The Net According to Jerry

Internet College, the half-day seminar that helps kick off the annual promo Expo conference in Chicago, benefited for the second consecutive year by the presence of Jerry Shereshewsky. Jerry’s the Yoda of Web marketing, his digital-age experience running back to the ’70s when he worked the Atari account at Young & Rubicam. He founded Yoyodyne and developed the concept of “permission marketing” with partner Seth Godin, and the two sold out to Yahoo for a bundle last year. Jerry leads direct marketing at Yahoo now, the sage and silver-tongued old Madison Avenue wizard bringing historical perspective to the Net geeks.

Jerry’s one of those guys with an adage for every occasion (though he humbly admits he’s incapable of making up any himself), like this one he used to sum up the often misplaced zealousness of mass media: “When you’re a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”

Whether right or wrong (we have a hunch he’s right, though), Shereshewsky’s take on Internet marketing is so clearly focused we couldn’t help but run down the high points for you here, even if you didn’t cough up Internet College tuition. We start with his answer to the commonly asked question, “Is the Internet just another form of media?”

“No,” he replies, and here’s his amplification:

“Media frequency is expensive. There are not any significant discounts for doing it more often. And no one can afford to do it enough, not Coke and not Pepsi.

“On the Net, reach is more expensive. A banner ad is not as impactful or as intrusive as a TV ad, and most people are not interested in clicking your banner. But once people do click your banner and you get permission to talk to them, frequency is free.”

You’ve also tunneled straight through to your core market. Shereshewsky likens banner ads to highway signs. “Say you’re driving to Chicago and you see an exit sign that says, `Cleveland, 47 miles.’ The great majority of us are going to pay no attention to it. We’ve got to get to Chicago for an appointment. But every so often a guy will see that sign and say, `Hmmm, Cleveland’s got a great baseball stadium, a great symphony, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I think I’m going to check it out,’ and he’ll take the exit. Cleveland has attracted the guy it really wants, and that’s what banner ads do.”

Next follows the permission-marketing tango: “Things get sold,” says Shereshewsky, “to people who have granted permission and get persuaded.”

On the Net, marriage is better than a one-night stand, holds Shereshewsky. So you start with dating via e-mail and, just as in romance, the first few dates (sales) are the most costly. “You get to know each other a little bit, and over time you each expose more of yourself. Permission can’t be bought or sold, it must be granted, and it can be revoked at any time,” he says. “But permission can also be deepened over time.”

Not every marketer is seeking such intimate relationships, nor are all suited for it. Shereshewsky counsels the Net is important to you if you . . .

. . . have an allowable. That is, a commitment to a definite ROI on marketing expenditure that determines the profitability of your business.

. . . need to eliminate risk. A Web dialogue with customers can help limit financial, performance, or social liability through closer identification.

. . . have a complex story to tell. Think pharmaceuticals or college educations.

Not everybody needs a substantial Web presence (“Who in God’s name goes to jello.com?”) or even a Web site at all. “Don’t worry about real estate on the Web,” Shereshewsky says. “Worry about results.”

Sounds like promotion to us. “The Web,” Jerry told our Internet College class, “is a sales promotion heaven.”

Viva Belgium! We have just returned from promo Expo and the World PRO Awards of Excellence gala, where the Best Promotion in the World award went to the Karamba agency of Brussels for its Rolling Rock on-premise program. Using simple yet arresting creative that accentuated the beer brand’s green bottle and American heritage, Karamba managed to dig deep roots for the Latrobe, PA, brew in a land of sophisticated competitors. Well done, Karamba.

WatersMolitor of Minneapolis was also a big winner, repeating its sweep in the U.S. competition to take four Worlds for its work with SnackWell’s and Malt-O-Meal.

See the complete coverage on page 51. Congratulations to all!