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New "Comcast Store" is launched:
B-to-B Intranet Uses E-Commerce & Social Networking Tactics
To Transform National Marketing Program

Morristown, NJ - January 2008 - The new Comcast Store combines the latest strategies and technologies from e-commerce and social networking to create a new type of B-to-B Intranet site that is more interactive, customizable, intuitive and efficient. Recently re-imagined by Kinesis Marketing in close collaboration with Comcast"s Marketing Department, the Comcast Store has already earned an Intranet Design Award by the prestigious Nielsen Norman Group, which named the site one of the year"s 10 best Intranets because of its bold design and easy navigation.

"The Comcast Store represents a huge leap forward in its attention to the experience design," explains Gordon Miller, Partner, Creative and User Experience, with Kinesis Marketing. "The expectations of all online users have been raised by public-facing e-commerce and social networking sites, and there"s no reason why we can't bring the same fit and finish to intranets." .

"It used to be that an intranet was viewed as the "back-of-the-store" and little emphasis or effort was applied to making sure that the environment presented a clean, compelling style, or that the user experience was optimized for efficient ease of use. But companies like Comcast recognize that these sites represent their biggest single opportunity to empower and inspire employees on a daily basis, and so it is rightly emerging as a new priority," adds Miller.

About 15,000 Comcast marketing employees and partners are authorized to use the Comcast Store, a proprietary site used for accessing the corporation"s national promotional campaigns.

"We re-designed the store so users could navigate through a large number of marketing campaigns in as few clicks as possible. To do this, we led all users through process called "first authentication" during their initial login. This process ensured the set up of their personal profile giving the application the intelligence it needed to understand what information important to the logged user," explains Tom Gamble, Partner, Technology and Development, with Kinesis Marketing. "Using features like content interest settings, the intranet intuitively anticipates, retrieves and delivers only the types of marketing information desired by each user."

Functioning as an e-commerce site, the Comcast Store allows users to customize print and broadcast ads instantly according to their local Comcast System needs. They can change contact information, add special offers or adjust legal disclaimers. Once their customizations are complete, users checkout and purchases are charged to the appropriate accounts. Print ads are downloaded in the desired format (PDF, Quark, Indesign, etc.); TV ads can be sent to broadcast stations directly. Most orders are instant; however others may take a few days to process. The store remembers all user transactions and saves common customizations.

"The Comcast Store also educates users about Comcast brand standards logo/image and usage and to help manage royalty agreements for these items the ComcastStore requires users to agree to usage rules prior to downloading any Comcast approved logos or art," adds Gamble.

Functioning as a social networking site, the Comcast Store allows open communication among users and with the corporation.

"Users have access to competitive research via online library articles, but more importantly, they can share information with each other about best practices and why ads worked or didn"t work," explains Gamble. Users rate campaigns with gold stars and make marketing suggestions to the corporation via "rating feedback."

"Comcast is monitoring this information exchange to help develop more effective marketing programs that will meet the needs of its users. It's good customer service, makes good business sense and has the potential to transform its national marketing program," points out Sean McKenzie, Senior Director, Brand Asset Management & Marketing Business Applications, Comcast. "This Web site is the type of application that can transform marketing processes, improve communications, and certainly add cost efficiencies across many areas of an organization."

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Headquartered in Morristown, NJ, Kinesis Marketing is a digital marketing firm founded in 2001 by Andreas Panayi and Gordon Miller. Today, they have three more partners, 25 on staff and an office in Philadelphia. In 2005, NJBiz Magazine ranked Kinesis 11th among the fastest growing companies in New Jersey. NJBiz also profiled Panayi as someone to watch in its annual 40 Under Forty issue. www.kinesismarketing.com