The Internet was a game-changer in the marketing world, and it greatly enhanced the possibilities for commerce and marketing. Dot-com companies like Amazon and eBay launched, igniting stiff competition between online and brick-and-mortar companies, particularly with the arrival of Internet advertising in 1994 and the launch of Hotwired. The company charged its sponsors roughly $30,000 to place advertisements on its website for 12 weeks—early sponsors included AT&T, MCI Communications Corp., Club Med, IBM Corp. and Volvo.
Internet advertising continued to take off with the arrival of Modem Media, one of the first online agencies. Modem’s clients included the likes of AT&T and Zima, and the agency tracked an average 40 percent “click-through” rate for these companies.
According to Jupiter Research, total spending on Internet advertising hit $300 million by the mid-‘90s, and by the end of the decade there were hundreds of millions of websites. However, there was some trouble at the start of the 2000s during what is known as the “dot bomb,” a downturn in dot-com values on Wall Street that caused hundreds of e-commerce and media sites to shut down.
But the Internet was just one of many things computers were capable of that pushed advertising forward in the ’90s. Evolving technology and software meant advertisers could make their campaigns increasingly elaborate and complex, often eliminating the need to make costly trips to shoot on-location. It also opened up new creative possibilities for advertisers, such as the Coca-Cola polar bears, for example.
However, the ‘90s weren’t all about technology. Relationship marketing came into play during this decade, and the focus was on creating a long-term relationship built on trust and commitment that benefited the company and the customer. Successful relationship marketing required open communication, employee empowerment, customers and the planning process as well as teamwork.