RE: UKNM: online ad tolerance collapsing

[Ross Sleight]

Ross wrote:

>>Final random thought - on average we receive 2-3,000 commercial messages a

>>day from all media (and if you are online, add another 100 to that for a

>>couple of hours surfing). 


Phil wrote:

>Small thought... In theory don't we act on these commercial messages almost

>every time we buy something, go to the cinema, etc? While we can get

>definite figures (clickthroughs) for online ads, are we ignoring the harder

>to determine impact of advertising which is all people have to go on in the

>offline world? 


Phil - exactly.  The intangibles of advertising measurement, effectiveness

etc. in the traditional world are hard to pin down and show accountability

or ROI.  By nature, our awareness and perceptions of brands, our

understanding of their offering and knowledge of their products/services are

moveable feasts and are affected by all communication.  Thus I may feel that

(radical example) I want to get a mortgage from X provider as they seem more

trustworthy than Y or Z, but I may not act on this as I do not need a

mortgage as my current one runs for five years.  During that time my

impressions of X company will change until it comes to that point in the

sales process that I am ready to act and get a new mortgage, and if my view

is still positive of the company (that is X is better than Y or Z) then I


will probably go with X (with the caveat that the offer from X has to have

parity with the offers from Y and Z).  


Now mass marketing like this relies on not only knowing that there are

enough people out there who want to get a mortgage that day/week/month, but

also to improve the company in question's brand perception for all those

potential customers who may be five years off getting their mortgage as well

as existing customers (resale based on perception rather than quality of

service provided whilst a customer - of course re-sale is based on trial,

acceptance, service and happiness with product service, not just brand

perceptions but I thought that I would stretch the hypothesis taught here).



Now Azeem writes: 


>> How many commercial messages do we actually act

>>upon?  1 or 2 a week? And is acting upon a commercial message offline the

>>equivalent of a clickthrough online?  And does this mean that lower

>>clickthroughs actually provides better quality leads/sales?


>not really . . . but at 25 quid per thousand, you've got to ask whether you

>wouldn't be better marching a fleet of bikini-clad sandwich men (yes, I said

>men) down oxford street with "XYZ Laser Printers cover everything. (Unlike

>these sandwich boards)" emblazoned all over them (okay, i'm not a

>copywriter).


Which is a point well made.  Online, why do we look to utilise the medium as

a mass marketing medium - this is much better achieved by Azeem's suggestion

(and other more coventional offline media).  Why do we utilise online to

change our hypothetical 5 year mortgagees' brand perception and awareness?

Surely we should look to approach that audience online (with banner ads, as

I believe sponsorships and promotions are different) which are ready to buy

now / this week and play off the effect of brand awareness raising and brand

perception changing from traditional media marketing (such as bikini clad

men with sandwich boards).  


To do this we need targeting, value contracts and information on users as

per my last post.


Just because we can do mass marketing online (or a different slant - because

that's all we can do online at the moment) doesn't mean we should. Don't get

me wrong here - there will undoubtedly be a spinoff of any highly targeted

campaign in raising awareness, changing brand perceptions etc but in the

majority of cases this is a halo effect and one which should be considered

added value in the realm of marketing rather than the objective of a

targeted campaign).


We should aim for accountability and high targeting capabilities, and rely

on synergy with other offline marketing activity to provide the brand

awareness and brand perception changing stuff.


Ross 


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