A Study of Various Tools For Making A Website As A Brand

A Study Of Various Tools For Making A Website As A Brand
A STUDY OF VARIOUS TOOLS FOR MAKING A WEBSITE AS A BRAND
SUBMITTED IN THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT OF TWO-YEAR FULL TIME COURSE OF MBA
Submitted by: RAHUL 01/RDMB/2002
Submitted to: MS. VANDANA PRUTHI (PROJECT COORDINATOR)
RUKMINI DEVI INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED STUDIES (AFFILIATED TO G.G.S.I.P.U, DELHI.)

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The fulfillment of any research project work is in consequence of integrated effort of a number of people. This project report has been possible only through the guidance and help of many people. I hereby take an opportunity to express my sincere thanks to all those for their help and guidance. I would like to express my genuine gratitude to my project Guide at RDIAS, Ms. Vandana Pruthi for her valuable guidance in research and analysis through out the project. With her unfaltering support and direction, I have been able to complete this project and learn a lot. I finally thank all those friends who helped me in the completion of this project.
RAHUL (01/RDMB/2002)
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The reach of Internet in India has been 110 million now as compared to 593,000 million in 1998. With over 10 million of websites are available there needs to be some differentiating factor for them. A popular author in marketing Al Ries put forward 11 laws of Internet branding. This research effort tries to check the veracity of those laws. Out of those 11 laws, 7 laws have been borne out by this research while 4 laws have not been found true. The laws borne out by the research are: law of interactivity, law of generic name, law of proper name, law of advertisement, law of singularity, law of vanity, law of time. The laws not borne out are: law of divergence, law of either/or, law of transformation, law of globalism. While Al Ries work has an immensely readable style and his work is commercially successful. This research effort does not find all his laws to be correct. By the research, it has been founded that e-brand should ensure easier navigation first and then on interactivity, as e-brand loses 25% of its customers with every click. Internet brands, which are having generic name, were recalled less. There was significant difference between the generic and proper name e-brands recalled. So brand name selection should be proper. Regarding the medium of awareness, both online and offline medium plays significant role as per the research finding, so its not true at this introduction stage of web, about offline medium playing more significant role than online medium. Also viral marketing plays significant role in e branding regarding the awareness of e-brands. But the respondents lacks trust on the e-brands having only net presence. Al Ries says about the law of singularity regarding the presence of e-brands, which do not hold true in all categories. For e-mail services it do not hold, where as in jobs and search engine it holds. There have been certain limitations to study regarding literature gap and also all the laws of Internet branding cannot be tested, as they all are not research based. However certain guidelines for e-brands mentioned are helpful for building and surviving an e-Brand.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction 2. Growth and Usage of Internet 3. Significance and need of the study 4. Review Of Literature 5. Research Objective 6. Research Methodology 7. Sampling Design 8. Data Collection 9. Data Analysis 10. Limitations 11. Findings of the Study 12. Conclusion 13. Suggestions and Recommendations 14. Bibliography
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INTRODUCTION Growth And Usage Of Internet

Time is money. And probably the quickest way to save time and create business, thereby generating income, is through e-commerce. But there is still a relevant question related to whether e-commerce business between consumer and the marketer would, in future, completely outplace the retail business currently taking place at the retail outlets. Though on average, Internet sales are around 1% of total detail sale, the question is justified given the stupendous growth of E-commerce in the event past, the immense growth potential.
This is Indian-growth of E-Commerce

Year 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 Totalcommerce transactions (Rs. Cr) 450 3500 15,000 B2C (Rs. Cr) 50 300 18,00 B2B (Rs. Cr.) 400 3200 13,200
But let us look at some facts, Internet has taken 5 yrs to active a critical mass of 50 million less, which radio took 38 yrs to achieve, television 13 yrs and cable 10 yrs. This suggests the rapid acceptance of Internet as a medium of connectivity and commerce. But in India, a survey says Internet is used by 92% for e-mails only.
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INDIA GROWTH OF INTERNET

YEAR March, March, March, March, March, 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 INTERNET (Million) 0.28 0.9 2.5 10 15 CONNECTION USER (Million) 1.4 2.8 8.0 32 50
Internet access continues to be most widespread amongst the 1824 yrs. Age group. However, all age groups have seen vast increase in access over the last 18 months. A significant development is that almost 11% of people over the age of 40 now access the Internet. As per an IRS study in 2000 (Indian readership survey) the reach of Internet has increased by 77.57% growth compared to Last yr. So Globally also the Internet commerce revenues are expected to increase from $48.6 on in 1998 to $525 billion in 2002 to $1 million by 2010. Globally, 59.2% use the Internet as an information resource, 11.3% use it as an educational tool and just fewer than 8.2% use it for entertainment. When asked about what are the most frequently used service Online was 73.4% answered email, 77% answered search engines and 23% said they use it for down load/uploading software. Males continue to outnumber females in accessing the Internet at 77% compared to 23%. This has however increased from ratio of 82:18 in 2000. The survey findings also point to the fact that Indias achieve Internet population would spend close to 3.2 percent of its total regular household spending through Internet purchase, by 2003. (Source: NASSCOM site)
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Base on these preliminary findings, experts, concluded that penetration of Internet in India The prime reason for this is the lack of interactivity with offline brands. They are passive. Offline brands can only communicate one way via television, print and radio. Online brands Listen to the consumer, Learn from them and fact based on the consumers needs. This new skill is an online brands strongest assets. It enables the brand owner to form a one to one relationship with the consumer brands can be evolved much quicker on the Internet said Soderstorm. Thats because of the consistent feed back you get and the ability to see where uses are going one you site.
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BRAND :( according to Philip Kotler, (2002))

Brands are often confused with logos or trademarks. A trade is a distinguishing name, sign, symbol or design or some combination of them that identifies the good or services of one seller. Where as a brand is a distinctive identify that differentiates a relevant, enduring and credible promise of value associated with a product, service or organization and indicates the source of that promise? The best brand conveys a warranty of quality. Brand conveys up to 6 levels of meaning: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. ATTRIBUTES BENEFITS VALUES CULTURE PERSONALITY USER
Marketers must decide at which level(s) to anchor the brands identity. The most enduring of a brand are the values, culture and personality. They define the brands essence. But e-brand is different from traditional retail brand. There have been a lot of problems with the literature as no definition of e- brand was given. As per the definition of e-brand: The presence of a brand on the web is in the form of any site. For example yahoo.com and amazon.com are e- brands.
BRANDING:
Every one of us has grown up with some brand images in our mind. Ralph Lauren, reminds, use of clothing Marlboro reminds us of tobacco the Jenson & Nicholson campaign goes like this is a brand name? Broadly, it is an announcement of an identity. What is it that a brand name generates? A brand name generates a favourable perception in the minds of the customer. The role brand name has played in establishing undisputed. Kings in the commercial world needs no peculiar mention. How has Internet influenced branding?
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ONLINE BRANDING: (According to Andrew, ref: andrew.cmu.edu)

Online branding is an altogether different ballgame when compared to its offline counterpart. Online firms are trying to emulate certain practices for brand building in a totally new environment. In these days of precision web marketing, what role does branding play? According to the noted Commentator on web-based marketing Ms. Deborah Kania, No Matter what useful an cool one to one will increase by leaps and bounds. It took more than 50 years for Coca Cola to become a worldwide market leader, but only five years for online search engine yahoo! to gain market dominance. The role has created a vacuum between offline and online brands. Whether you are building into your website or within your online marketing program, branding is much more important A great website with uncommon or negative brand is no better than a great brand with a poor website. The most successful web sites today exhibit both great web design/functionality and great branding. While traditional offline brands are having difficulty figuring out how to use to web to promote its brands, online brands are increasing the use of traditional media to drive new customer website traffic. The Internet brands are trying to woo people with some to the classical branding strategies, while facing competition from the traditional brands trying to replicate them on the Internet. So what are the challenges to building a brand Online? For both the traditional and the online business, the web officer its when challenges as a branding tool. Some of These challenges have been: 1. Audience: May large Brands have stayed away from the web for fear that there werent enough people to justify a presence. Other brands see the web as a means to do some branding in specific target markets. Although the web has not presented huge audiences for many brands its a great way to find that special audience that represents the best customers segment.
2. Technology: The data that present day Internet offers is too slow for tried and true branding techniques like audio and video to be used as branding tool. But the interactive capabilities that
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the web offers, goes one step ahead of what could be achieved with earlier branding technique.
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3. Impersonal nature of the web: Traditional branding counts on the ability of the brand to make an emotional connection with the audience. Many people feel that the web can be very impersonal and is only for technique. Actually, if done light, interactive applications and one-to-one technologies can make the web more personal that other media can.
Need for branding in Cyberspace:

Branding in cyberspace is important to both traditional companies and those that have started up on the net for the first time. Many wellestablished companies have already gained a significant presence on the Internet, if not, they will lose sales and customer loyalty to some of the new net-based companies. The two main issues for companies today are how to extend their existing brand image through this new medium, the Internet, and now to minimize the loss of business from virtual competitor. If they are not yet Inline, it may be matter of recapturing the business they have already lost. Getting online fast is good for traditional companies for these reasons. Besides, their current degree of brand awareness is something they can capitalize on when they go online. Infact, the dominance on the net by the new Net only brands is fast reversing, as established brands fight back with new online initiatives. For the newer net-based companies, the task is to build their brands as fast as possible to gain a strong position and market share. If they can gain brand recognition before the established players make their moves, well and good. There is only a small window of opportunity for new firms to build their brands, as there are over 10 million web sites now and differentiation is becoming very difficult. Thus, they have to establish their own unique identity and gain a favourable image before other net-based or real world competitors do so. But just brand awareness wouldnt build the brand trust as shown by a survey that brand last minute. Com was recognized by 84% of research population, but only 17% says that they would trust the brand. Although companies are spending heavily on advertisement and promotion without never been exposed to the power of branding.
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BENEFITS OF E-BRANDS: (as per Dr. Nagasimha, assistant

professor, marketing, IIM-B, (2000)) 1. 2. 3. 4. Transaction cost economizing Efficient channel alternative Interactivity Mass media
Framework for Branding on the Internet:

