Online can open doors to new markets without cannibalizing existing ones, says AmericanGreetings.com's director of marketing.

As director of marketing, Jane Carpenter Lamb sets the strategic direction for all online, email, promotional and direct mail initiatives for customer acquisition. She also is responsible for managing direct marketing test plans for six brands, including AmericanGreetings.com, BlueMountain.com and co-brands with AOL, MSN and Yahoo!. And she manages efforts to find the most profitable product packages and cross-selling techniques for new product lines. 

iMedia Connection: What are the most significant roles online plays in building and expanding your brand?

Carpenter Lamb: AmericanGreetings.com actually provides a product extension for the offline greetings business. ecards offer a new medium for consumers to connect with friends and family.

iMedia Connection: What can’t online do, despite what everyone would like to believe?

Carpenter Lamb: While online has the ability to provide many metrics that offline cannot, it still cannot accurately track everything. There will always be waste with online advertising, just as there is with offline.

iMedia Connection: How does online fit in with the rest of your marketing efforts? Does it stand alone or do you take an integrated approach?

Carpenter Lamb: AmericanGreetings.com offers a stand-alone product from AG’s offline business, but also serves as a reach vehicle for the offline brand.

iMedia Connection: Will the size of online within your mix change this year?

Carpenter Lamb: Online is targeted to increase.

iMedia Connection: What has been your biggest online success, either alone or as part of a larger campaign or promotion?

Carpenter Lamb: We had a successful launch of an offline product online. Create & Print allows consumers to take AG greetings, personalize them, and print them right from home. The concept started out in in-store kiosks in AG’s mass-merchandiser partners. It then grew into a boxed software product, and finally was re-launched in 2003 as an online subscription. 

iMedia Connection: What’s your biggest online frustration or challenge?

Carpenter Lamb: Accurately measuring return -- specifically brand awareness.

iMedia Connection: What do you have to spend time convincing management that online can or can’t do?

Carpenter Lamb: Online can open doors to new markets; it doesn’t have to cannibalize existing ones. 

iMedia Connection: What one thing would you like agencies to “get” about your needs and your business? Or, what one thing would make the client/agency relationship better?

Carpenter Lamb: Our products have low price points, so some forms of online media are cost-prohibitive. Taking a chance on AG.com by offering a good mix of online advertising for a reasonable price may, in the long run, pay off at times when the greetings industry is strong but when the ad industry is soft.

iMedia Connection: What’s the next “big thing” online and how will you use it?

Carpenter Lamb: The next big thing will be wireless. AmericanGreetings.com has begun to serve its content on cell phones and other wireless devices.