customer lists
customer comments
warranties
guarantees
money-back offers
customer service (see people, process and physical evidence)
incorporating tools to help users during their selection and use of the product.Figure 5.3 shows a site developed by Fisher-Price, which rather than just being a toy cat-
alogue, instead shows how children develop through play and how their carers can assist
in this.The digital value referred to by Ghosh (1998) will often be free, in which case it will
be part of the extended product. He suggests that companies should provide free digital
value to help build an audience which can then be converted into customers. He refers
to this process as ‘building a customer magnet’; today this would be known as a ‘portal’
or ‘community’. There is good potential for customer magnets in specialised vertical
markets served by business-to-business companies where there is a need for industry-
specific information to assist individuals in their day-to-day work. For example, a
customer magnet could be developed for the construction industry, agrochemicals,
biotechnology or independent financial advisers. Examples include resource centres at
Siebel (www.siebel.com) and DoubleClick (www.doubleclick.com). Alternatively the
portal could be branded as an ‘extranet’ that is only available to key accounts to help
differentiate the service. Dell Premier is an example of such an extranet.CHAPTER 5· THE INTERNET AND THE MARKETING MIX
Figure 5.3Play Laugh Grow (www.fisher-price.com/uk/myfp/age.asp?age=2month)
child development resource site from Fisher-Price