Modem media

SEATTLE -- Holding up an "original terminal for the original on-line failure," G.M. O'Connell started his keynote speech at the Interactive Newspapers conference here Feb. 5 by talking about one of the newspaper industry's first on-line adventures: Knight Ridder's Viewtron system.

O'Connell called the terminal for delivering text "a monument to ill-timed ventures." Even 15 years later, he said, "the challenges Knight Ridder faced in launching Viewtron are much the same challenges as we face today."

O'Connell is the president and chief operating officer of TN Technologies Inc. of Westport, Conn., and founder of Modem Media, one of the first on-line advertising agencies. TN Technologies is a subsidiary of True North Communications of Chicago, which also owns the international ad agencies Foote, Cone & Belding and Bozell Worldwide.

Giving the crowd a view of on-line newspapers from the advertising agency perspective, O'Connell said that what large national brand advertisers want from a web site can be "boiled down to one over-generalized comment: the right people in the right context with the richest message."

With the exception of nytimes.com, the ad agency executive said most newspaper web sites don't capture the kind of information about visitors that advertisers want. He offered an example:

"Delta wants to target frequent fliers, not only when they want to travel, but when they want information about golf. With the Internet, we can do that very well. With the transactional architecture, they can do it."

O'Connell assured the audience that though newspapers need to make their sites more interactive, they "don't have to get into the game-show business." But he did note that the cutting-edge on-line services were migrating to e-mail and enhanced chat services.

His advice for newspapers: "Focus in on what people want out of the medium, not what you have to offer."

Wrapping up, O'Connell harkened back to the Viewtron experience: "The newspaper industry and the RBOCs [Regional Bell Operating Companies] have been at it the longest, but when it finally begins to happen, they're not winning."

-- dmc

See alsoInteractive newspaper leaders hear of alliances, competition

From THE COLE PAPERS, March 1998, Copyright © 1998, All Rights Reserved.