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This article was published in U.S. 1 Newspaper on November 24,
1999. All rights reserved.
Fast Food For E-Business: Telofski
by Melinda Sherwood
Branding won’t be as important in the E-business
economy, says Richard Telofski of eBusiness Analysts.
Whether you agree or disagree, this is lesson number eight in
Telofksi’s
new book, "Fast Food for E-Business Marketers," a
pocket-sized,
100-page primer for the businessperson breaking into business on the
Internet. Telofski covers the death of brands, the realignment of
organizational structures, and the flipping of the traditional
supply-demand
model through graphics, pictures, wisecracks, and the book’s mascot,
a character known as "Painfully Traditional Rabbit Economist,"
an illustrated rabbit that appears from time to time to make a point.
Telofski, who has an MBA from Rider and a BA in mass communications
from Rutgers, headed a competitive intelligence consulting firm prior
to starting eBusiness Analysts, a Tamarack Circle-based strategy and
marketing planning firm for online ventures (609-497-0122). The
company
just launched a virtual consultancy at
For as little as $255 a year, businesses transitioning to E-commerce
can pose questions to a virtual consultant by the name of
"Buzzy,"
a composite of all the staff members at eBusiness Analysts. Answers
are custom-tailored to each business based on information collected
at registration, and responses are promptly issued through E-mail.
Clients also get a free copy of Fast Food for eBusiness Marketers
when they sign up.
The book is a quick read — maybe an hour — but it tackles
some pretty heavy economic issues (although with chapters titled
"Space,"
"Time," "Matter," and "Fractals," it seems
more like a physics lesson). There’s a recap, or "take away"
portion, that outlines the main points at the end of each lesson so
theoretically, you could skim the book in a few minutes.
Some advice "to go:"
you have on the Internet. From the book: "Abstract the information
elements of any product or service to solve customers problems."
transactions are based on human behavior. These points are reiterated
over and over: "People are the keys to the New Economy," and
"Hire really smart people."
together on the Web, like competitors. In today’s economy, writes
Telofski, it’s essential to be a part of the network, in the
"economic
web," so to speak, even if that means linking with a competitor:
"The presence of so many competitive elements will attract
qualified
potential buyers," he writes. "If your offering is superior,
the buyers will become your customers. But if they do not become your
customers, you will still benefit from the network feedback, receiving
information as to why your offering was not chosen."
and company. Traditional branding won’t hold up when everything about
your product — pricing, suppliers, even corporate culture —
is exposed: "Search technology will quickly reveal inferior
product
features or prices that are not competitive," Telofski writes.
"No more hiding behind a brand in the New Economy." For that
reason, branding won’t be that important, says Telofski, because
information
that empowers consumers will be right at our fingertips.
just as information flows freely in the economy at large. This is
Telofski’s "fractal" theory: each department, or fractal,
of a business needs to be exposed to supply and demand as though it
were a company unto itself, without the political and budgetary
constraints
imposed by management. "If management controls the flow of
information
within the company in a `non-fractal’ fashion," he writes,
"how
can the company expect to function as efficiently, and as fractally,
as the larger economic system of which it is a part? Then it is at
odds with a system that is supposed to ensure its survival.
run-over," writes Telofski.
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