Stage 1: The Brochure Paradigm
A First Encounter With The Web
Jim Sterne in his book "World Wide Web Marketing" (Wiley, 1995) writes an amusing description of the three stage process that marketing managers go through when they first encounter the web.
Disbelief: "A manager spends all day devoted to buying magazine space, mailing lists, air time, and booth space. The concepts 'free access', 'unlimited copies', and 'with millions of people' are such non-sequiturs that they require a good deal of explanation and some asprin."
Excitement: "Once a marketing manager has seen a demonstration, ..., there is no choice but to become copiously enamoured by the possibilities. Electronic brochures flying off the computer without having to pay the post office! Instantly updateable product data sheets! Prices that can change on a daily basis! Video clips of the product in action!"
Horror: "The third reaction, horror, strikes the marketing manager in mid epiphany. For some undetermined amount of time, the company, its founders, and its products and services have been portrayed to the world as perceived by the data processing department."
However, most small companies don't get too excited about the web. They get a web, not because they think it will help them, but because they fear being left behind if they don't. As a result, most companies adopt the brochure paradigm.
The Brochure Paradigm
Culture Impact
Example
The Nelson Wheeler web (as at 2 May 1997) is a perfect example of a brochure web because I (Ross Williams) actually created it from the company's brochure!
