Abstract
M.Comm.
The communication infrastucture that the Internet provides offers immediate
access to the global marketplace and numerous business resources. Many
global businesses have already found the Internet to be an extremely costeffective
way of reaching customers and obtaining information regarding
products, markets and competitors. South African marketers should also
consider using cybermarketing to obtain useful information, and to reach,
communicate and sell to current and potential customers.
Cybermarketing is seen as a new style of marketing because of the multiple
differences between cybermarketing and traditional marketing. Businesses will
find that mastering the communications culture on the Internet is a valuable
step in designing an innovative marketing strategy.
The Internet is not just another promotional tool, but also a valuable source of
information for the entire marketing process of an organisation. The key to
cybermarketing success is therefore to integrate the new on-line activities with
the existing traditional marketing efforts. In this study the focus is on the
Internet as a new marketing tool and it's potential influence on the main
elements of an organisation's traditional marketing strategy. The main goal of
the study is to determine the role the Internet can play in the marketing strategy
of an organisation.
To support the main goal, the following specific objectives are pursued:
• To gain a marketing perspective about the Internet as a "Superhighway" and
its strategic value.
• To investigate the nature of the information the Internet can provide for
various sections of a business' marketing plan.
The role of Cybermarketing in the marketing process of an organisation XI
• To investigate the role of the Internet in a business' integrated marketing
communication mix.
• To identify the critical success factors when designing a cybermarketing
communication strategy.
• To investigate the extent of the current cybermarketing participation in the
South African business environment.
This study starts with a literature overview, analysing the traditional marketing
and communication strategy of a business, and the characteristics, marketing
functions and commercial use of the Internet. The primary data for this study
was collected according to a descriptive research design. The most relevant
method for obtaining primary data for this study was surveys. A questionnaire
was used to provide an orderly and structured approach to data gathering.
The target population for this study included all South African organisations
that were conducting business in South Africa in 1999. The respondents were
the marketing manager or the information technology manager of each
organisation. The data for this study were analysed and reported in terms of
frequencies and cross-tabulations. Final conclusions and recommendations
were derived from this analysis.
It was found that South African organisations mainly use the Internet in the
internal environment and have not yet explored the opportunities of the Internet
as a macro-environmental scanning tool. South African organisations also
mainly use the Internet for information purposes. This objective results in their
cybermarketing strategies being information-based and does not create
opportunities for expanding their market to global borders by selling their
product and service offerings to the international market.