Steve wrote:
> This is the sort of feedback we need from the forum......keep it
> comin!
Ok, 5c worth in a wholly different direction then:
I agree with the importance of the UK. For WebCentre's
TurboPress product, we have targeted the US, UK, Australia,
Singapore and NZ in roughly that order. It's a substantial and
complex product which depends on active on-the-ground
marketing. Therefore we need to be considering and prioritising by
region, and knocking over the most inviting markets first.
BUT, for several SPIS products, geographically-defined markets do
not seem very important. This is because we are marketing to
common-interest communities using the Web as our principal
(almost only!) medium. While there is a preponderance of English-
speaking countries among the resulting user base, we are more
likely to define our target markets by their key characteristics (e.g.
corporates, home-office workers, Delphi developers) on a global
basis, rather than explicitly focusing on any particular geographical
location.
This can lead to some striking differences in perspective and
sometimes strategy. Therefore I believe that TradeNZ and others
looking at export markets would do well to specifically consider the
Web as a largely non-geographically-determined collection of
diverse target markets and communities, not simply/only as an
advertising or ecommerce medium.
Hmmm. That reads a lot less clearly than I intended. Perhaps
someone else will lend an insight or critique to what I've said.
cheers,
peter
============================================
Peter Hyde, WebCentre Ltd & SPIS Ltd, Christchurch, New Zealand
* Web automation for online periodicals: http://TurboPress.com
* TurboNote+: http://TurboPress.com/tbnote.htm
-- handy onscreen notes and instant messaging
--> via Canterbury Software email forum: success through connections
Email your messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Leave or join the list at http://canterburysoftware.org.nz/forum.htm
