PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF BBC’S WEBWISE CAMPAIGN, MAY/JUNE 1999Interested Action Progression728,560Hits towebsite578,560105,00094,72143%Plans toconnectTelephonecalls150,00050%Enrolledonto ITtraining coursesIndividualsshowing interestAttendees at Internet tastersessions with Web Wisepartner organisations*Planning toconnect/on acourse*including DTI’s IT for All centres Figure 8.2Source: DTIISI MARKETING ACTIVITIESAwarenessraising activityOutputSMEactionISIimplementationadvertising• press• radio• direct mailPR• national, regional,trade, press and radioMay to July 9930,000 responses1998–99450+ articlesISI infoline0345 15 2000– 450000+ calls98–99ISILocalSupportCentrenetworkE-CommerceAwards• annual regional andnational SMEcompetitionmedia coverageand case studies fordisseminationISI ‘howto’ guides,CD-Rom andother inforesourcesISI websitewww.isi.gov.<strong>uk</strong>recently updated –acts as signpostcontact ICTsupplieror otherSource: ISI, DTI Figure 8.38.9 The media is consistently cited by allsizes of business (and by micro, small andmedium sized businesses in particular) asthe principle source of information one-commerce technologies (see figure 8.1).Moreover, the success of the Sun’scurrantbun.com free ISP service in reachinga wide cross-section of the populationdemonstrates the power of the media toinfluence behaviour in the consumer sector.So too does the BBC’s current WebWisecampaign, which is achieving dramaticE-<strong>commerce@its</strong>.<strong>best</strong>.<strong>uk</strong>45
E-<strong>commerce@its</strong>.<strong>best</strong>.<strong>uk</strong>46results both in generating interest in theInternet and in turning that interest intoaction (see figure 8.2).8.10 The Government media strategy fore-commerce is mainly dealt with by theInformation Society Initiative (ISI) in the DTIwhich focuses on increasing up-take of ICTsamongst SMEs (see figure 8.3). While the ISIawareness-raising activities seek to exploit theavailable opportunities, they are severelyconstrained by modest funding, which isapproved on a one-off, limited basis. Forexample, only £2m was available in 1999 forall the awareness-raising activity shown infigure 8.3. Moreover, there is no sustained,concerted campaign that would reach thebroader business community or consumers.8.11 At the same time, there are a large andgrowing number of public-sector brands inthe e-commerce area. The ISI and IT for All areprobably the <strong>best</strong>-established national brands,but there is a lot of promotional activity goingon at a local and regional level (oftenresourced with European funding), and morenational activity will emerge as, for example,the DfEE-funded IT Learning Centres andUniversity for Industry come on-stream.8.12 In order to reach the broadest audiencepossible, the PIU recommends a betterresourced, broader and cross-Governmentmedia strategy, building on, but significantlyextending, existing media work. The aimshould be to achieve a step-change inunderstanding, in all areas of business andsociety, of the opportunities opened up bye-commerce. Media coverage should includeUK business “success stories”, together withcommunication of the benefits (and threats)of e-commerce to established businessesand examples of the potential benefits ofe-commerce to consumers (e.g. via pricereductions). All media channels, including TVdocumentaries, soaps etc. should be exploited.8.13 This activity needs to be developedin partnership with industry and carefullyco-ordinated across Government, as it willinvolve marketing to all target groups acrossall sectors. It is recommended that a full-timePR role is created within the newe-commerce central co-ordinating team asproposed in chapter fourteen. In particular,this new post should be given responsibilityfor integrating Government activity with theBBC’s WebWise campaign and its plannedsuccessor for 2000.8.14 In the short-term, this activity shouldseek to leverage current DTI resourcesdevoted to this area. But these are notsufficient to carry out the breadth and scaleof activity envisaged in this recommendation.It is therefore recommended that an earlyaction for the e-envoy (see chapter fourteen)should be to commission professional advice– and subsequently present preliminaryfindings by June 2000 – on:the optimal marketing strategy forachieving a step change in e-commerceawareness at all levels of business andsociety – drawing on a review of thesuccess of previous campaigns;the <strong>best</strong> branding to support this strategy(the research should review the scope forexpanding existing brands, such as the ISI,but also look at potential new brands); andthe level of resource needed to deliver thestrategy, and the scope for leveraging inprivate-sector contributions to this.Recommendation 8.2: carry out andcommunicate shared industry/Government sector-specific “e-commerceimpact assessments” to highlight theopportunities, threats and barriers ineach sector, and in particular in theaudiovisual content industry.8.15 Some sectors are not taking upe-commerce as fast as others (see figure 8.4).A better understanding is needed of thereasons why. The PIU e-commerce Teambelieves that there is a role for thedevelopment of a shared understanding andvision of the impact of e-commerce in eachsector, of the kind that were conducted aspart of the PIU project (see Appendix twofor methodology).8.16 “Impact assessments” should beconducted by sectoral directorates within DTI(and other Government departments whichhave a responsibility for particular sectors),in conjunction with industry. Priority shouldbe given to key sectors (to be identified bythe co-ordinating team) , and these sectorsshould be completed for the June 2000Review recommended in chapter twelve.An example of one such sector is theaudiovisual content industry. DCMS isparticularly active in assisting SMEs in thisindustry to exploit the opportunities providedby digital technology and e-commerce. It isimportant that DCMS continues its work in