WORKING AND MARKETING ON THE INTERNET

CSTUDIO PROJECT
FROM: JIRI JANECEK 

					SNOHOMISH, 29 November, 1995

OVERVIEW

ThinkTech and Computer Studi/o are building a virtual global business organization in the age of information. We are a networked learning organization--continuously innovating and evolving--striving to deliver high quality products and services at the lowest cost to the global market. The enabling technology is the networked computer on the Internet/Web.

Marketing:

The Internet as a global network represents a tremendous opportunity for any size of business anywhere on the earth to rapidly enter and participate in the global marketplace. The goal of the CStudio ("Central European Studio") Project is to build a Web (World Wide Web) infrastructure to connect Central Europe to the North American market of 270+ million consumers. CStudio provides a marketing presence equal to any American enterprise regardless of the size.

Project Development:

CStudio is the server for the virtual project teams to communicate and develop software on the Internet. This could be a central repository/replication database for the configuration tools, project files, object libraries.

Information:

WWW provides the latest technological and marketing information. The internal and external links will be updated to articles in computer and business magazines.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Access to content via the Web must be fast, economical, and able to handle the anticipated growth (bandwidth on demand). The Web site can be anywhere in the world, but at this time it is most cost- and access-efficient in the USA.

The server should accommodate multimedia (voice, graphics, video, video conference, etc.). The unique domain names of the major customers will be linked to the front page. The present and future Web pages will be mirrored in the USA, and the Czech Republic.

BUSINESS MODEL

The growth of the CStudio will be a gradual, "pay-as-you-go", but participants are encouraged to invest early to facilitate faster growth and early return on the investment. CStudio will evolve through four phases, starting with a static page display, and ending with a cluster of multiprocessor servers, each computer providing dynamic access to custom services.

Details of the four phases are as follows:

  1. Web static page (not updated very often) with information about the company, services, and products - graphics (logo), text, voice, or video clip in HTML frame. The links from this page should be able to access other related information and download demo programs (graphics, MPG video, etc.) The customer provides the data and design; CStudio publishes the page. The one-time setup cost $20 includes the assignment of US Internet domain address ($100/2years), corresponding to your company name. The monthly cost starts at $20/month (10 MB of storage on the server!). This model supports a pull advertising strategy - the consumer must look actively for the information using text search tools, like in the telephone book.
  2. Dynamic/interactive page (2Q, '96). The user will be able to control the flow of the information. An intelligent search should provide only the information needed. For example, before a trip to Central Europe, travelers can interactively review and select various tourist packages, based on preferences of cost, time, and duration, etc. When commerce on the Internet will be feasible and economical (late '96), CStudio could facilitate the international transaction--we will receive the order and credit card payment from the customer, you will deliver the goods/service; and then we will transfer the payment to your USA credit card account. You will be only one who could be able to use/withdraw the cash from the account, anywhere in the world in US$ or local currency.
  3. Content-based advertising (starting in '96), using a push strategy - the consumer will visit the CStudio pages because of the content and they will be induced to buy. The cost of the advertisement will increase (to pay for the content), but the number of "shoppers" should increase correspondingly. See the CONTENT section below.
  4. Custom server ('97)--customers will operate their own dedicated secure servers. The client's organization has complete control of the security, interactions, and transactions. This is a category where the brokerage will sell and buy stocks on the net. Or a tourist agency will have virtual trips, where consumers will directly select, reserve, and pay for the services needed for their unique trip--air ticket, car rental, accommodations, theater tickets, etc. Sophisticated simulation/map/scheduling software will be needed for this phase.

CONTENT

People will visit CStudio/your pages and respond to your advertisement because of the content. The content offered must be entertaining, aesthetic, and informative. Content is expensive to develop and maintain, thus it will be acquired incrementally as the revenue grows. The content could be packaged and sold as a separate companion product on CD ROM. The content must be customizable/selectable based on users' preferences. New custom software will be needed to create interactive pages on the Web

Entertainment (examples) - changes daily
News--short newsclips
Advertisement/Commerce

Products and services will be advertised and sold on the Web to generate revenues. The preliminary cost is 20% from the transaction of the services/goods sold using the CStudio.

SERVICES

Exploit the current very expensive and low quality TELECOM to USA communication. Services targeted at the foreigners are needed in CR. Study should be done about the pricing and feasibility.

CONCLUSION

With the fast and economical telecommunications infrastructure in the United States, it is feasible and advantageous to develop the CStudio--Central European network in the USA. Let's start with the server dedicated to traffic between the USA and Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, etc. We should get an early start and market share without being dependent on the present primitive TELECOM infrastructure and services. Then, when ISDN or wireless will become available in CR, we will add local - Czech network - servers to our network. CStudio should evolve into the major Internet/WWW based network, ready to serve users on both continents. We are looking for business partners and capital. It would make the most sense for the major owner to be a Czech enterprise, with Think-Tech serving as a minor USA consulting branch. A strong marketing presence is needed in CR--to sign clients like CEDOK, CSA, Investment Funds, etc. Their WWW advertisement cost should be very reasonable, given the USA market potential.