1. Be consistent with your real world branding and personality. Maintaining brand identity is essential to those brands moving to the web. For companies creating a totally new online brand, try profiling your target audience by personality characteristics. Once personality in created, then site should reflect the same. 2. Make things easy: It would make sense to license easy navigation and to avoid playing unrelated information in their paths. 3. Boost the experience with interactivity 4. Make your brand easy to find. 5. Establish trust and deliver on the brand promise Guarantees of privacy and refunds, good-quality products and services and services recovery are vital to the development of trust and loyalty online. 6. Develop Brand Speed, simplicity, style and substance: A well-planned web site also provides impressive pre- sale and postsale brand experience. In case of Amazon.com, its visitors are bombarded by book reviews and constantly encouraged to subunit their personal views on specific topics or book titles. 7. Look for a unique brand category positioning In order to stand out of the crowd unique brand category positioning should be looked. But choosing a unique brand category positioning needs to be limited. Amazon.com for example, occupies the category positioning of online bookstore, but this does not mean that there is no other category positioning in online books.
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SIGNIFICANCE AND NEED FOR THE STUDY

With the over 10 million websites are available there needs to be some differentiating factor for them so branding of web came into concept although companies are spending heavily on advertisement and promotion without never been exposed to the power of branding. So this suggests companies need to develop alternative e- branding strategies that reflect and leverage customer behavior online. Branding on the web is very different from the typical consumer branding so the need of study is there in this respect. It is a relatively young art form. There are practically no books and literature available on specifically e-brands. Generic branding books do not apply to the web, so no. Of web site owners who have never been exposed to the power of branding will be benefited. This study will also be useful in filling up the literature gap and helpful to further researchers.
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REVIEW OF LITERATURE
THE 11 IMMUTABLE LAWS OF INTERNET BRANDING: Ries and Ries had given 11 immutable laws of Internet branding as the expertise to branding on the online, the most challenging problem in the world of marketing today. These laws of Internet branding are valuable guide for those who operate, work or invest in e-business. 1. The law of Either /Or 2. The law of Interactivity 3. The law of the Common name 4. The law of the Proper name 5. The law of Singularity 6. The law of Advertisement 7. The law of Globalism 8. The law of Time 9. The law of Vanity 10. The law of Divergence 11. The law of Transformation
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1. The Law of Either/Or

The Internet can be a business or a medium, but not both. If the Internet is going to be a business, then you must start from scratch. You must develop a totally new brand with a new strategy and (most important of all) a totally new name. If the Internet is going to be a medium, then you can use your existing brand name. The Internet becomes a complement to or a replacement for existing media be they radio, television, direct mail, newspapers, magazines. How can you tell whether the Internet is a business or a medium for your brand? You need to ask yourself the following questions: 1. Is the brand tangible or intangible? For tangible products the Internet tends to be a medium. For intangible products, a business. 2. Is the brand fashionable or not? For fashionable products the Internet tends to be a medium. For other products, a business. 3. Is the product available in thousands of variations? If so, the Internet tends to be a business. 4. Is low price a significant factor in the brand's purchase? If so, the Internet tends to be a business. 5. Are shipping costs a significant factor as compared to the purchase price? If so, the Internet tends to be a medium No one factor, of course, will determine whether your brand should be a business on the Internet or whether the Net is just another medium to promote your brand. You have to carefully consider all the factors before you decide.
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2. The Law of Interactivity
Without it, your Website and your brand will go nowhere. Not since television took off in the early fifties has the nation seen such a technological revolution as the Internet. There is a relationship between television and the Internet. Each is a mass-communications medium. And nothing on earth affects more people in a more powerful way than the introduction of a major new mass-communications medium. We believe that history will rank the Internet as the greatest of all media. And the reason is simple. The Internet is the only masscommunications medium that allows interactivity. On the Internet a brand lives or dies in an interactive era. In the long run, interactivity will define what works on the Internet and what doesn't work. The secret to branding on the Internet is your ability to present your brand in such a way that your customers and prospects can interact with your message. It bears repeating. The difference between the Internet and every other medium is "interactivity." Unless your site has this crucial ingredient, it is going to get lost in cyberspace.
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3. The Law of the Common Name

The kiss of death for an Internet brand is a common name. In pre-Internet days, a brand always had a visual component. While the name was the most important element, the visual also influenced the brand's purchase. The Internet wipes out the visual. To tap into a Website, you type in a word. No pictures, no colors, no typography, no look, no location. If the name is so critical, then why are most brand names on the web so bad? That's putting it mildly. Most Internet brand names are not bad; they're terrible. Some typical Internet brands include: Cooking.com, Flower.com, Garden.com, Gifts.com, Individual.com, Mail.com, Office.com, Phone.com, Wine.com. What's wrong with these brand names? They're all common or generic names. Will some of these generic names be successful? Sure. In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. In the absence of competition, people will buy from a site with a common name. But as sites are set up with strong "proper" brand names, the common name sites are going to dry up and blow away. You have to win in the mind. And the mind treats common or generic names as representative of all the sites in the category. Not just a single site. In general, you can't build a brand with a generic name.
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4. The Law of The Proper Name

