M.Comm. / The communication infrastucture that the Internet provides offers immediate access to the global marketplace and numerous business resources. Many global businesses have already found the Internet to be an extremely costeffective way of reaching customers and obtaining information regarding products, markets and competitors. South African marketers should also consider using cybermarketing to obtain useful information, and to reach, communicate and sell to current and potential customers. Cybermarketing is seen as a new style of marketing because of the multiple differences between cybermarketing and traditional marketing. Businesses will find that mastering the communications culture on the Internet is a valuable step in designing an innovative marketing strategy. The Internet is not just another promotional tool, but also a valuable source of information for the entire marketing process of an organisation. The key to cybermarketing success is therefore to integrate the new on-line activities with the existing traditional marketing efforts. In this study the focus is on the Internet as a new marketing tool and it's potential influence on the main elements of an organisation's traditional marketing strategy. The main goal of the study is to determine the role the Internet can play in the marketing strategy of an organisation. To support the main goal, the following specific objectives are pursued: • To gain a marketing perspective about the Internet as a "Superhighway" and its strategic value. • To investigate the nature of the information the Internet can provide for various sections of a business' marketing plan. The role of Cybermarketing in the marketing process of an organisation XI • To investigate the role of the Internet in a business' integrated marketing communication mix. • To identify the critical success factors when designing a cybermarketing communication strategy. • To investigate the extent of the current cybermarketing participation in the South African business environment. This study starts with a literature overview, analysing the traditional marketing and communication strategy of a business, and the characteristics, marketing functions and commercial use of the Internet. The primary data for this study was collected according to a descriptive research design. The most relevant method for obtaining primary data for this study was surveys. A questionnaire was used to provide an orderly and structured approach to data gathering. The target population for this study included all South African organisations that were conducting business in South Africa in 1999. The respondents were the marketing manager or the information technology manager of each organisation. The data for this study were analysed and reported in terms of frequencies and cross-tabulations. Final conclusions and recommendations were derived from this analysis. It was found that South African organisations mainly use the Internet in the internal environment and have not yet explored the opportunities of the Internet as a macro-environmental scanning tool. South African organisations also mainly use the Internet for information purposes. This objective results in their cybermarketing strategies being information-based and does not create opportunities for expanding their market to global borders by selling their product and service offerings to the international market.