The Internet and the Industrial Marketer - Internet Marketing Australia

For most of us the passing of millennium occurred more than 8 years ago and we partied like its 1999. Unfortunately Industrial Commodity Manufacturers and their Industrial Distributors at that time were breathing a sigh of relief that the Internet dot com bubble had just burst and maybe they could go back to their stodgy trade shows, printed literature, long product launch cycles, and their beloved Amazon rain forest killer, Thomas Register. The September 11th 2001 World Trade Center attacks helped solidify their message that their mediocre growth can be blamed on a poor economy, after all the competition was in the exact same boat.

In contrast, Amazon.com had promised that we may never have to enter a shopping mall again, and allowed us to purchase products in our pajamas, and for everything we bought, they would offer complimentary items; the cross-sell. FedEx had switched off their phones and laid off their customer service tracking team in favor of a self-service website that allowed us to track our own packages. And the epitome of them all, the once stodgy banking industry, that invented the term banking hours (remember driving white knuckled at 100mph down Main Street at 2:55pm to deposit that check before 3:00pm only to be greeted by a teller turning the open sign on the door to closed, whilst simultaneously pointing at her watch, mouthing "come back on Monday."), have completely embraced the value of customer self-service, by offering on-line banking and ATM service at a relatively small cost to us; so why do we do it? Value! The banks have in theory freed up their tellers to work on more value added customer service such as writing loans and selling bonds. I salute the banking industry for having the foresight to change a once dull industry and completely reinvent themselves, imagine, actually charging us for doing their work. Brilliant! And don't get me started on supermarket self-service checkouts.

There cannot be an industry that is more tailored to Internet Marketing than the Industrial C- item Commodity Manufacturing Sector. An unglamorous industry with unglamorous products like fasteners, bearings, gauges, switches, etc. that thrives on 3 simple business processes; do you make it? What is my price? When can I get it? This has self-service, cost avoidance, revenue generation, first-mover advantage, brand recognition, channel support, a level of personal security and a sense of well being written all over it.