Your name stands alone on the Internet, so you'd better have a good one. Make no mistake about it. The name stands alone on the Internet and is by far your most valuable asset. That's why you need a proper name. So how "proper" should your Website name be? It all depends. First, and most important of all, you want your Website name to be perceived as a proper name. Than hopefully you want your name to be more "proper" than your competitors. But you also want to consider other factors. In addition to being a proper name, your Website name should also have the following eight attributes: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. The The The The The The The The name name name name name name name name should should should should should should should should be be be be be be be be short. simple. suggestive of the category. unique. alliterative. speakable. shocking. personalized.
It all starts with the name. If you pick a name that satisfies most of these eight naming strategies, then you will be well on your way to building a successful Internet brand.
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5. The Law of Singularity

You should avoid at all costs being second in your category. There's one big difference between branding on the Internet and branding in the real world. In the real world, there is always room for a No. 2 brand. They serve a need, not just for the consumer, but also for the trade. Would a supermarket stock just Coca-Cola and not a second brand? No. The second brand gives the trade leverage against the leader. You will find a similar need in the industrial field where most companies insist on "a second source of supply." What if their primary supplier is out on strike? If a company didn't have a second source for a particular part, it might have to shut down its production line. The Internet, on the other hand, is more like a football game or a political contest. It's the Law of Singularity. Second place is nowhere. For many products, it's the retailer that is responsible for the strength of the second brand. On the web the situation is different. The real world is the second brand. When Amazon.com offers best-sellers at 50 percent off, the book buyer mentally compares the Amazon deal with the 30 percent off one can find at most brick-and-mortar book stores. When the web matures, of course, there will be opportunities for No. 2 brands. Until that day arrives, you need to be the leading brand in your category or look for an opportunity to narrow your focus in order to create a new category you can be the leader in.
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6. The Law of Advertising

Advertising off the Net will be a lot bigger than advertising on the Net. The Internet is interactive and for the first time the target is in charge, not the shooter. And what the target definitely does not want is more advertising arrows shot in its direction. We're not negative about advertising. Quite the contrary, the Internet has and will continue to spawn an enormous increase in advertising volume, except it will be off the Net rather than on the Net. As the Internet grows up, you are going to see an explosion in Outer net advertising. And much of this advertising will be directed at creating customer for Internet brands. In particular, radio will turn out to be an ideal medium for dot.com advertising. On the Internet the name is everything. A verbal medium like radio is perfect for driving a name into the mind. Advertising might be vitally important for driving prospects to your site, but once they get there you can forget about using them as human fodder for your advertising messages. The Internet is a revolutionary new, interactive medium. And when people interact with advertising, they generally turn it off.
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7. The Law of Globalism

The Internet will demolish all barriers, all boundaries, and all borders. What is the "message" of the Internet medium? We believe the message is "Globalism." The Internet will drive the citizens of the world into one interconnected global economy. "The global village" in Marshall McLuhan's vocabulary. It may well be that the biggest trend of the 21st century will turn out to be Globalism. What the Internet hath wrought is the global village. The medium is the message. America is by far the largest economy in the world with the greatest output of goods and services and the highest standard of living. Yet the US accounts for less than 5 percent of the world's population, a percentage that declines annually. If you're a businessperson in America, where does the real opportunity lie? In the domestic market or in the 95 percent of the world that doesn't live in one of the 50 states? The Internet can turn the world into one giant shopping mall. But like in any shopping mall, you can't win with just a better product or service. You need a better brand.
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8. The Law of Time

Just do it. You have to be fast. You have to be first. You have to be focused. If you want to be successful in business in branding in life you have to get into the mind first. Notice we said, "mind," not "marketplace." Being first in the marketplace doesn't buy you anything except a license to try to get in the mind first. If you throw away that opportunity by being too concerned with getting all the details right, you'll never get it back. (Perfection in infinite time is worth nothing.) Why were most of the successful Internet sites launched by small, venture-capital-backed companies rather than Fortune 500 firms? A big company hates to do anything without mounds of market research. The Internet is moving too fast to be measured. It's a new industry. Knowledge is scarce. Few people know what they want, what they would use, what they would pay for until they are given a real-world choice. A big company often fails to exploit new opportunities because it is a "perfectionist." It won't release a new product, a new service or a new Internet site "until we get it right." On the Internet, timing is everything. Just do it.
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9. The Law of Vanity

The biggest mistake of all is believing you can do everything. Success in business doesn't just show up on the bottom line of the profit-and-loss column, it also goes to the top. Success inflates the egos of top management. Supremely successful companies believe they can do anything. They can launch any product into any market. They can make any merger work. It's just a question of having the willpower and the resources to throw into the task. The problem is not a product problem. It's a perception problem and the most difficult problem in business is trying to change a perception that exists in the mind of a customer or prospect. Once a perception is strongly held in the mind, it can almost never be changed. Everybody wants to grow, so what should an Internet brand like Amazon.com do? There are five fundamental strategies for a leader in any category. 1. Keep your brand focused. 2. Increase your share of the market. 3. Expand your market. 4. Go global. 5. Dominate the category.
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10. The Law of Divergence

