The Internet - Our Approach

In the late nineties, Jeremy Paxman interviewed Martha Lane Fox - co-founder of Lastminute.com -on Newsnight. Martha, in her early twenties looked like a frightened rabbit in the full glare of the studio lights with a TV audience of millions watching. She was answering questions about the Internet revolution that was sweeping the nation; The City were chucking billions at almost any web-based business plan and consumers were captivated by the potential of a new medium that promised untold riches for entrepreneurs the world over.

Paxman was his usual surly self and poured scorn on her answers - "are you honestly trying to tell me that people will buy holidays on the Internet" was his angle. Passionate in her vision, but clearly intimidated, Martha answered in the affirmative and the .com revolution reached a defining moment. Last Minute has become a global brand, Amazon exploded and the business world jumped on the bandwagon.

Heady days fuelled by optimism, but somehow we lost our way. The following decade got hung up on the actual technology as companies put their trust (and budgets) into web agencies that simply could not deliver. Marketing was largely forgotten as business owners became frustrated that the returns were not quite as instant as the dream initially promised. The internet lost credibility and many companies continue to neglect their sites terribly.

Paradoxically, the recession has now had an impact on entrepreneur's attitude to the web. With savage cost-cutting exposing the low-level returns of traditional advertising, and the emergence of a consumer generation that will simply no longer accept failing or out-of-date websites, the Internet is enjoying a wonderful renaissance.

Online advertising now generates more revenue than TV in the UK and we now know that the technology does actually work. The combination of excellent marketing and IT provides a heady cocktail of potential commercial potential which Impress believes should be at the heart of every company's promotional effort.

To achieve success on the net, one has to embrace blogs, social networking, online PR, the dreaded search engine optimisation, banner advertising and pay-per-click campaigns. Content is king and this too takes considerable effort to generate and maintain. The whole process is time-consuming; it comes at a cost and requires genuine management. This is what Impress believes in and this is what we offer.

We love working with clients that truly believe in the digital revolution and welcome enquiries from organisations willing to make the leap of online faith.