PANEL PRESENTATION:
Presenters: ADAM SCHOENFELD, Vice-President and Senior analyst at Jupiter Communications,
DANIEL A. TURANO, Vice-President, Worldwide Field Operations, InterWorld Corporation, JESSIE
KORNBLUTH, America Online. By: Mimi Liu
How do arts services and artists fit into the economy of online commerce? Jesse Kornbluth, the last person
to speak, provides a simple framework for the discussion. Affiliated with America Online (AOL),
Kornbluth began, "The role of content is understated. What makes advertising on Seinfeld so lucrative?
The apparent advantage is the better demographic. But all that will change. Seinfeld reflects real
experiences." Indeed, the online culture will come to mirror the real world. Real world being mass
consumption. Adam Shoenfeld, Vice President and senior analyst at Jupiter Communications and Daniel
Turano, Vice President, Worldwide Field Operations, Interworld Corporation provide a brief lesson on
supply and demand, and quality and cost.
Women constitute 52% of America Online's population; 40% of AOL members have purchased something
via the Internet. The growth of this new medium creates a narrowing of consciousness that clouds
expectations, outcomes, and usage. Television, contrary to 1950 predictions, has not taught Japanese to
the American public. Kornbluth, however, has a simple philosophy: The Internet responds to companies
that speak to people's lives. It makes the user important. AOL has advertising banners that cost the same
for all companies. The leveled playing field allows AOL users to express their empathy for real world
events. "Where are people's real lives?" Kornbluth asked. In entrepreneurial terms, the Internet provides a
situation where artists can be more involved in business than ever before. The "golden age" of the medium
reduces the barriers between commerce and art, eventually, but not far, towards an isotonic system.
Adam Shoenfeld and Daniel Turano suggest that merchants--including working artists--must prioritize
customer loyalty. In economic terms, the commerce of consumerism consists of customer acquisition and,
then, retention. According to Shoenfeld, "The online medium will begin to mimic mass market demand."
Trends have shown that within ten years, the online shopping market will eclipse the traditional catalogue
market. He suggests thinking about long-terms strategies: Who is the demographic? How do you want to
do business? How much cost do you want to incur to create a pleasant buying environment? Is the product
a considered purchase, a known/understood item, or an aggregation of a unique inventory? In economic
terms, arts are categorized under the last. He also addressed the hesitancy prevalent in consumer behavior;
the suggested solutions shed new light and reveal new twists in commerce on the Internet. Hindered by
fear, disappointment and lack of incentives, potential online shoppers can be assuaged by enhancing
awareness, increasing inventory, developing support staff, and providing better prices. Furthermore,
through digital certificates, personalized options, loyalty programs, and greater convenience consumers
can be supplied with a better online shopping experience. Finally, the potential of affiliate programs and
aggregate partnerships is enormous.
What this means for artists is simple. The tactics of traditional retail come into play in distributing art.
Consumers and users of the Internet (by 2010 this will be the same population) care about real world
issues. Commerce--the promotion of commercials--and sharing art are not mutually exclusive. Lastly,
there has not been a time where a small independent publisher can thrive more, where a single artist can
share her work with more than 5 million people.
THE STATE OF WEB COMMERCE
Saturday, March 28, 1998, 1:30 - 2:45 p.m.