Everyone talks about convergence, while just the opposite is happening. After World War II, the two biggest industries in America were the automotive industry and the airplane industry. Sure enough, pundits thought that the car was going to converge with the airplane. Roads would become obsolete; traffic jams a thing of the past. It's divergence that always triumphs, not convergence. Instead of a flying car, today we have many types of airplanes (jet planes, prop planes, helicopters) and many types of automobiles (sedans, convertibles, stationwagons, sport-utility vehicles.) The next bit of divergence lunacy was the combination automobile and boat. Millions of dollars were wasted chasing the dream of a floating car. Why do things divide? Divergence is consistent with the laws of nature and convergence is not. Many companies are going against the laws of nature when they try to build Internet brands on the convergence concept. "Are you getting three different kinds of electronic messages voicemail, email and fax? Fine, we can fix that for you." The new all-in-one services are called "unified messaging." Instead of having to dial into your voicemail, open your email or check your fax machine, you just go to the sponsor's web page and get all your messages. What's wrong with a unified messaging service? Nothing, except it drives like a boat and floats likes a car.
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11. The Law of Transformation

The Internet revolution will transform all aspects of our lives. The Internet will affect your business whether you jump on the web or not. What changes will the Internet bring to your business and your life? The future is always fuzzy, but there are some predictions that seem likely. 1. Paper directories are doomed. 2. Paper catalogs face an uncertain future. 3. The elaborate full-color brochure will become exceedingly rare. 4. Classified advertising will shift to the web. 5. The Postal Service won't be delivering as much mail. 6. Financial services of all types will shift to the web. 7. The parcel delivery business will soar. 8. Retailing on the Internet will become a price game. 9. Retailing on the Outer net will become a service game. 10. Speed bumps on the Internet: The stock market bubble and the tax issue. Whatever the future brings, you can be sure of one thing. It will be a destabilizing development. It will change the way you manage your business and the way you build your brands.
SUMMARY:
There has been lot of problem in literature regarding e- brands. No reading says about what does an e- brand means. Also there is no Indian work on e-brand as the concept is still a new one in Indian context. Al ries who gave 11 immutable laws of Internet branding is also not an outcome of systematic research. Hence this research will seek to fulfill the gap in literature and check does laws of Internet branding stands in real world.
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RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
Literature on Internet branding is hard to find. Most people who titled their work as work on e-brands are really writing on e-business. There is one author who has made the maximum contribution to e-brands is Al Ries and his book 11 immutable laws of internet branding however it is not clear whether these laws are the result of systematic research or are the observations and perception of the author. Primary objective A study of various tools for making a website as a brand.
Secondary objective 1. To check the veracity of these laws. 2. Comparing various features offered by companies on the net. 3. To check the effectiveness of internet Advertising
Hypothesis
The hypothesis flows from the laws stated by Al Ries. Out of the 11 laws, 7 laws have been incorporated into these hypotheses. Other 4 have been omitted as testing them would have involved a complicated methodology and high cost. So the hypotheses are: 1. Easy navigation is the top most e-brand expectation of the users. 2. Internet brand should be highly interactive to be successful. 3. Internet brands having generic names will be hard to remember so difficult to survive. 4. Offline advertisement is more significant than online advertisement in Internet branding. 5. Viral marketing plays important role in Internet branding. 6. Trusts on the e-brand that use Internet, as a medium is higher than e-brand use Internet as business. 7. In Internet brands there is no place for second brand. (To be checked through desk research) 1. Internet brand should follow the law of vanity i.e. it should be focused or not expand in different categories. 2. Internet brand should follow the law of time.
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research Design

Due care is taken to ensure minimum bias and maximum reliability. Descriptive Research Descriptive research is used in the project. The main objective of descriptive research is to describe the market characteristics or function. The ideal way to go about it was through Questionnaire. Questionnaire was designed based on research objectives and the targeted segment. It is the part of conclusive research. Two types of methods of data collection is used in research: Secondary data Survey method
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SAMPLING DESIGN Target Population:

Target population for the study is defined in the following sub sections.

Elements of Sample: Elements of sample for the study are defined as, a male or female who uses Internet. Sampling Units: Delhi City. Extent: Extent of this study is limited to Delhi only. Time: Time period in which the data was collected is March-2003.
Sampling Technique
In Probability Sampling, Random Sampling is used in the study, first of all Delhi city is divided into 4 groups on the basis of profile of people, size of household in those sectors. Randomly selected one sector from each group.
Sampling Frame
Sampling frame for selecting the person has been developed by dividing the city into 4 groups on the basis of profile of people, size of household in those sectors. Group no. Group name 1 Students 2 Mixed 3 High class 4 Middle class
Sample Size
Sample size of hundred respondents was selected.
DATA COLLECTION
Data collection was done on all days. Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Saturday were selected in order to have respondents more representative of population.
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LIMITATIONS
1. Since the study was taken for two month, so there was a constraint of time, money and effort. 2. The biasness of consumer or response error cannot be eliminated. 3. All the laws of Internet branding given by Al Ries were not tested as part of research. 4. Certain assumptions were made in research: only those e-brands were considered which were recalled by at least 5 respondents. 5. Respondents were not aware of e-brand, so defining that, causes some biasness in a question of e-brand they can recall off. 6. In hypothesis of law of advertisement, no statistical test has been used. Only on the basis of results seen, hypothesis is been rejected.
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FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

