can upgrade your e-mail capability to include video-mail and live video-conferencing.
• Employees and contract workers are able to work at home, or at satellite offices, as easily as if they were in the office. Note: In the digital world, you may not have an office; your entire operation may run over a central server that electronically connects your organization.
• Your internal computer network is connected directly to the Internet over high-speed telephone or cable lines. This means every computer on your network is connected to the Internet at all times. In fact, it means your computer network is actually part of the Internet.
• You have security measures in place which restrict access to private corporate information on your network. One solution is to set up an Internet fire wall.
• Your marketing presentations, internal communications, and training courses exist in a multimedia format which combines text, graphics, sound, and video. You have software that allows for the easy development of multimedia content.
• You have one or many different types of online servers running on your network. This includes one or more Web servers, a BBS network server, and online database servers. Each of these servers are available to selected people within your organization over an Intranet, or outside your organization by way of the Internet.
• As an alternative to internal online servers, you can lease space with service bureaus. For example, you can rent space on a Web site that is halfway around the world. You can update its content as if the server was in your office. You may use a service bureau to set up and run your online BBS system. Remember, you don't need to buy expensive digital equipment in order to use it — you can rent it as well.
• Your customers access information about your business using a variety of digital communications tools including the telephone, fax, e-mail, the World Wide Web, interactive kiosks, and CD-ROM, and perhaps also through some sort of virtual reality (VR) device. Ideally, your customers are able to purchase your products and services electronically.
• You have an extensive database on all your customers and prospects. This database is relational in structure. All your digital communications and your digital marketing promotions are aimed at increasing the size, quality, and complexity of this database.
• All your computer systems are compatible. In the computer industry, this is known as "Open Systems Architecture." This means all your corporate information is accessible, no matter what type of computer is used. As well, your information should be accessible through all digital devices, not just computer-related ones.
• Your employees are fully fluent in the ways of basic digital technology. Everyone in your organization knows how to use the three major types of software programs: word processing, spreadsheet, and database. They are comfortable creating _and viewing multimedia content. They understand the basic concepts of the Internet, and can find the information they need on it.

In order to succeed at digital marketing over the long term, you need to set up this type of infrastructure within your company. However, man didn't get to the moon in one day. So take it one step at a time. Here's an explanation of how to take the first steps:

E-NEWSLETTERS - DEFINING AND REFINING Part 10

3. Some content in e-mail, full content on web site (multiple pages). This is similar to approach (1), but here the e-mail newsletter is longer since it contains a short extract from each article. Typically a more >> option link will be available to take the user through to the web site. This makes it easier for the reader to decide whether the content is relevant to them. This is a common approach; Figure 5.14 is an example.

4. Some content in e-mail, full content on web site (single pages). This is similar to option (2), but again has the advantage that an idea of the relevance of the content is given in the e-mail, and also it is easier to find other content from the same newsletter on the web site.

5. All content in e-mail. This approach is being used by Freepint (www.freepint.com) at the time of writing. A lot of detailed content about web searching is provided in two detailed text e-mails, sent each month. Here, a clickthrough is not required to the site at all(although some longer articles may require this). It is typically used by professional or technical plain-text newsletters. This approach is arguably the best method of communicating information to the recipient. However, for the marketer, calls-to-action encouraging further participation are more difficult to achieve from the newsletter than from the web site.

This decision is difficult, since the preference on length varies according to the individual. For many, including this author, part of the power of e-mail newsletters is to be able to get a rapid briefing on developments about a particular topic. If you have to clickthrough to a web site and then understand the structure of the web site, as is the case with the What's New in Marketing web site (www.wnim.com), this slows down the experience.

A related question is, should we archive? For a B2B newsletter, the question is perhaps not should we archive, but how? Archiving a B2B newsletter, provided it has quality content, provides an excellent resource for your customers. They will return to the resource as they face particular issues. As mentioned above, this can also assist in generating new subscribers, since specialist articles indexed by search engines will gain new visitors who may look to tap into your expertise. For a B2C newsletter, the issue is not that clear cut. If the e-newsletter is providing news or interesting content, then similar arguments apply — it is a resource that will encourage repeat visits and can also, via search engines, act as an acquisitions tool. For B2C newsletters from an e-tail site it is inappropriate to archive the content, since product information and offers will quickly date.

