ChangHyun Jin : e-mail: chjin@mail.utexas.edu |UT: At Austin: http://www.utexas.edu | Ciadvertising: Jiad: http://www.ciadvertising.org

In the last four years, a new digital age and the explosion of the Internet has brought about an IT (information technology) revolution. Due to the development of telecommunication, most world companies set up this new resource mainly as a support to the work being carried out in offices. Now, IT is being implemented for direct interaction with the user. The idea that it will be the customer who is at the controls of the production process is really not all that bizarre (1996, Molenaar).

With the development of information technology and the Internet industry, tremendous changes have occurred in our lifestyles. An example of this is shopping patterns, which reduce the parameters of geography and time in disseminating information. The Internet plays a major role in bringing the effective marketing strategy into the new marketplace. It is enough to gather consumers into cyberspace. The strategic development of Web sites to support specific marketing activities has been one aspect of emerging strategies on the Web (Griffith & Palmer, 1999).

As Swaminathan, Lepkowska-white and Rao (1999) pointed out, the Internet has emerged to serve as a new medium for linking transactions between buyers and sellers in a virtual market. The Internet as a giant market and business-invested network replaces the traditional marketplace. The goal is to profit from Internet prevalence and closer contact with consumers. The Internet is not only an important medium of communication, but also education, and most recently, a tool of the marketplace. Businesses invest in information technology and electronic commerce to increase productivity, cut costs and enhance customer service. In sum, the Internet functions not only as a medium linking consumer to marketers but also conveying information to Internet users and businesses.

E-commerce is only part of the future. Habits die slowly. At best, e-commerce will replace certain ways of doing things but much will continue to be business as usual. Consider some numbers. Last holiday season, brick-and-mortar companies registered more than half the e-commerce clicks. The "clicks and bricks" crowd seems to have an instant advantage as they exploit people's tendency to avoid change. And don't be too impressed with those widely reported big percentage increases. On a good weekend Wal-Mart sells more than e-Toys does in an entire year. Despite all the hype, e-commerce represents only a fraction of a percent of all retail sales (quoted in Business 2.0, Trout,2000). Furthemore, the Internet may not serve as the perfect advertising medium because programming cannot be interrupted. Unfortunately, as a result, markeing is reduced to little banner ads. Since most wish that the banners that clutter up their computer screen would go away, Internet advertising ends up being a less involving advertising medium. And if ads don't work, companies will stop using them.

According to Synergy Research Group, total WLAN (wireless LAN) sales grew 55 percent in the first quarter of 2002 over the first quarter of 2001. Wireless local area networks continue to proliferate, though further adoption appears to be slowing. An Integrated Communication System centralizes control of all intercom, audio-video (VCR, cable TV, CD-1, video laser disc, audio CD, audio tape etc.), video presentation, facility master clock, bulletin boards and future functions. All media applications are centrally controlled and distributed throughout a school or building over a network of television monitors. Utilizing this sophisticated system of hardware and software, communication and presentation can be easily distributed throughout an entire facility. The flexibility of an Integrated Communication System allows far more people access to much information, at an overall lower cost (Industrial Time& Systems, INC, 2001).

Volkomer (1999) mentioned, "The use of banner ads has diminished as newer forms of advertising have proliferated. This casts doubt on the continued presence of banner ads as a ubiquitous form of online advertising." He also reported that many Internet companies have been trying to produce alternative types of Internet advertising replacing of traditional banner ad forms. Generally, the text-based banner ads on the web page belong to the stone age of Internet advertising. But today's banner ads are more attention and generate an increased click-through rate.

Media planners, marketers, and Web advertisers have been considering their placement of On-line banner ads and are also thinking of alternative marketing models for digital media. In addition to the Web some see future propects in several personal communication tools such as cellular phones, Palm, and wireless communication tools. Indeed, In order to effectively communicate or appeal to consumers, advertisers and marketers should contimue considering the Web as well as personal communication devices as mediums that offer a range of niche options. This project will deal with the new marketing environment and review Homophily theory, Niche marketing, E-commerce and Medium Credibility to explain the Network Marketing Model. The term,"Network", will become the main concept of as communication tools to effectively communicate between enterpriser and consumers in the near future.