RANKING OF EXPECTATIONS FROM E-BRANDS
PARAMETERS/RANKS
Easier Navigation Personalized Service Trust Highly Interactive Environment Aesthetic Appeal
1
59 9 13 26 3
2
20 28 17 29 6
3
18 25 24 13 18
4
7 25 27 16 25
5
16 12 15 17 23
RANKING OF EXPECTATIONS FROM E-BRANDS 70 60 No. of People 50 40 30 20 10 0 1 2 3 RANKS 4 5 Highly Interactive Environment Aesthetic Appeal Easier Navigation Personalized Service Trust
FINAL RANK RANK EXPECTATIONS

1 2 2 4 5 Hypotheses: users. Easier Navigation Highly Interactive Environment Personalized Service Trust Aesthetic Appeal
Easy navigation is the top most e-brand expectation of the
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Easy navigation is the top most e-brand expectation of the users. It has been found through research that easier navigation is the top priority for ebrands, hence our hypotheses holds true.
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E-BRAND WITH GENERIC OR PROPER NOUN NAME RECALLED Generic Name 21% Proper Noun Name 79%
E-BRAND WITH GENERIC OR PROPER NOUN NAME RECALLED
21%
Generic Name Proper Noun Name
79%
Ho: There is no significant difference in between the generic and Proper name of e-brands recalled. H1: There is significant difference in between the generic and Proper name of e-brands recalled. Type of test: Binomial (one Tail) Level Of Significance: 95% Region of Rejection: K 8 Calculated Value: K = 5 Since K value lies in the region of rejection, we can reject the null hypothesis. Hence there is significant difference between generic & proper noun name of e-brands recalled and hypotheses stands true.
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LIST OF E-BRANDS RECALLED Proper noun name Yahoo Rediff Google Indiatimes Lycos Indya Sify Usa.net Indiainfoline Altavista 123india.com Espnstar.com Amazon Bluemountain Archies.com No. Of Respondents 92 83 68 49 20 17 15 11 9 9 8 8 7 5 5 Generic name Hotmail Bazee Naukri 123greetings No. Of respondents 71 17 7 5
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AWARENESS OF E-BRANDS AWARENESS MEDIUM Online Medium Offline Medium % TIME 48.27% 51.73%
AWARENESS OF E-BRANDS
51.73%
48.27%
Online Medium Offline Medium
H0: There is no significant difference between online and offline medium for awareness of e-brands. H1: There is significant difference between online and offline medium for awareness of e-brands. No test been applied on this ratio data obtained from survey. But on observing the data, we can state that there is no significant difference between online and offline medium for awareness of e-brands. Hence hypotheses of advertisement do not hold true.
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ROLE OF VIRAL MARKETING IN E-BRANDING Forwarded mails checked No. Of respondents Always 18 Often 25 Sometimes 33 Rarely 15 Never 9
ROLE OF VIRAL MARKETING IN E-BRANDING Forwarded mails checked 9 15 33 25 18 Never Rarely Sometimes Often 30 40 Always
10
20 No. Of respondents
H0: There is no significant difference among the no. Of respondents regarding the forwarded mails checked. H1: There is significant difference among the no. Of respondents regarding the forwarded mails checked. Type of test: chi-square Level of significance: 95% Critical value: 9.49 Degree of freedom: 4 Calculated value: 18.35 Since calculated value (18.35) is greater than the critical value (9.49). Hence the null hypothesis H0 is rejected. So we can conclude that there is significant difference among the no. of respondents regarding checking of forwarded mails.
RAHUL 01/RDMB/2002
ROLE OF VIRAL MARKETING IN E-BRANDING Messages Always forwarded No. Of 13 respondents Often 14 Sometimes Rarely 26 26 Never 21
ROLE OF VIRAL MARKETING IN E-BRANDING Forwarded mails checked
Never
21 16 26 14 13
Rarely Sometimes Often Always
10
15
20
25
30
No. Of respondents
H0: There is no significant difference among the no. Of respondents regarding the messages forwarded to their friends. H1: There is significant difference among the no. Of respondents regarding the messages forwarded to their friends. Type of test: chi-square Level of significance: 95% Critical value: 9.49 Degree of freedom: 4 Calculated value: 7.9 Since calculated value (7.9) is smaller than the critical value (9.49). Hence the null hypothesis H0 is failed to be rejected. So we can conclude that there is no significant difference among the no. Of respondents regarding messages forwarded to their friends.
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TRUST ON E-BRAND Trust on E-brand as medium E-brand as business Number of respondents 81 19
TRUST ON E-BRAND
19
E-brand as medium E-brand as business
81
H0: There is no significant difference between the trust on e-brand as business and e-brand as medium. H1: There is significant difference between the trust on e-brand as business and e-brand as medium. Type of test: binomial test (one tail test) Level of significance: 95% Critical value: 0.05 Calculated value (p): 0.000005 Since p value (p=0.000005) is smaller than = 0.05, the null hypothesis is rejected. Hence there is significant difference in trust between the e-brands as medium and e-brands as business and hypotheses of trust holds true.
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LAW OF SINGLE E- BRAND E-Brand For EMail Used Yahoo Rediff Hotmail Indiatimes Others Percentage Of Time of Respondents 46.47% 22.73% 16.71% 5.62% 8.47%
LAW OF SINGLE E- BRAND