When an archive is content-rich, which is typically the case with a media or news site, the utility for the user can be improved by developing 'related article' features. ClickZ (www.clickz.com) has a good related-articles feature. This lists items related to the current article according to which category they fall into, or according to similarity in key words in title or body.

Decision 18 — how do we gain subscribers?

There are two aspects to gaining subscribers: first, there are various sources where e-mail addresses can be collected; secondly, there is selling the benefits of the newsletter so that potential subscribers are happy to give up their e-mail address. You may want to refer back to Chapter 4, where approaches to gain customer e-mail addresses were covered in more detail. This explains maximizing our use of online and offline touchpoints with our audiences to explain the proposition, and offer the opportunity to opt-in without building too many barriers.

On the web site, we need to ask these three questions to maximize sign-up:

1. Is our opt-in given enough prominence? Is it on the home page? Is it 'above the fold'? Is there enough screen real-estate devoted to it? Is our archive and proposition indexed by search engines? Is it prominent throughout the site?

2. Is our proposition clear? Does the messaging say more than 'opt-in to our e-newsletter'? Does the sign-up page highlight the benefits? Are the benefits for different audiences clearly described? Is the quality of content demonstrated through an archive or example newsletter?

3. Can we overcome barriers to subscription? Reassure potential subscribers that you will not be overloading them with e-mail. Show how the newsletter will be relevant and targeted. Reassure them that details will not be passtd on to third parties by using those six magic words: 'we will not share your information'.

E-NEWSLETTERS - DEFINING AND REFINING Part 9

Decision 15 — marketing communications integration

There is a tendency to plan our e-mail newsletters with blinkers on. If this happens, we lose opportunities to leverage the strengths of different media for different purposes. Here are some ideas on how to avoid this:

• Use the e-newsletter to preview future offers and product developments before other media. Highlight unique web offers — this will be an incentive for audiences to open the e-newsletter.
• Use the e-newsletters to reinvigorate recent or current campaigns or promotions that were first highlighted in other media.
• Use the e-newsletter to give more detail than the offline newsletter or house magazine provides — refer visitors to the online version and reduce the size and cost of the offline communication. Alternatively, put the whole magazine online, as with http:// www.easyjetinflight.com.
• Rather than referring the media or other audiences to press releases or a media centre, refer them first to an e-newsletter item. This will give them a more complete picture of what the company stands for, and your current news.

Decision 16 — e-mail integration

Alongside the e-mail newsletter, there will be many other e-mail communications from an organization. This leads to decisions about what is the best way to break major news such as a product launch or upgrade.

I have seen newsletters where a major initiative such as a product launch or an event invitation becomes lost in all the other news items. Many newsletter templates could be improved by avoiding the newsletter being a list of items with similar weightings. This danger can be reduced through themed subject lines, or an e-mail newsletter design that gives precedence to certain items and is not too long. However, the danger of diluting the message still occurs. In the case of the product launch, it is best to use a separate e-mail to give this message. The opt-in form should give this option, so that the e-mail received is in keeping with the subscriber's expectations.

Decision 17 — web-site integration

One of the benefits of e-newsletters, compared with their paper-based equivalents, is the ability to deliver a large amount of valuable information at a low cost. Of course, this is a double-edged sword. Too much information will make the e-newsletter unwieldy, and your message will not get across or the recipients will not be able to locate the information relevant to them. So when you want to convey a lot of information, as is the case with many newsletters, you have to decide on the split of content between the e-mail newsletter and the web site, where more detailed content may be hosted.

To simplify an example, let's say this newsletter contains just three different content areas, or three different articles. The options are:

1. Minimal content in e-mail, full content on web site in multiple pages. Here, the e-newsletter contains the links and a very short summary of the article, linking through to the full article on the web site. This has the benefit that the newsletter can be scanned very rapidly by the recipient for articles of interest. However, there is no indication of the quality or relevance of the content, which is possible with approaches (3) to (5). It also less easy for the other articles to be read than in the next option, (2).

2. Minimal content in e-mail, full content on web site in a single page. As in the previous case, the e-mail has limited information, but on clicking through to the web site a single page newsletter is presented that contains all the articles. This has the benefit that the interested reader can rapidly find the information in all articles.

