As internet usage in the UK climbs, advertisers know they have to
go online if they want to foster closer relationships with their
customers.
But the web is a completely different animal from TV and radio and, at
the moment, advertisers are still struggling to find ways to measure
accurately the effectiveness of campaigns.
"It's a fast-changing advertising medium. Whatever you think of it today
is pretty irrelevant to what it will be like in two or three years'
time," Frank Harrison, the strategic resources director at Zenith Media,
says.
At the moment, Harrison's thoughts about the internet are dominated by
the absence of detailed standardised measurements that would enable
advertisers to analyse fully the effects of web-based campaigns. "It
should be much more accountable," he says. "There is a lack of
standardised and industry-acceptable measurement techniques, which make
it extremely frustrating. We have three major audience measurement
panels, none of which provide the same data for the same sites for the
same period of time. It's difficult to plan ad campaigns and execute
them on the internet because of the lack of good data."
It's also frustrating for major portals because they want advertisers to
understand fully the scale of their achievement in attracting large
numbers, usually of ABC1s. "There is a need for all sides of the
industry: media owners, agencies and media buyers to agree on a single
way of measuring audiences," Harrison says.
While he accepts that some advertisers have had good online experiences,
there are large numbers who are yet to use the medium and he partly
blames the press for holding them back. "There is a lot of press comment
about advertising on the medium which suggests the banner is dead.
Banner advertising is the primary form of advertising on the web."
Banner ad impressions and clickthrough rates are currently the most
popular means of measurement for online advertisers. In fact, that
information is now pretty easy to access and the area where online
adland is focusing its attention now is on the degree to which people's
perceptions of a brand are affected by what they see online.
Work carried out by Engage already shows that clickthroughs are not
necessarily the most reliable measures of a successful campaign. In an
analysis of a banner ad campaign that it ran targeting business
travellers for Thistle Hotels, Engage found that one particular banner
ad was five times more effective in driving online hotel bookings. But,
significantly, it was the least effective in terms of generating
immediate clickthroughs. Engage argues that cases such as these clearly
illustrate the importance of measuring the total effect of an online ad
campaign including indirect responses.
Online consumers might not have clicked through to the advertised sites
immediately but tracking shows that people will return when they are in
a purchasing frame of mind.
Spending on online advertising in the UK is considerably less than it is
in the US, which could be partly related to the fact that measurement
systems over here are less well developed. "Between 1 and 2 per cent of
total advertising in the UK is being spent on the web per annum. That is
steadily increasing," Harrison points out. "In the US it's between 4 and
5 per cent. The net in the US has higher penetration and usage, so
measurement is more advanced than in the UK."
There are two key types of internet measurement systems in the UK. One
is panel-based, from the likes of Jupiter MMXI Europe. This provides
feedback on the online activities of representative samples of surfers
who have software put on their computers.
The other is site-centric, which analyses visitor data stored on servers
of individual web sites.
Harrison argues that UK panel-based internet data is incomplete because
at the moment it does not provide information on people using the
internet at work. "Arguably that is the hidden majority. There is a
substantial amount of internet usage out there that is not being
measured." He also wonders if people who volunteer to be part of a
panel-based service are that representative of the online population as
a whole.
John Purcell, the sales and marketing director of Nielsen NetRatings UK,
rejects the suggestion that panel-based research samples are currently
too small. "If we take BARB as a benchmark, I guarantee that a Nielsen
panel is of a similar scale, if not larger."
But what about the fact that there is no research done on people using
the internet at work? "Internet activity at work has been top of our
agenda for 2001 and continues to be. We have had an internet panel at
work in the US since last year. We launched one in Australia about three
months ago. We are just about to launch one in Italy and France and we
will have it here in December."
Taking into account the findings in the US and Australia, Purcell does
not think that audience numbers will shoot up when at work internet
activity is taken into account in the UK. But more time is generally
spent online at work. "In America it's about ten hours at home a month
and 22 hours a month at work."
Purcell believes there could be greater standardisation in the
future.
But for the time being he says it's up to the market to decide the best
measurement standard. "There are three panel-based research companies in
the UK and people are voting with their cheque books."
Advertisers also have criticisms of site-centric research carried out by
the likes of ABC//electronic, which analyses a site's log files.
Harrison feels the samples are too small and more detail is required.
Ideally, he would like to see more data about activity within individual
sections of websites, "so we have an understanding of where the traffic
is really going."
There is clearly enormous pressure on web-based media owners to
demonstrate the effectiveness of internet advertising. While existing
measurement systems have their critics, it's easy to forget that these
systems are likely to improve with time. Despite the grumbling about the
net's measurement systems, the medium is successfully attracting ABC1s
and has many unique attractions to advertisers.
Harrison says: "You can place ads that result in people buying products
shortly after being exposed to the ad. That is an enormous benefit. You
can do things on the internet in terms of building a presence within
internet sites. You can become a long term sponsor. And it offers highly
creative and innovative ways to communicate with consumers, which you
cannot do with any other media."
CARPHONE WAREHOUSE BOOSTS OFFLINE SALES VIA ONLINE
The big selling point for many online advertising campaigns is that they
offer advertisers and their agencies the ability to re-plan the campaign
and track its effectiveness while the ad is running live. This
accountability and flexibility makes online advertising distinct from
advertising on any other media.
The other factor to be considered is how much online advertising can
influence offline behaviour. For instance, for Carphone Warehouse's
online campaign, Yahoo! was able to show how online advertising affects
subsequent actions by using proprietary technology from Avenue A.