50.00% 45.00% 46.47%
Percentage Of Time of Respondents
40.00% 35.00% 30.00% 25.00% 20.00% 15.00% 10.00% 5.00% 0.00% Yahoo Rediff Hotmail Indiatimes Others 5.62% 8.47% 22.73% 16.71%
E-Brand For E-Mail Used
As per the framework given by Philip Kotler Hypothetical Market Structure

Market leader 40% Market challenger 30% Market follower 20% Market niches 10%
In e-mail service yahoo is the market leader with 46.47% time-share of respondents surveyed. But rediff is market challenger with 22.73% and hotmail as market follower with 16.71%. So in this category there is not single e-brand presence. Here the single brand do not holds true.
RAHUL 01/RDMB/2002
LAW OF SINGULARITY ON JOBS SERVICES E-BRANDS E-Brands For Jobs Naukri Jobsahead Monster Jobstreet Others % Of Time Of Respondents 49.6% 17.64% 13.9% 6.6% 12.26%
LAW OF SINGLE E- BRAND 60.00% 50.00% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% Naukri Jobsahead Monster Jobstreet Others E-Brand For jobs 17.64% 49.60%
Percentage Of Time of Respondents
13.90% 6.60%
12.26%
Using the same framework, it can be said that Naukri is market leader with Monster and Jobsahead as market followers at this stage. No market challenger is there for naukri.com. Hence it can be said that in jobs categories there is one e-brand presence. Here the single brand holds true.
RAHUL 01/RDMB/2002
LAW OF SINGULARITY ON SEARCH ENGINE E-BRANDS E-Brands For Search Engine Google Yahoo Others % Of Time Of Respondents 77.7% 8.9% 13.4%
LAW OF SINGLE E- BRAND

90.00% 80.00% Percentage Of Time of Respondents 70.00% 60.00% 50.00% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% Google Yahoo E-Brand For search engine Others 8.90% 13.40% 77.70%
It can be deduced from the table that google is the market leader with 77.7% share of time of respondents. Yahoo and others are in market niches. So it can be said that in this category google is the only e-brand present on the net. Here the hypotheses of single brand holds true.
RAHUL 01/RDMB/2002
Law of Time:
According to Al ries: if you want to be successful in business in branding .. in life.. you have get into the mind first. Notice mind nor market place. Being first in market place doesnt buy you anything expects a license to try to get in the mind first. There is no automatic advantage to being the first mover in a category unless you can make effective use of the extra time to work your way into the prospects mind Yahoo was introduced in 1994 as the first search engine on the Internet. Today yahoo is the leading search engine. Ebay was introduced in 1995 as the first auction site on the Internet. Today ebay is by far the leading auction site on the net, handling more than 2 million auctions a month in some 850 categories. Amazon.com was introduced in 1995 as the first bookstore on the Internet. Currently the company sells a billion dollars worth of books a year, many times that of its nearest competitor, barnesnandnoble.com. Bluemountain was introduced in 1996 as the first electronic greetingcard site. Currently the site receives 10 million visitors a month, more than all its competitors combined. Priceline.com was introduced in 1998 as the first company to sell airline tickets on the Internet with a name-your-own-price bidding system. Today priceline.com is far and away the leading site on the web for discount airline tickets and hotel rooms.
These are the five market leaders whose brands dominate their categories. Were yahoo, ebay, amazon, bluemountain and priceline literally first in their categories? Its hard to know for sure but probably not. Now taking example of google.com, it is now there in top 4 brands as per worldwide survey conducted by Interbrand 2001 brand of the year. Also in Indian context research say 77.7% time people use google for search engine. Google came after yahoo, but it make place in mind of people first than yahoo regarding its service. So we can say it is the timing in mind of consumer that matter than First mover advantage. Have you heard of Northenlight.com? You are not alone. More than 99 percent of web users are not familiar with the site. Although it is the largest search engine on the Internet, in the sense that it indexes some 160 million web pages. The problem is not with the site but with the timing. Hence it can be said that the hypotheses of law of time hold true.
RAHUL 01/RDMB/2002
Law of Vanity:
As per Al Ries, the biggest mistake of all is believing you can do anything. Supremely successful co. believes they can do anything. They can launch any product into any market. But will the online world be any different than the off line world? We think not. To be successful on the Internet you still have to do business with human minds. Once you stand for something in mind, its hard to change the perception of what you stand for. Amazon.com was the first Internet brand to sell books & music CDs. The site is a roaring success, with current sales well in excess of 11bn annually. But what they are doing next? They are in process of turning themselves into a destination site where customers can find anything they could possibly want. DVDs & Videotapes Electronics & Software Toys & Video Games E-Cards Auctions Z shops Credit cards
Everyone wants to grow and you cant blame them so thats where rule of singularity falters. As web matures other brand will enter & survive. Also leader in that category with lose focus.
RAHUL 01/RDMB/2002
CONCLUSION
As per the Hypothesis, Easy navigation is the top most e-brand expectation of the users & it has been found in the research that easier navigation is the top most expectation (around by 59% respondents) followed by highly interactive environment (29%) & personalized service (28%).
As per hypothesis Internet brand should be highly interactive to be successful. It holds true. As per research finding after navigation (around by 59% respondents, interactivity (29%) of e-brand should be there as per customers.
Internet Brands having generic name will be hard to remember so difficult to survive. As per the research finding, it also holds true. There is significant difference between generic & proper noun name ebrands recalled by the respondents with around 21% respondents able to recalled the generic names whereas around 79% respondents able to recalled proper noun names.
Our research shows that there is no significant difference between online or offline medium reach to customers with equal percentage to both the mediums. Respondents are aware of both online & offline medium. Both online & Offline medium were effective in e-brands awareness.
The hypothesis is been checked in research and found that viral marketing plays important role in Internet branding. More then 70% response from the respondents as always/often/sometimes suggests that viral marketing plays a very major role. Regarding the awareness of e-brand through online, Friends messages is significant reason. This can also be one reason for high awareness of e-brand through online medium (i.e. about 50%)
RAHUL 01/RDMB/2002
This hypothesis has been tested & find true, significantly people trust one brand having presence in physical world with around 80% respondents saying yes against 20% saying no. This suggest that traditional should make presence on Internet soon and can have three alternatives in developing a brand name. These are to keep the same brand and merely put it online, create an online brand that is totally different, or creates a sub brand.
The hypothesis stands true, but in services such as e-mails, yahoo is leader with 46.47% of time of responders on it but rediff & Hotmail are market challengers. This is due to the fact in India Internet is mainly used for e-mail, so in this category only Internet is not in introduction stage. And also by al ries as web matures there is place for second & third brand is there. Hence law stands true. In search Engine, only google brand is there with 77.7% and others are market niches. In Jobs, Naukri is market leader with monster & Jobsahead are market follower but these are coming up fast with 14% & 17%. It can be explained due to fact that, Naukri is generic names, which will eventually going to fall out as per the law of common name.
RAHUL 01/RDMB/2002
SUGGESTIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS

