GATE # 5: Internet e-Branded Portal Management

Ready for this one, there are 1,080,000,000 Worldwide Internet users. That's right, over a BILLION (as of January 2007 according to eMarketer). As we have been saying since 1994, the Internet rules and over the next five years, the growth will continue to be exponential with the adoption of faster and cheaper broadband service. Finally we will see the long-awaited promise of convergence, linking the Internet and Multi Media Digital Databases. It is for this reason that we focus on Internet Portal e-Brand Management.

Naturally, in recent years, Asia has started to skew the user numbers greatly. Most research you see on Internet usage, peg the USA, Canada and Europe at just over 300 Million.

But China, it is forecasted, will exceed all other countries of the World within the next two to three years. What is being distributed through the Internet is also changing. Advertisers acceptance of online video commercials is considered a key growth strategy by MSN, Yahoo!, ESPN, CBS Sports Line, Tribune, Fox Sports, ABCNews.com, About.com, Weather.com and several other major sites. What Google has in mind with media rich content, will blow most media buyers away and these are just some of the changes well underway.

The e-branding of destinations and integrated supplier services is well behind the mark when it comes to customer friendly content and usage. The entire World is talking Internet and the travel sector has turned over a major share of its distribution to a hand-full of On Line Travel agencies and airline owned and operated Global Distribution Systems (GDS). The Travel Agency community have allowed on line agencies, to simply take their business away. In turn, what's left is i tem and price driven deep discounters who undermine the rate integrity and profitable growth potential of the destination brand and relegate their suppliers to commodity based pricing and lowest bidder selling.

E-branding in the Internet is the life blood of every destination as it seeks to speak directly with its target customers. Search engines, yet another layer of people between you and your customer, can help a great deal if the strategy of e-branding is built-in and merely added on! The fight for the customer is a serious one and the consequences of failure heavy. Destinations and suppliers who treat the internet like just another media source, will pay a heavy price. At the end of the day, the one who owns the customer relationship, is the one who owns the destinations e-brand.