• by Ken Liebeskind , September 5, 2002

Everyone knows CNET for its Messaging Plus Units, but the company has developed two new advertising opportunities that have nothing to do with traditional page units.

The company acquired Newmediary in July and is incorporating its white paper product into the advertising mix. White papers are detailed reports on products that help readers make purchase decisions. Marketers sponsor individual white papers, paying CNET for three-month periods. The white papers can be found at www.itpapers.com, which can be linked to from CNET sites ZDNet, TechRepublic and ChannelOnline. "Users come in to evaluate the products and they go to the white paper directory. We've created a marketing opportunity in that environment," says Greg Mason, CNET's executive vice president of sales.

White papers generate an audience of 69% IS/IT professionals, so they are a valuable audience for high tech products. Companies produce their own white papers or receive help from CNET, Mason says. Kronos and Snowbound Software are among the current companies listed, with 33,000 white papers now available on the site.

Another new CNET marketing opportunity is Webcasts, programs produced by CNET, but open to advertisers in a variety of ways. Sponsor ads can appear before a Webcast and advertiser logos can run on the skins during Webcasts. Sponsor executives can also appear in the Webcasts, discussing relevant products viewers may want to buy.

Greg Ness, director of marketing at Shoreline Communications, a phone systems manufacturer, says the president of his company appeared in a Webcast talking with customers. "It's a low-cost sales presentation," he says. In fact, he compares it with a typical sales call, saying it offers a better opportunity to reach prospects. Both CNET and Shoreline invite prospects to the Webcasts, which can be played on demand, whenever a prospect wants to watch it, instead of a set time, like a television program.

Ness says the company advertises with email and newsletter sponsorships, but doesn't buy traditional banners or other static units. Webcasts fit into the package well.

Mason calls white papers and Webcasts part of a trend in programs that go beyond the bounds of space advertising, providing advertisers with direct contact with prospects who are highly interested in their products. Both white papers and Webcasts use registration pages that give advertisers names of prospects they can add to their database. White paper readers have selected the topics based on their interest and Webcast viewers are highly qualified prospects who have been invited to attend by CNET or the advertisers.

Since the information provided in both programs is so detailed, it takes viewers deeper into the sales process, Mason says. While banners and other traditional forms of online advertising generate awareness, white papers and Webcasts take viewers to the evaluation and consideration stages, which brings them closer to purchase.

"Marketers are struggling with how to drive brand association and different messaging at different stages of the purchasing process and want to do it on the Web," Mason says. "With a complex product, it's one thing to create awareness for a product, but it's complicated so I need to be able to take them quickly to the next step. The Web can do it in a seamless fashion to go from awareness to a deeper level."

Jim Nail, an analyst at Forrester Research, says white papers and Webcasts aren't unique, because many companies have them at their sites. But he lauds CNET for using them as an advertising vehicle for highly qualified prospects. "It provides lower quantity but higher quality prospects," he says. "Eyeballs don't matter, you want people interested in your product, which is better than sticking banners all over the place. It takes more time and resources to create in depth content like this, but it's a good idea for marketers."

These new forms of online advertising appeal to visitors to CNET sites, the early adopters and high tech gurus who are always at the forefront of online trends. It remains to be seen whether other sites will adopt them.