This may be an irrelevent digression but its been occupying my mind for a
couple of years!
I don't think the answer ("the new business model") lies in any particular
technology platform, be it CD ROM, hybrid, internet, extranet. As a
publisher, I think it is more a question of asking "what market segment do
you want to own?".
If you are going to be a market leader in any segment then what resources
are you prepared to bring to bear to really "know" the user (and maintain
the commercial relationship).
Sure, content is king, but the new business model is also about intuitive
navigation/link managment and providing new levels of customer service not
possible in traditional "product" based publishing models.
I don't think the investor market has been able to work out the real value
of information Brands. Is this the reason why they are so keen to invest in
new entrants?
Martin Hyndman
Sweet & Maxwell Ltd
100 Avenue Road
London NW3 3PF
UK
+44 (0) 171 393 7175
[log in to unmask]
http://www.smlawpub.co.uk
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Richard Poynder [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Monday, January 11, 1999 11:25 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Cc: [log in to unmask] ac. uk
> Subject: RE: After portals - hubs and home bases ?
>
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: [log in to unmask]
> > [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Ian Tilsed
> > Sent: 11 January 1999 10:56
> > To: Richard Poynder
> > Cc: [log in to unmask] ac. uk
> > Subject: Re: After portals - hubs and home bases ?
> >
> >
> > On Mon, 11 Jan 1999 10:35:31 -0000 Richard Poynder
> > <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >
> > > Based on how they describe themselves to journalists they are all
> > > simply whatever the latest fashionable term is. The problem with
> > > the term portal, people have discovered, is that a portal is a
> > > doorway, rather than a destination. So they just pass through --
> > > not much good for attracting advertising dollars, or for selling
> > > content!
> >
> > So why did Excite invest $70 million in Netscape for the right to
> > sell advertising space for Netcenter (the Netscape portal) last year?
> > According to Excite officials, in just the first two months the
> > company sold $21 million of Netcenter advertising space.
> >
> > I would tend to agree , however, that there seem to be several
> > different definitions of the 'portal' concept.
>
> Because a) everyone is desperately trying to find a business model,
> and using the now ubiquitious web mode of 'suck it and see' and
> b) companies are advertising on these 'portals' for the same reason.
> But will they continue to?
>
> The issue I guess is: 'where in the long term does the business model
> lie?'
> No one yet
> knows, but with a lot of investors' money to throw around these companies
> are trying everything
> they can. Once investors stop throwing money at the web, and advertisers
> seriously question
> the value of advertising on these sites, the situation will
> look very different. The question for services like BioMedNet and ChemWeb,
> like
> all the consumer portals out there, is: if they continue to throw money at
> developing these sites when will (if ever) they achieve a long-term
> business
> model? And what
> is the most likely successful model? In the same way we can see large
> media
> companies like Time Warner and Disney moving in to this space, so in the
> professional information market companies like Reed Elsever are buying
> into
> them. Apart from
> anything else, they are the only people with deep enough pockets to take
> the gamble!
>
> Aware of the likely short-term nature of these advertising revenues the
> focus is shifting rapidly
> to e-commerce. Here a whole range of different issues come into play.
>
> There is an interesting piece around this at:
>
> http://www.news.com/News/Item/0%2C4%2C30682%2C00.html
>
>
> The added problem for professional sites is that they are not even getting
> the kind of
> short-term advertising dollars that the consumer portals are attracting.
>
> Richard Poynder
> Freelance Journalist
> http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/parade/df04/
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|