Building Brand Awareness

Powerful companies with large promotional budgets are reinforcing their competitive advantage through strong advertising offline as well as online. In 1998, the rage cost of building a national online brand was about $5-10 million. In 000, it cost $50-100 million, a tenfold increase. In 1999, 40 per cent of web-development budget was going on towards marketing, with more than 80 per of all television commercials in the USA featuring a Web address and 30 cent promoting an individual Web site (Lindstrom, 1999). Excessive spending brand-building without compensating revenues can be blamed for the down- of many dotcoms. Many of those that survive have incurred significant cost. According to Haigh 00), AOL has so far spent $2 billion on building its brand identity and Yahoo! 00 million.

Web site promotion is becoming more sophisticated, but there is always the danger of targeting the wrong audience, which was estimated to be the case in many as 70 per cent of 1999 campaigns. This has led to a quest for a more effective way. Some companies have been quite creative. For example, Orange Technologies, during the launch of a special youth product, offered to repaint its customers' cars free of charge. The only condition was that Orange would choose the colour. (Guess which one!) After just one day, 24 cars had been painted, at the cost to Orange of $4,200. Even giants like Yahoo! have resorted to creative, inexpensive offline promotions. Chauffeurs holding signs at airports to pick up 'Mr Yahoo!' have actually been corporate promotions (Lindstrom 1999). Gimmicks like this resulted in extensive free publicity for such companies in the media in the early days of the Internet. Small companies have found it hard to compete with these levels of expenditure, and hence need to be particularly creative in order to maximize the value of small promotional budgets. Many advertisers have adopted the now widespread use of banner advertisements as branding tools rather than transactional tools. 'There is absolutely a branding opportunity for advertisers on the Web,' says Jim Nail, senior analyst at Forrester Research, in Cambridge, Massachusetts (Heim, 2001). A good example is the Visa credit card company (ww w.visa.com), which in the past has blanketed the Web with banner advertisements. The consistency of the Visa brand has been likened to a reader consistently seeing the same advertisement on the back of a magazine. This in effect is helping Visa to solidify its brand image. Nevertheless, research undertaken by Dahlen (2001) on banner effectiveness has found that there are major differences between the performances of banner advertisements for familiar and unfamiliar brands. Unfamiliar brands initially perform badly, with very low click-through rates, but with repeated exposures the response rate increases. Familiar brands initially attract interest but customers quickly get bored with their campaigns, and response rates fall. Moreover, major differences were found between novice and expert Internet users with regard to their relative susceptibility to Web advertising. Dahlen therefore recommends that unfamiliar brand banner advertisements should have long-term goals, allowing multiple advertising exposures. For familiar brands, on the other hand, there should not be a long-term goal, as the advertisements quickly 'wear out'.

BRAND CONVERGENCE

Creating a strong brand both online and offline involves far more than the 'look and feel' of the Web home page, the logo or the new brochure. The very essence of a strong brand philosophy is the way in which the staff serves customers - a key part of creating brand convergence. Whether the customers are surfing the Web site or using the service offline, the organization must ensure consistency of all 'customer touch points' to create a single, comprehensive and memorable brand. This involves significant management and staff training, motivation and constant follow-up. Striking the right balance between online and offline delivery systems to satisfy and deepen customers' relationships and maintain the uniqueness of the brand has to be the key to success. A convergent brand strategy has to address some or all of the following issues:

• Which are the channels that the customers find best suited for delivery of each service: a branch, telephone or online?
• Are the marketing strategic plans adequate to support integrated delivery through all the channels?
• Are the staff motivated and appropriately trained? Remember, a `convergent brand' will have an impact on all areas of the organization.

Ensuring integration of high-touch/high-tech delivery channels, creating consistent, differentiated brand and maintaining acceptable operating costs customer will be essential for survival. Offering customers relevant services building a strong brand image in this way are seen as vital for the future of industries such as banking (Weber and Seibert 2001).

