The state’s largest cable television operator hopes a no-cost connection to Rhode Island’s Zeitgeist will be the ticket to an even greater market share.
OSO.com, or Ocean State Online, produced locally by Cox Interactive Media, is the 21st of 25 Web sites planned for markets where parent media company Cox Enterprises, Inc., has a presence. The site — launched Oct. 1 in conjunction with a print, cable television and radio campaign — promises to be an interactive arena for residents who want to access community happenings, entertainment, sports, recreation, and local news among other topics. For Cox, it is a place where paying advertisers can vie for consumers distracted by all of the above and more.
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OSO.com has the potential to be a “gateway for Rhode Islanders or at least a hub,” said Tom Bates, site manager for OSO.com.
“The power of OSO.com is its ability to provide Rhode Island with the best local content, entertainment and community online,” Bates said. Users “can access a unique Web community and also pursue their passions — whether it’s their children’s soccer team, a community organization or a love of fine dining. We want OSO.com to be the one place on the Web that people go to for what’s happening in Rhode Island.”
To help create the perception that OSO.com offers an exclusive view of the way Rhode Islanders live, the company plans to use a roving Webcam to capture Rhode Island rituals from a perch atop Providence City Hall and play them on the site. It already includes a search engine with links to hundreds of existing Rhode Island sites, as well as news briefs from sources like Channel 6-ABC, Providence Business News and the Associated Press.
Various stops
A trip through OSO.com might include a stop at “East Side Story” where users can help local writer Robert Sinclair create an online suspense novel, a look at rainy day amusements for the kids, a review of the seating chart at Foxboro Stadium, a self-test on health risks or a search for a used car on the “Auto Connect” database listing dealers’ inventories.
Before launching its site, OSO.com held several focus groups and conducted phone surveys to identify what people wanted from an interactive destination.
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We found that Rhode Islanders truly value their local communities,” Bates said. “They also appreciate easy navigation and we’ve provided cutting-edge Web navigational tools, a wholesome environment for people to meet and talk on the Net and the ability to personalize the OSO.com home page.”
A few advertisers have already purchased banner ads. However, the ultimate goal is to create “long-term sponsorships” with local businesses, Bates said. To that end, OSO.com along with Cable Rep Advertising Inc. of Warwick — Cox Communications’ advertising sales division — has hired an Internet sales manager to promote the site as a venue for more relevant promotions, he said. We want to help sponsors “figure out how to turn this into a good marketing tool.”
10 person staff
Eventually, the company wants to serve as a Web site designer for advertisers who want to take advantage of the Internet but don’t know how, Bates said.
A ten-person staff runs OCO.com out of a suite in a technology business incubator at 1 Richmond Square in Providence. Two-year-old CIM is based in Atlanta. The network of Web sites includes city sites across the country and two specialty sites, Great Outdoors and FASTBALL.
Cox Enterprises includes Cox Newspapers, Inc. (newspapers, direct mail marketing and book publishing); Cox Broadcasting, Inc. (television, spot sales, television production, research and publicly traded Cox Radio, Inc.); and publicly traded Cox Communications, Inc. (cable distribution, programming, and broadband communications).
