Marketing has trouble deciphering dot.coms

Our core business is fundamentally simple: we will give young people the ability to shop securely online without the need for a credit card.

Acting as an online debit facility, money will be deposited into a teenagers' online account. This will then be used to fund purchases from a network of partner Internet retailers, the actual transaction being carried out in much the same way as existing payment methods such as credit or debit cards.

The concept is simple to us, but we've been amazed at how many times we've been asked exactly what it is that we are doing.

It isn't just elderly relatives who have never used a computer that are struggling to understand what we are up to.

This question has been asked by people that you would expect to be a little more clued-up, including friends that use the Internet every day at work and, more surprisingly, professional services companies that are pitching for our, and no doubt other, dot.com business.

OK, so we are exaggerating a little, but it does serve to illustrate a wider point. When we have introduced our business to people they have shown, either directly or indirectly, a lack of understanding about what we are doing.

In a broader sense, many people are genuinely struggling to make sense of what is going on in the world of interactive media.

Take some of the marketing agencies we have spoken to. Several have appeared bewildered by the demands from new dot.com businesses.

Many have been unable to demonstrate a deep understanding of our needs and ambitions. This is despite the fact that the industry, particularly advertising, has had an integral role in launching numerous new online businesses. It has also been of the one of the ultimate beneficiaries of the venture capaital money pouring into the Internet space at the moment.

We have also found that some agencies are understandably wary of the potential downside of working in a relatively volatile and immature market.

With the spotlight focused firmly on dot.com businesses at the moment, professional services companies that have spent years building a great reputation within their industry risk destroying it in a very short space of time if something happens to go wrong.

Morgan Stanley has been criticised in some quarters for its handling of the lastminute.com flotation, for example.

The lack of understanding, both in the commercial and in the consumer worlds, stems from a number of factors; the speed of changes underway, the array of technical platforms available (Internet, WAP, digital TV) and the massive hype surrounding the industry.

It can also be difficult for people to make sense of pure online businesses that have no physical presence.

Working in a relatively insular world with high levels of usage and involvement with the Internet, it is important for us to be aware that some consumers are confused about what is going on.

It is sobering to remember that for all the hype, the Internet has still not touched the lives of a significant proportion of the population. Even some teenagers, members of the most wired generation so far, do not yet know how to use the net.

We face huge challenges in effectively communicating to these people what it is that we offer. But we believe that we now have a strong team of agencies on our side that can help with this. Critically, these agencies do fundamentally understand what we are about and genuinely share our excitement for the months ahead.

• Adam Hamdy and Guy Mallison are co-founders of Rools.com