To increase the brand's visibility, Ragú's Web developers adopted the persona of an Italian Mama. She's the best attempt I've seen yet at assuming a strong voice and avoiding the corporate drone of most Web sites. "I'm glad you came," greets Mama. "It's not good to surf on an empty stomach!" You get the idea. Mama is your host at a number of clever functions -- a pizza party, a tour of Little Italy and, of course, a recital of her favorite recipes. All are designed to engage readers in the charm of Italian cuisine and culture, and to identify Ragú with it. To complete the feedback loop, Mama doesn't forget to cajole you into filling out a survey of your own eating and cooking habits. Some smart dish, that Mama.

The Mission: Gather customer data

Old Model: Categorize and define your market by segments

New Model: Know every customer; anticipate their preferences and habits

Check Out: Greet St. http://www.greetst.com

This savvy digital retailer of greeting cards demonstrates the Web's unique power to generate valuable information about each customer, then exploit it to maximize sales. Each time I choose to buy, view, or search for a card, its database tracks my preferences of graphics and sentiments by performing a "conjoint analysis" (a search for the common denominator among my various selections). So if I tell it brother Dave's birth date, it will e-mail me a reminder next year -- and suggest 10 new cards I might consider based on this year's selection. As Greet St. builds up a log of advance orders for future birthdays and holidays, it will also be able to supply its 40 card publishers with early warnings of the most popular items so they can adjust their print runs.

Sidebar: Online Resources for Offline Work

You've cruised the cool Web sites. Now get some real work done. That competitive analysis is due next Tuesday, and the direct-mail lead list won't develop itself. Consider these tools to help handle those traditional sales and marketing chores more efficiently.

The Mission: Scope out the competition

Go To: Hoover's Online http://www.hoovers.com

Upstart Hoover's is giving mainstay information brokers such as Dun & Bradstreet a run for their money by posting lively, affordable company profiles on 21 online services. Capsule reports (contact info, latest sales and SEC filings, a listing of senior executives, and a brief business description) on about 10,000 public and emerging private firms are free. They're just bait to hook you on Hoover's subscription Web service for in-depth reports (market shares, acquisitions, key competitors, 10-year financials) on the 2,200 firms it deems most influential. At $9.95 for 100 reports a month, or a dime each, it beats D&B's cursory Business Background Reports http://www.dbisna.com at $20 a crack.

The Mission: Keep up with trends in global markets

Go To: STAT-USA http://www.stat-usa.gov

This Web site combines research from 50 federal agencies. It's a gold mine of data on business, economics, and foreign trade. It includes the National Trade Data Bank from the Department of Commerce, featuring comprehensive foreign trade and export information from U.S. consulates around the world. A friend researching the prefab-housing market in Poland found a wealth of insights in a timely 1995 report, such as a source for local distributors and details on a new mortgage financing fund. Perhaps its most useable database features searchable RFPs (requests-for-proposal) from Commerce Business Daily and other U.S. sources. For the $150-per-year subscription, you'll be hard pressed to find as much for the money anywhere else.

The Mission: Build sales-prospecting lists

Go To: D&B's MarketPlace CD-ROM; 800-590-0065

This database puts 10 million U.S. company listings from Dun & Bradstreet on a CD-ROM ($599), along with a fast engine that searches by SIC code, location, type of business, sales volume, and nine other criteria. You build and refine your own list of prospects, run analyses on them, then pay only for the names you download to mailing labels or disk files. Enchanted Gold Inc., a Concord, Massachusetts gift manufacturer selling through independent shops, recently began testing 10 new markets such as museums and garden centers. Marketing director Beth Halbardier sliced the D&B data by SIC code, sales volume, and top metro areas, and tripled her prospect list in four days.

The Mission: Schmooze, exchange knowledge

Go To: Market-L mailing list (Original URL now defunct. Try http://www.amic.com/htmlforums/Market-L/April/2000)