The Café Connection
As long ago as 3 centuries, men visited "coffee houses" to know the latest business news, follow commodity price trends, keep up with political gossip and stay abreast of the latest scientific / technological information. Over a period, many of these cafes became institutions by themselves. And a few of them are still in business, notably in Austria and Germany.

Today the world wide web provides an easy connection to volumes of data (free, for the most part). Along with superb interconnection between citizens (for the most part, via email) - thus creating the "enlightenment era".

And though most of the information sharing & gathering is done privately (at home or office), Cyber Cafés remain a popular option to "browse" the World Wide Web for information.

The World Wide Web
Not long ago when former Malaysian strongman Mahathir Mohamad jailed his deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, a well orchestrated internet campaign by his supporters brought Anwar's supporters on to the streets and raised a hue and cry in international forums. Ultimately helping to stall a possible death penalty.

Time & again, the power and potency of the world wide web as a medium has been demonstrated as a social, political & commercial medium.

Today, the 'global village' prophesized by the late Marshall McLuhan has become true - with the Internet playing a crucial role. Businessmen have leveraged it to advantage. The international success of amazon.com is a case in point. An example nearer home is portal rediff.com. And Mumbai based MediaTurf has done yeoman work in making Internet advertising popular. Meanwhile the 50 year-old popular Playboy magazine is implementing a major thrust into the internet - to stay competitive and profitable. Perhaps, picking a few (fig !) leaves from the hugely successful porn industry.

On another level, U.S. Senator John Kerry (famous for his pro-tobacco stand) is to launch a sophisticated internet campaign to help him win the American Presidency. (Last year, another Presidential candidate Howard Dean, used the Internet medium to engineer a make-over while garnering funds from supporters.)

And as the current Indian election campaign gets into high gear, it should not be surprising to see political parties leverage the internet to influence the votes of 'netizens'. (Add the SMS campaigns and you have the makings of a 'tamasha' by communications professionals !)

Internet as Medium for Advertising & Promotions
Worldwide, there are signs that the advertising business has started accepting the Internet as the new medium. Although a long way behind television as far as volumes go, advertisers have accepted that the Internet medium is focused, almost intimate. And that it is possible to monitor with instant measurement.

The new technology permits you to select your target audience, design specific messages and get these across to your target audience. And the actual measurements with payments options which permit linkage to response. (No more guessing games !)

Small wonder that marketers are warming up to the idea of using the net to communicate one-on-one.

(Indian brands along with the local communications industry which has so far been a laggard in accepting the Internet, is showing enthusiasm. Online ad spend is estimated to vault from Rs. 1.2 billion in 2003 to over Rs. 2 billion in 2004. Clearly, a lot more brands are planning to make the 'net' a part of the media plan.)

The Technology Juggernaut
New technological innovations coupled with breakthroughs in software development are adding greater zest to the net as a medium of consequence.

Take the concept of e-community building for example. Current technologies bring the web-site onto the consumers' PC desktop. Or PDA. Or mobile. With narrow-casting, broadcasting, feedback & measurements. Add seamless, "event-based" connectivity to application software and you have possibilities which never existed earlier.

In a wired world, the net will (more & more) become the fulcrum of our lives. And as it is increasingly used for brand-building as well as target centric advertising & promotions, the net will drive the fortunes of many brands.