Internet marketing

The longer I work in the internet industry, the more I see of the burgeoning market of "online consumer." I wonder how many business schools have begun looking at this group of consumers in a new light.

I imagine a common misconception of many businesses and their marketing departments is that the internet is merely an outlet for selling their product. They see it as the equivalent to television, radio, billboards, direct mail, et cetera. If you're selling a soft drink, for instance, you'll want to advertise Bob Cola on billboards to advertise to drivers, on television to appeal to the large television audience, on radio to appeal to another audience, and in direct mail to appeal hit people in yet another audience. It's what advertising is about, right?

How proper is it, however, to see the internet in the same way? If Bob Cola advertises on the web by producing a web site, they can say on the web site "buy Bob Cola! It's tasty!" They can allow viewers to see their ads, allow for downloadable screensavers, etc. How effective is that, though?

I propose that the proper way for a marketing department or any advertiser to envision the internet is to imagine it as a secondary world, within which various mediums exist in which to advertise. Google AdWords is like advertising on television, web site banners are billboards, streaming radio is regular radio, and so on.