Getting the Go Ahead: Cost, Timing and Glamour

The project champions found what they were looking for in the shape of a new, network-based training tool, the Network Training and Communications System (NTCS), with Corporate Communications as the project sponsor. In early lobbying for the project, its champions presented the following vision:

Corporate Communications plans to revolutionize the Bank's training and communication strategy through an exciting business vision known as the Network Training and Communications Service (NTCS). In branches, NTCS will be delivered via one or more (depending on the size of the branch) PCs. These PCs will be powerful multimedia machines that run a web browser and have a "network" connection (yet to be fully defined). NTCS will support intranet access and interactive training and will provide the hardware, software and network frame^work for running and managing of (CD-based) multimedia training and collecting trainee data via the web browser. All these facilities will be accessed and managed via the web browser on the PC.

While this pitch evidently attempted to capitalize on the glamour of multimedia and the World Wide Web (WWW), in the event, what made NTCS so attractive to the bank's IT strategists was its timeliness. The expected imminent arrival of the Euro would soon necessitate widespread training for bank staff, an extremely costly investment as the Bank must pay not only for the instructors, but also for venues, and foot the transport and accommodation bill for trainees. In addition, the bank loses the work of that employee for the period of the course. Corporate Communications argued that delivering training over a corporate intranet, using NTCS, would greatly minimise or, in some cases, even eliminate these costs. One of the project champions explained the business case somewhat more prosaically as follows:

The original benefits [of the earlier pilot intranet project] were the cost of printing the phone book, calls to switchboard, directory enquiries calls. With the combination of training, costs were saved regarding costs of transport and accommodation incurred sending people for training plus the time lost through them being away.

The Customer Lifecycle

How do you monitor your customer throughout the lifecycle? Each customer enters the buying process at a different stage. This is most apparent with technology products and is not necessarily transferable to a commodity.

However, the Internet is, in essence, a technology product from an adoption perspective. Understanding how the customer interacts with your site or your products and when will help you target the correct intervention point. Pinpointing your communications to lifecycle stages will avoid a shotgun effect and will solidify your relationship with your customer as an evolutionary process.

Identifying Your Most Valuable Customers

You can identify your top customers by analyzing historical sales for dollar volume and frequency of repeat purchases. The data must be carefully analyzed because repeat customers can be more valuable over time than one-time, large ticket item purchasers. This analysis must then be matched up with the demographics and other attributes and characteristics you've previously identified in your customer segmentation. Integrating all of these elements gives you a good picture of your key customers. You will also need to include customers you want to have in your cultivation plan.

The opportunity equals the combination of customer retention and the value of all future profit plus those customers you deem to be potentially valuable over the lifecycle—minus the investment required to keep and to acquire them. It also includes future profit made by referrals. Prospective customers who visit your website prior to purchase are much more likely to become buyers than to become non-visitors.

Investments in personalization, promotions, and communications depend on the ranked value of your customers.

It's equally important to establish the identity of the consumers that do not measure up. Spending time and money on this group drains the company of the ability to cultivate new and more attractive customers.

Direct mail companies use a similar technique to determine their mailing investment to each customer segment. After dividing the customer base into ten equal groups, they then rank based on profit potential. These companies must ensure the cost of catalogs is worth the ultimate customer value.

After customer segments are defined, the data are incorporated into future forecasts to make product selection, pricing, inventory management, and promotion decisions.

Business-to-Business Relationships

Up to this point, we have used the terms "customer" and "consumer" interchangeably. Consumer package goods companies normally focus on the consumer as the end user and reserve "customer" for other businesses, resellers, and distributors. Manufacturers and retailers with business-to-business relationships know that these customer relationships can be among the most profitable.

A one-to-one system with a company must still focus on an individual. Each functional area will approach the relationship uniquely. Depending on whether you're dealing with a professional purchaser, a technical specifier, or an administrative assistant, the customer's needs will vary. Simplifying routine purchases by offering custom lists or access to prior purchase invoices is critical for those tasked with frequent purchasing responsibilities. Ordering expensive or technical products may require justification and additional information.

Environmental information should be easily accessible along with health and safety materials data. Customized web pages address individual company requirements and purchaser needs. Automated ordering and delivery systems can be linked to other systems for integrated purchasing, billing, and supply-chain management.

Many mid-sized companies worldwide will use or plan to use the Internet to purchase supplies and equipment in the near future. While personal calls by sales reps could be construed as true one-on-one marketing, busy business managers perceive time as money. They don't want a sales pitch: they want to order and receive services their way. Convenience, speed, and cost are the main drivers.

Usage Behavior

We've examined shopping behavior, lifestyle, demographics, and other factors that influence customer purchasing and loyalty. How products are used, at home or in business, may also have an impact on web-based shopping. For instance, if a web designer knows that a customer routinely purchases a spare product in addition to a regular order, he may bundle two products together or offer an online reminder. If segment data confirm that most customers purchase two products together, a promotion may be offered to customers still purchasing the single item.

Historical purchasing data will be useful to monitor usage behavior. The best way to thoroughly understand customers and how they use the products they purchase is to visit representatives of your top segments in their homes or offices. Following them for a day or two will give you invaluable insight that you cannot achieve in a sterile test environment.

The analysis of customer behavior over time must be measured to get an accurate picture of usage. This is best managed with a permanent program rather than a one-time research project.

Predicting the Success of the Customer Relationship

Relationships between customers and merchants are very much like other typical relationships between people. Understanding what makes a relationship successful with your employees, spouse, children, or co-workers helps you determine how to measure a good relationship with a customer.

Relationship studies conducted by the University of Denver indicate that marital failure is predictable to a surprising degree. This means that, for many couples, the seeds of divorce are present prior to marriage. The study was grounded in understanding how to prevent marital failure and determining how prediction can lead to better interventions designed to help couples reduce the risk of divorce.

Dr. Howard Markman, Department of Psychology at the University of Denver has identified the steps in a relationship and potential danger signs and patterns in his book, Fighting for Your Marriage: Positive Steps for Preventing Divorce and Preserving a Lasting Love (JosseyBass, 2001).

Once a relationship is established by two partners, problems can develop. Escalation occurs, which can be resolved, ignored or neglected. Continued neglect implies invalidation, and contempt usually follows. Negative interpretations, withdrawal and avoidance lead to indifference. These are danger signs and patterns of a relationship headed for failure.

The same patterns and principles can be applied to the customer relationship. By reducing risk factors and increasing protective elements, you can preserve a fragile relationship. How the customer "feels" at every point of contact with an online store influences the relationship. Points of contact can be shopping on the website, asking a question of the customer service department, returning a product, or tracking an order. At each of these touch points, a customer must feel important, appreciated and respected.

The large group of people called "customers" must now be narrowed down to specific individuals. When you think of these individuals less as "targets" and more as "partners," you begin to get the idea of how powerful a relationship can be. The customer is not someone we do something "to"—the customer is someone we do something "for." It's a symbiotic relationship in which we have to give something of value.

Shrinking the World

If e-commerce mirrored the actual composition of the world, it would be very diverse. Marianne Williamson, noted author and speaker on world issues, presents a new way to look at the people of the world:

"If we could at this time shrink the Earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the human ratios remaining the same, it would look like this:

1. There would be 57 Asians, 21 Europeans, 14 from the Western Hemisphere (North and South), and 8 Africans.
2. Seventy would be nonwhite; 30 white.
3. Fifty percent of the entire world's wealth would be in the hands of only six people. All six would be citizens of the United States.
4. Seventy would be unable to read.
5. Fifty would suffer from malnutrition.
6. Eighty would live in substandard housing.
7. Only one would have a college education.

As web shopping gains adoption throughout the world, human factors engineering becomes even more critical. The Internet used to be a domain of technology aficionados and game-playing teens. Truly understanding the customer and designing for the future demands that you stay abreast of the changes in the population at large as well as feel the pulse of the shopping environment.

Major changes are usually addressed at the strategic level of a business. Yet, as soon as a belief about the customer is ingrained in a corporation's culture, it tends to be perpetuated. That's why many major corporations still believe that Internet use in the U.S. is dominated by men.

Subtle changes are even more difficult to acknowledge or track. Continual customer contact, whether through individual or group research, is the primary guard against complacency. Monitoring secondary research and staying in touch with customer advocacy groups will give dimension to growing customer needs.

Often, one channel will spot change faster than another. Even if your company uses only one channel—a pure-play web merchant, for example—it's still critical to understand how the customer shops in a variety of modes, what they prefer in each, and how a best practice can be replicated in another domain. Each channel can learn from the other because they take different approaches toward helping the customer have the best possible shopping experience.