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DigitalMASS.com - December 6, 2000
Christopher A. Szechenyi
© Copyright 2000 Boston Globe Electronic Publishing, Inc.

MIKE GAUTHIER of e-tractions
Using humor to generate buzz

By Christopher A. Szechenyi, Boston.com Staff, 10/26/00

Call him the master of manipulation.

Mike Gauthier has beaten public relations professionals and journalists at their own game by pitting them against one another in a new online skirmish called whack-a-flack. "You can either go for it or play in the minor leagues," Gauthier says.

And by doing so, the 44-year-old founder and chief executive of e-tractions has drawn unbridled attention to his Internet marketing company based in Bedford.

"This has opened up a channel to a very influential part of the business," the Lexington resident adds. "We've created buzz by demonstrating what we do."

Since he launched the flack attack game last summer, Gauthier has drawn news coverage from numerous outlets, including the New York Times, San Jose Mercury New and even the South China Morning Post. Now the game is scheduled to be featured on ABC-TV at 8:30 on Friday night, as part of a new show called Dot Comedy, which will highlight some of the coolest and funniest Web sites.

"It's a great branding opportunity," Gauthier says. "And it demonstrates the convergence of the Internet with television."

The funny thing is that Gauthier and his staff of 14 people developed whack-a-flack with help from his own public relations firm, Sterling Hager of Watertown, one of the 20 PR companies that players can attack online.

But hey, it's all in the name of drumming up business and scratching a "path to profitability."

Gauthier's sense of humor seems to be working.

First advertised with only 150 e-mails, whack-a-flack has attracted more than 45,000 people who have played the game, which enables members of the press to fire paper airplanes at their favorite flacks, virtually.

"From those 150 e-mails, we've developed a list of 3,000 members of the media who want to get continual information from us," Gauthier says. "We're sending them all Christmas cards."

But of course, what Gauthier really wants us to do is to write about what e-tractions does aside from building online games.

His company creates online marketing campaigns that collect visitor clickstream and registration data. Among its customers: Shell Oil, Akamai Inc., Proctor and Gamble, WebHire and the Museum of Science in Boston.

In addition to developing online games and quizzes, e-tractions has written patented software called Enteract, which profiles contestants. e-tractions' clients can use that valuable data to sell visitors products or help tailor their content.

For instance, WebHire's game, called Pulse, www.webhire.com, gauges opinions of members of the human resources community. Another game on www.Studyworks.com, a company that creates educational tools for high school students, gathers a snapshot of its customers.

e-tractions charges $20,000 to $50,000 to develop and launch marketing campaigns for a Web site. With those prices and all the media attention, Gauthier has not been lacking for clients. Started with less than $1 million in angel investment, the privately held company is close to profitability, he says.

"We're the flip side of what's happening to other dot-coms and Web developers in Boston," Gauthier says. "We built a business around what the Internet provides but we used the same basic sales and marketing principles that work in every medium."

"Whack-a-flack generated huge buzz and demonstrated the impact of our products."