Carphone Warehouse wanted to challenge the myth that clickthrough rates
are synonymous with customer acquisition. The mobile phone retailer ran
a six-week campaign on Yahoo!'s UK and Ireland sites from 20 February
2001 to 1 April 2001.
The campaign was geared towards driving qualified traffic to
www.carphonewarehouse.com as well as increasing sales for the high
street retailer. Through Yahoo!
UK & Ireland's tracking technology, Yahoo! was able to track users'
behaviour, regardless of whether or not they clicked on Carphone
Warehouse ads.
Over the six-week period, the campaign reached 2,737,000 unique
users.
Some 92 per cent of all online sales produced by the campaign were
indirect; the remaining 8 per cent came via a clickthrough to the client
site. Spontaneous awareness among those exposed to the campaign grew by
45 per cent, demonstrating the internet's ability as an effective media
vehicle for brand marketers.
When it comes to what consumers recognise as brand attributes and how
internet advertising can reinforce them, the campaign also demonstrated
impressive results, particularly in terms of Carphone Warehouse's
extensive choice of products on sale. This in turn pushed up users'
intention to purchase by 33 per cent.
In terms of return on investment, this example demonstrates that online
advertising can provide a cost-effective method of targeting consumers
with brand messages through which brand attributes can be reinforced,
consumer behaviour can be tracked and sales can be generated.
ABC//ELECTRONIC: SITE-CENTRIC MEASUREMENT
ABC//electronic has placed itself at the forefront of attempting to
impose web-based research standards. Although the organisation
specialises in site-centric research, ABC//electronic's managing
director, Richard Foan, regards panel-based research and site-centric
research as complementary internet measurement systems, making a
comparison with offline media. "In print you have the National
Readership Survey and you also have ABC figures."
ABC//electronic offers any website a complete census analysis. So what
does that mean? "It's based on a complete analysis of all data," Foan
explains.
"The site itself is already collecting loads of data about where people
are going. There are many different solutions and the results they are
looking at might not be compatible to the results of another site. ABC//
electronic checks that the counting has been done to the industry agreed
standard."
Foan argues that ABC's methods are instilling confidence in web
advertisers.
"From an advertiser's perspective, it gives them a safety net. They can
trust the data." ABC//electronic's measurement system is run on an
opt-in basis. It's not compulsory and so far just under 200 companies
have registered accounting for thousands of web sites. Foan thinks the
take-up is good considering the company has been in existence for only
four years. "Companies have chosen us because it helps their business.
It is all about helping them to sell advertising," he says.
Dot Music is one of ABC// electronic's clients and the site has so far
had about eight audits. "It's about confidence," he says. "It
demonstrates that it is prepared to stand up and be counted. It can
actually measure the exact route someone takes through its site, which
pages they went to, in which order and how long they spent on one page
before going to another."
Foan believes that ABC//electronic's site-centric measures will grow if
the online marketplace sees its value. It costs about £900 for a
website audit but if you don't know your levels of traffic, Foan argues,
it is difficult to manage an online business. He points out that
independent data audits are also valuable for reporting back to
investors and believes that all sites should be audited twice a
year.
Some advertisers have argued that levels of traffic on a website can be
distorted by portals when they automatically refresh their own
pages.
ABC//electronic now separates that information out so a website owner's
activity on a page is not mistaken for the behaviour of consumers.
www.abce.co.uk
JUPITER MMXI: PANEL-BASED MEASUREMENT
Mari-Kim Coleman, the vice-president of Jupiter MMXI, argues that the
company's panel-based internet research provides a greater breadth of
information than site-centric methods.
"You can compare site versus site and the audience who goes to those
sites," she says.
One of the main criticisms that website owners and advertisers have of
panel-based research companies is that they still do not provide
measurement of people's internet activity at work. So when is Jupiter
going to introduce this service?
"We provide that in Australia, the US and Sweden. And we are building
work panels for all our major markets," she counters, but admits she
cannot put a date on when this service will be introduced into the UK,
although she hopes it will be later this year.
Looking at the findings of work-based internet research in countries
such as the US and Australia, Coleman says there are certain sectors of
interest on the web, such as sport and news, which have a strong pull in
the work environment and attract a lot of unique users.
Another charge levelled at panel-based research is that the samples are
limited and cover only the top sites. Coleman admits that panel-based
research can discriminate against unpopular sites. "If you are a niche
site and you do not have a strong following among the overall
population, you might not make it onto a panel." She adds that this is
where site-centric research can play a complementary role and dig deep
down into any individual site.
Does she accept that people who volunteer to be on internet research
panels are not likely to be representative of the population as a
whole?
"You could say that about any piece of research. This is a proven
traditional method. It's used for TV and print. With any piece of
research, you will have a certain element of bias that will be taken
into account."
She adds that the priority is to work with companies so that they
understand how the numbers work and how they can be applied.
YAHOO! UK & IRELAND LAUNCHES NEW MEASURING TOOL
Yahoo! UK & Ireland's new measurement tool shows actual audience
behaviour without relying on panel data. Its distinctive characteristic
is that it enables marketers to correlate the general "noise and
traffic" in a consumer's life versus marketing activity.
It will be integral in evaluating both online and offline activity as
well as the proximity of the buzz around a brand in relation to the
distribution of marketing spend.
It's also an effective way to track the latest interest and trends among
internet users. In its trial period, the product garnered an excellent
response from marketers. Like traditional evaluation methods, the new
measurement tool will monitor the impact of integrated marketing
campaigns.
