Entry No.19c

IT Writers Awards

Despite all the resources and backing in the world, ACP's IT Web site failed to deliver in one crucial area: Content. So, what went wrong and what can be learnt from this?

Newswire, in case you did not know, was up until November 23 2000, an IT Web site owned by Australian Consolidated Press. Suddenly, and without notice, ACP axed the site, much to the disgust of its editor Angus Kidman as well as Nathan Taylor, editor of Australian Personal Computer. So, one has to ask, why has this happened?

The fact is that this site should have been a winner as it had everything going for it - the backing of a multi billion dollar organisation, direct links with Australia's number one Web site ninemsn, plus a relationship with Australian Personal Computer, Australia's largest circulating computer magazine.

So why did it fail? Firstly, the site was not focused on its key target audience, small to medium business. Instead, the site became a personal soapbox for ACP staff like Angus Kidman, an editor who liked to spout off on issues that the target audience did not understand.

Kidman took the view that Newswire was his site, his baby as he called it, when in fact it was a key ACP site that should have been managed by executives who understood the value of marketing to an audience of small to medium businesses.

These organisations are screaming out for information on IT issues that affect their daily life, and are very much a sought-after audience for organisations selling computer technology and business-related products and services.

In today's market place, content is critical to the success of any Web site. Content is not about quantity, it's about quality and the value of the content to the target audience. Newswire had the target audience, what it lacked was an editorial management team that understood the issues affecting the SME market.

Instead, ACP management allowed Kidman and his team to pump out anything they wanted. Then, when the site was axed by ACP management fed up with the lack of return, Kidman and his sidekick Nathan Taylor decided to put the boot into ACP management.

This was childish, as it demonstrated that Kidman, and Taylor, did not have what it takes to deliver profitability to a Web site. Now, one has to question their skills to run a magazine.  Right now, many businesses are in the throws of building Web assets and what has become abundantly clear is that many organisations simply don't understand Web marketing.  Brand and the quality of the content are critical. The brand has to deliver a rational benefit, a sensory benefit and above all an, emotional benefit to an end user.

What Kidman tried to do with Newswire was develop a Web site that was about him and his staff, not about the issue confronting his target audience. His ego got in the way of success. 

An editorial by Nathan Taylor that appeared on the site hours after it closed read: "Our argument went something along the lines of there's no frigging way that our material is going to be published on a site even partly owned by Microsoft. In the end we won." Did they? 

The editorial clearly demonstrated that Kidman and Taylor despised Microsoft, a company who the Newswire target audience have a daily relationship with. Some 95 percent of them have invested in a Microsoft product or service. They are also an organisation from whom the SME market wants information.

Remember, customers don't buy products, they buy the expectation of benefits. The benefit of owning a Microsoft product should have been pumped through this site every week. By now you must think I am a fan of Microsoft. While I own Windows 2000 Magazine this does not mean we will not criticise Microsoft when a serve is due, as we have done on many occasions.

I also own the number one IT industry Web site www.itnews.com.au, and a visit to this site will reveal the importance of content. It will also demonstrate that a Web site does not have to be tricky. However, it must be relevant and focused and, above all, be of value to the target audience.

The death of Newswire is a lesson for everyone. Don't let some emotional jerk control your most valuable asset content. And, most importantly, constantly review the value of the content in line with the habits of the target audience. 

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