Easier navigation should be the top most priority of an ebrand while building a brand on internet. E-brands should also follow the law of interactivity and should have interactive environment. E-brands should use a proper name as against generic name to survive in competition, as they are easy to recall. Companies must use both offline and online medium for advertising as both offline and online advertisement are significant in making customers aware about e-brand. As viral marketing plays important role in internet branding so marketers must used it as another tool in building its brand over internet. People trust e-brand having presence in physical world than on e-brand having presence in virtual world only. So companies having presence in virtual world should make some efforts to have some physical presence also. As according to law of singularity there is no place for second brand in internet. So should take necessary steps like better advertising and promotion both online and offline to build its brand.
RAHUL 01/RDMB/2002
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Kotler, Philip Marketing Management (Ninth Edition), Prentice Hall of India Pvt. Ltd. pp. 185-186. 2. Kotler, Philip Marketing Management (Ninth Edition), Prentice Hall of India Pvt. Ltd. pp. 443. 3. Malhotra N.K, Marketing Research- An applied orientation, Pearson Education Asia, (Third edition) pp.67-68. 4. Ries, Al (2000), 11 Immutable laws of internet branding, Harper Collins publishers, New York. 5. E-Branding: Get Your Basics Right, www.indiatime.com/infotech/ecommerce/trend 6. Annete Hamilton,How The Web Was Won, E-Branding Is More Important Than E-Commerce a. www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/story/story_index_19981.
RAHUL 01/RDMB/2002
QUESTIONNAIRE
Q.1. What all are the expectations by you from an internet brand? a) Easier navigation b) Personalized service c) Aesthetic appeal d) Trust e) Highly interactive environment ------------------------------------
Q.2. Name at least 8 Internet brands you can think of? ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______
Q.3. How do you come to know about e-brands mention by you? %age of times from a) Offline medium _________ (T.V., Banners, Friends, Magazines.) b) Online medium _________ (While surfing, Internet advertisement) Q.4. How often you visit or open the message or site forwarded by your friends? a) b) c) d) e) Always Often Sometimes Rarely Never
Q.5. How often you forward the same to other friends? a) b) c) d) e) Always Often Sometimes Rarely Never
RAHUL 01/RDMB/2002
Q.6. On which of the following you will trust more? a) E-brand having simultaneous presence in physical world. Like: Citibank.com, ICICIdirect-online.com b) E-brand having no presence in physical world. Like: Bazee.com, shopsmart.com, hometrade Q.7. Name the sites/ e-brands you often go for: a) For e-mail Mail site a) _________ b) _________ c) _________ d) _________ b) For search Search engine a) _________ b) _________ c) _________ d) _________ c) For Job Mail site a) _________ b) _________ c) _________ d) _________ % of times
% of times
% of times
DEMOGRAPHIC DETAILS: a) Male /Female: _______ b) Age (yrs) 15-20 : 20-25 25-30 30-35 > 35
c) Total no. of yrs: <11 11-14 14-17 17-19 >19
d) Occupation: Business HomemakerExecutive Self employed (Professional)

RAHUL 01/RDMB/2002
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A Study of Various Tools For Making A Website As A Brand

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A Study Of Various Tools For Making A Website As A Brand