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IN A VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT, TRUST IN A BRAND IS A PRODUCT'S GREATEST SOURCE OF PERSUASION
E-commerce and mainstream use of the Internet are still in their infancy, but already they have overloaded us with choices. To be heard amid the din of competitors, start-up e-brands have no choice but to try to scream the loudest. In a dot-com company's initial stages, prof its aren't even in the picture; share of audience is what's important.
The futures of retail and advertising are heavily bound up with the fortunes of the e-brand. And dot-com spending reflects that. In Britain, industry estimates suggest that up to 55% of start-up funds are spent on marketing. In the U.S., advertising campins for start-- up companies doubled in value in 1999 over 1998 levels, to an estimate $2 billion.
And yet, nothing compares with the buying and selling "wow" of contextual commerce-making buying online a seamless experience linked to other, not necessarily commerce based, activities. Contextual commerce assumes a more fluid relationship among consumers, content and content-connected products.
Perhaps of most importance to marketers, it is based on trust in a brand. In a retail environment in which touch and taste and smell are absent, and in which the sense of sight is limited at best, trust in a brand is the product s greatest source of...