Most marketers and PR executives who are Internet- and intranet-friendly have a ready-set-go attitude when it comes to this technology's latest offspring, the extranet. Since the framework is already in place, extranets are a natural progression in communications technology.
But grasping a baseline understanding of the corporate communicators' role in raising this latest Web child is quite murky, according to Michael Rudnik, principal with New York-based Cognitive Communications, Inc.
In fact, extranets are struggling with a pretty ubiquitous identity. The Internet, which tends to be used for external advertising and promotional purposes, gave way to intranets, which filled the void for internal "firewalled" information. Now, there are extranets, which borrow from both technologies to provide segmented services typically to suppliers, vendors, defined consumer groups, and, in an increasing number of cases, to journalists.
Webcasting the Media
Despite the subtle confusion, extranets are quickly becoming vast corporate realities.
Interestingly, corporate communicators and marketers don't have to spend as much time with extranets as they do with the Internet and intranets, according to Rudnik. "Corporate communicators should be most concerned with corporate identity issues, navigational schemes and content design, but not its overall structure." Much like intranets, extranets are infrastructures or pipelines to highly specified groups, and, therefore, should be managed by the departments for which they will be most useful.
For Detroit-based General Motors, media access anytime, anywhere is a top priority. So when extranets first surfaced, GM eagerly pursued the technology to strengthen its relationship with targeted automotive media outlets.
Corporate communicators were already well-positioned to offer extranets to key media since they had a PR-friendly intranet system in place. "Since our intranet system was so successful, we thought that it would be a great system to offer the media," said Len Marsico, GM's director, core services, corporate communications.
From the outset, GM communicators made it clear that this extranet would not be for just any media. Their objective was to target key automotive editors and provide them with IDs and passwords that would allow them first shots at breaking GM news.
As part of the seven-month planning phase, the Chevrolet marketing division conducted some online media surveys to identify who GM's key targets should be. They also evaluated outside surveys that gauged the media's usage of the Web. "We looked at the media as being more like customers, and our research indicated that they would find our Web site useful."
To promote the site, displays were set up at the Detroit, Chicago and Los Angeles auto shows throughout 1996. These shows, which attracted national and international automotive editors, were crucial to capturing GM's media target.
While at the shows, the media was given press kits that included extranet application forms.
Since the site includes embargoed press information, GM extensively qualified the media before allowing them ID and password privilege. Media representatives were required to complete an involved application form that they mailed in.
In fact, two levels of security were created for the site. One was for media that were not interested in honoring the embargo requirements, and the other was for media that would honor the agreements. The second extranet tier was more appealing to GM's media target. attracting over 90 percent of the editors to the unrestricted site.
To date the site has attracted over 1,000 media worldwide with 40,000 hits/month.
Throughout the process, corporate communicators across all of GM's divisions implemented common navigational schemes and photo ordering systems to simplify the media's usage. The next enhancement will be to allow the media to directly download high resolution photographs online. (Cognitive Communications, Inc. 203/328-3080; GM, 313/556-1139)