• Read Today's Bugler.
• Download:   Integrated Employment Branding Presentation
• Download:   Roses in the Thornbush: How Marketing Can Leverage the Value of Recruiting                     and How Recruiting Can Leverage the Value of Marketing   

 
(November 04, 1999) Now that KForce is battling for access to the same media slots, we see less and less of the Interim ad campaign. Pioneering the use of regional time slots (also coveted by the Monster Campaign), Interim was the first company to use the web to advertise its employment website. There was a big PR flurry for a while (including a short term relationship with AltaVista through Worklife). We're guessing that the recent merger with Norrel sapped the company's money, attention and interest in the web.

Although we're not sure we can explain it, you can sort of tell when a website has become a low priority. Somehow, the energy is missing, the excitement is gone and the site seems to whither on the vine. It's not that the graphics change. It's more like regular attention really shows in very subtle ways.

It wasn't all that long ago that we found the Interim approach so attractive that we raved about it. In late 1998, we awarded the company one of our coveted Top 100 Electronic Recruiters Awards. Funny how quickly things change.

We routinely encounter a broad range of clients and readers who have lost their grasp on the fact that a website is a communications tool. By definition, it has to stay lively (with ever changing content) to remain interesting. It's lot of work.

The web is not a place. A website is not a place. Saying that you are the biggest company on the web is like saying you are the biggest company on the phone. The appropriate response is "So What?" The purpose of a website is to engage and retain an audience. To do that, you have to pay attention in routine increments with real investment behind the attention.

A website is not a one night stand, it's a commitment of marriage to an audience.

So, it's sort of sad to visit the Interim website. The lack of attention and investment (which first appeared as a decrease in advertising) shows. It's like visiting a ghost town.

- John Sumser, © TwoColorHat. All Rights Reserved.

New interbiznet Briefs

interbiznet is now offering single topic reports for the Industry.

The first offerings are:

   The 21st Century Advertising Agency
   Recruitment Branding Part I
   Recruitment Branding Part II - The Mechanics

Email Colleen Gildea for your copy in PDF Format.

View Table of Contents at http://www.interbiznet.com/briefs/.

Order Today. Only $24.95.

---

Home | ERN | Bugler | The Blogs | Blogroll | Advertise | Archives | Careers

---

Contacting Us: