Communication withCustomers Online

Until the late1940s,when television began finding its way into American homes,companiesrelied mainly on print and radio to promote their products and services. The

advent（出现）of television brought about arevolution in promoting products and services.Between 1949 and 1951,advertising on television grew 960 percent.Today the

Internet is onceagain transforming promotion .By going online,companies can communicateinstantly and directly with prospective customers .Promotion on the World Wide

Web includesadvertising,sponsorships and sales promotions like contests and coupons.In1996,World Wide Web advertising revenues reached $300 mulion.

Effective onlinemarketers do not merely transfer hard-copy ads（平面广告）to cyberspace.

Successful sitesblend promotional and non-promotional information,indirectly delivering theadvertising messages.To encourage visits to their sites and to create and

cultivate customers'loyalty,companies change information frequently and provide many opportunitiesfor interaction.

One of the bestonline promotion web sites is the Ragu Web site.Here visitors can findthirty-six pasta recipes,take Italian lessons,and view an Italian filmfestival,but they

will find notraditional ads.So subtle is the mix of product and promotion that visitorshardly know an advertising message has been delivereD.SEGA of America,maker of

computer games andhardware,uses its

Web site for avariety of different promotions,such as introducing new game characters to thepublie and supplying Web surfers the opportunity to download games.SEGA's

home page averages

250,000 visits aday.To heighten interest in the site,SEGA bought an advertising banner on

Netscape,therebyincreasing site visits by 15 percent. Online participants in Quaker Oats'Gatorade promotion received a free Tshirt in exchange for answering a few

questions.QuakerOats reports that the online promotion created product loyalty and helped thecompany know its customers better.

Now,to targetspecific Internet users,an increasing number of companies are using“push”technologywhich automatically delivers customized（按客户要求创造的）news

and otherinformation to Users' computers when they log onto the Internet.Althoughorganizations like Nielsen

Media Research aredeveloping technologies to enhance audience measurement and tracking,it remainsdifficult to assess how many times the same person looks at an ad and

who that person is.

Although onlinepromotions can be glamorous and sophisticated,they are not perfect.For awelldesigned marketing mix,industry experts advise companies to use theInternet

as a supplement toother advertising media.Internet,liketelevision,has brought great changes to the promotion of products and services.

A.Right

B. Wrong

C. Not mentioned