A case study in virtual marketing.

Keeping in mind the paradoxes of online marketing, the Urban Land Institute has installed mechanisms at its Web site (http://www.uli.org) to market its programs and products. ULI, a nonprofit research and education organization, has relied on its Web site since its inception in October 1995 to help promote best policy and practice in land use and real estate development. Located in Washington, D.C., ULI has 90 employees, a $15 million annual budget, and 13,000 members in 52 countries.

ULI's most recent Web venture that combines marketing goals with aims to strengthen educational offerings is a public learning page called "Shaping A Livable Technopolis," the theme of ULI's 1996 fall meeting. The institute worked with Donald Norris, president, Strategic Initiatives, Herndon, Virginia, to developed this image, which is linked to promotion and customer service pages. Our goal is to create a competitive advantage for ULI as the top land-use forum for public policy makers, practitioners, and educators through the following strategies:

* Reinforcing ULI's leadership position among influential social, business, and economic thinkers, writers, and editors as the forum for land-use policy. Through year-end, a group of 20 experts and practitioners will contribute insights and respond to ideas and questions submitted by people visiting the "Technopolis" page. Pre-conference comments will be distilled into monthly bulletins and mailed to select media and technology companies, industry, information providers, and related associations, as well as speakers and those registered on the site, further promoting conference attendance.

* Developing a more cost-effective method for conducting trends research, identifying best practice, communicating findings, and promoting book sales. Volunteer organizations can take as many as five years to publish a book, rendering the information out of date. In search of cheaper, faster, and better way's to publish, ULI is using its public learning space to experiment in simultaneous online research, writing, and promotion.

Strengthening ties to university educators and graduate students. ULI recruited university professors and students to participate in the Web project by sponsoring an online research competition. The winners will present their findings at the spring meeting.

Direct selling 

Visitors to ULI's site can also click on the fall meeting page to register or to learn more about the program, including the names of registrants. Updated daily, this service has proven to be popular-and profitable. Before gaining access to the registry, Web surfers must sign up for additional meeting promotions and occasional e-mail updates.

Following the meeting, audio clips will be featured on the page and linked to an order screen for audiotapes. Those ordering a tape online will also get that speaker's handout.

Will the "Shaping a Livable Technopolis" Web page become a model for ULI's virtual marketing? The institute is closely, monitoring the project in hopes that it will prove to be a healthy component of the associations overall marketing plan.