Hortal.com

Central and Eastern Europe. Countries like Poland and the Czech Republic are just a couple of hours away by plane. Their press carry adverts for iPhone, there are URLs on every billboard. Large, thriving urban potpulations are hooked on broadband. Yet, under the skin, the Online Business landscape couldn’t be more different to that of the UK.
eMarketing models are unsophisticated and inefficient. Display CPM banners rule: their ills (in short: they don’t work!) smearing the whole industry with a reputation of mediocre results and hindering much-needed development.
Performance-based eMarketing models are in their infancy – a big opportunity for seasoned Affiliate marketers willing. No matter how hard you look for affiliate-style business (aggregators like Confused, social hubs like MoneySavingExpert, not to mention purpose-built affiliate propositions like MyDeco) there just aren’t any.
These are markets dominated by small local brands running basic services underpinned by basic business models. They have what we used to get years ago, before the Net became a serious business environment and really talented people, backed by a little investment from a few visionaries gave us the great online businesses we all know and love today. I’m not talking about the revenue-challenged darlings of Web 2.0 (Twitter, Spotify, even Skype) – I’m talking about eBusinesses that generate millions of pounds a year by adding real value to consumers and the business environment alike.
The CEE region has got the hallmarks of the next online battleground. People are online, hungry for products and services. Online banking adoption is large, and raising steadily – an indication of willingness to adopt, and a key payments enabler for internet commerce. What is missing is the eBusiness ecosystem, from great Market and Industry information (cue eConsultancy, eBenchmarkers, HitWise) to eMarketing training (eConsultancy again) planning and execution (results-oriented agencies like iCrossing, affiliate networks like CJ, ad network like DoubleClick) and measurement (DoubleClick once more, Atlas).
Creating this ecosystem, and the businesses that feed off it -from straight offline business models deployed online (Autotrader, Rightmove) to online-only, pure-revenue machines (Lastminute.com)- shouldn’t take long at all. Ideas abound, technology is readily available for next to nothing and this is the Net – distances are not going to be a problem.
This is a market prime for what we do best, barriers to entry are very low and the competition is weak or none at all. Online entrepreneurs of the world: go for it!

Roberto Hortal

Head of Digital - EDF Energy --- I am an eBusiness Director with many years of experience in great businesses across the world. Born and bred in Benidorm, Spain, I started my eBusiness career in the 90s with Nokia in Helsinki, heading Nokia’s Global Web organisation for a number of years. In 2004 I moved to the UK to join easyJet. I led easyJet.com into its current form at a frantic startup pace. In 2006 I joined RSA as MORE TH>N Head of eBusiness. From 2009 I led the effort of replicating MORE TH>N’s online success across Central and Eastern Europe. In August 2011 I became Head of Digital at EDF Energy, where I lead EDF Energy's ambitious Digital B2C Strategy.

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