Online Advertising Effectiveness Gets Significant Boost from Branded Content July 30, 2008
Posted by Mark Blei in : Uncategorized , add a commentOnline Publishers Association Analysis of Independent Data Shows that Branded Content Sites Consistently Provide Greater Impact than Industry Norms, Portals and Ad Networks NEW YORK, July 30
NEW YORK, July 30 /PRNewswire/ — Across a wide range of advertising metrics, branded content sites outscored Internet industry norms for the Internet 41 out of 43 times according to a new research report released today by the Online Publishers Association (OPA). Additionally, “beyond-the-banner”
forms of online advertising such as video, sponsorships and rich media also outpaced industry norms when placed on branded content sites. The OPA report, "Improving Ad Performance Online: The Impact of Advertising on Branded Content Sites," leverages Dynamic Logic's MarketNorms(R) database, an industry standard for measuring online advertising's effectiveness and branding impact. The OPA study provides an extensive analysis of ad effectiveness scores for branded content sites, as represented by OPA members, compared with those for overall MarketNorms, portals and ad networks. A copy of the report is available at http://www.online-publishers.org. "It's an absolute fact with online advertising: environment matters," said OPA president Pam Horan. "In nearly every category measured, ad effectiveness scores on branded content sites were numerically higher than on the Web in general, on portals or on ad networks. Whether it's the trust they engender or the audiences they attract, branded content sites deliver better advertising results." Branded content sites are particularly effective at improving two of the most difficult metrics to impact: brand favorability and purchase intent. When it comes to brand favorability, branded content sites provide a 29% improvement over average online advertising performance in MarketNorms. For purchase intent, branded content sites provide a 20% improvement. With both measures, there is an even greater bounce among affluent audiences. Branded content sites are 24% more effective than overall MarketNorms at impacting purchase intent among those with household incomes of $75,000 or greater. "Nearly all forms of online media have an important role to play throughout the purchase 'funnel,'" Horan continued. "But branded content sites have a notably greater impact at the points where consumers are establishing brand preference and making purchase decisions. Simply delivering better results is good, but being able to break-through at those critical moments when consumers are making their decisions is a tremendous advantage." When it comes to beyond-the-banner advertising such as video or sponsorships, branded content sites also provide advertising advantages. The OPA analysis shows that video advertising on these sites provides an 82% brand awareness boost over MarketNorms' overall online video advertising averages and a 67% boost for improving brand favorability. Rich media ads on branded content sites provide a 28% brand awareness improvement over MarketNorms. "Branded content sites are doing a particularly effective job of delivering results with developing advertising formats, including video advertising and rich media," Horan continued. "Just as we have seen with offline media, the value of context cannot be underestimated -- a point that is clearly reaffirmed in this study. A sponsorship on a 'name' site delivers the power of that media brand to the advertiser associated with that content." The full report is available at http://www.online-publishers.org, and includes more extensive comparisons. Among the key additional points in the research: -- Sponsorships on branded content sites are 42% more effective than the overall MarketNorms average and 36% more effective than on portals. -- 18-34 year olds are more responsive to ads on branded content sites: they are 33% more likely to form favorable opinions about advertised brands than when viewing ads on portals. -- The overall findings are consistent across advertising categories. For example, consumer packaged goods advertising on branded content sites gets a 26% lift in purchase intent over MarketNorms. MarketNorms data benchmarks online ad campaigns from 3,900+ AdIndex surveys among more than 6 million people, evaluating over 163,000 creatives across more than a dozen industries and hundreds of sites. Dynamic Logic's MarketNorms(R) is a marketing effectiveness database. The results cited have not been adjusted for exposure frequency, demographics, ad size, websites, advertiser industry and other factors that may contribute to brand lift. These findings are aggregate in nature, reflect past results and are not a guarantee of future results for individual campaigns. The data in this report listed under overall MarketNorms refers to the average performance of all online campaigns measured by Dynamic Logic in the last 3 years, including those on branded content sites, portals and ad networks. The data in this release has been tested for statistical significance at a 90% confidence level and is sourced accordingly. About the OPA Founded in June 2001, the Online Publishers Association is an industry trade organization whose mission is to advance the interests of high-quality online publishers before the advertising community, the press, the government and the public. Members of OPA represent the standards in Internet publishing with respect to editorial quality and integrity, credibility and accountability. OPA member sites have a combined, unduplicated reach of 131.7 million visitors, or 73% percent of the total U.S. Internet audience (Source: comScore Media Metrix, July 2007 combined home/work/university data). For more information, go to http://www.online-publishers.org. SOURCE Online Publishers Association
Enter the gaming grandmothers July 22, 2008
Posted by Mark Blei in : Uncategorized , add a commentAmerican gamers are getting older and more women are participating, skewing the stereotypical teen image. New data from the Entertainment Software Association found that even your grandmother may be enjoying a second life
The Entertainment Software Association’s (ESA) annual report found that women are almost as geeky as men when it comes to gaming. Forty-four percent of all gamers were found to be women over the age of 18, up from 38% last year.
And before you hark back to the stereotypical image of a teen lurking in a dark bedroom, think again. A staggering 26% of all gamers were over the age of 50 and the average age of gamers has risen from 33 to 35 in the last year.
“This new data underscores the fundamental principle that computer and video games are a mainstream entertainment form, which captures the imagination of every segment of our society,” said Michael D. Gallagher, CEO of the ESA, the U.S. association representing computer and video game publishers.
“With deeper market penetration and the broadening of our audience base, video games have incorporated themselves into America’s cultural and social fabric.”
Earlier this year, analysis of Dynamic Logic’s MarketNorm database revealed that, compared with younger women, those aged 45 and over were more likely to be respond to consumer product ads featured on gaming sites.
So, don’t be tempted to rule out in-game advertising if you are after a mature audience, because that Amazonian warrioress with a body to die for could be just the over-50 target you are after.
As Big Brands Embrace Digital, Digital's Branding Power Wanes January 17, 2008
Posted by Mark Blei in : Uncategorized , add a commentMuch has been written about the eagerness of large brands to advertise online. Yet even as they increase their digital budgets, the Unilevers and Fords of the world are struggling to get their messages across.
That’s because the branding effectiveness of online advertising has declined over the past two years by nearly every measure, according to data provided to ClickZ by Dynamic Logic. Explanations for the decline include the rise of ad clutter, the desensitization of Internet users to display ads and other causes.
But the trend is clear.
For instance, consumers exposed to online ad campaigns between Q4 2004 and Q3 2005 exhibited “brand message association” that was 4.3 percent higher on average than a control group, according to the marketing research company. By 2006 that message association lift had fallen to 3.5 percent, and by last year it was down to 2.5 percent. The same downward trend has accompanied a more generalized metric: “brand awareness.” In 2005 online ads drove a 3 percent lift in brand awareness over a control group, but that boost fell to 2.2 percent over the course of the following two years.
Ken Mallon, Dynamic Logic’s VP Product Development and Custom Solutions, said one factor in the sagging brand impact of digital ads might simply be competition among large brands for share of mind.
“A few years ago there were less big brands online than there are now,” he said. “If you were a Pepsi or GM you were more likely to get noticed. Now everybody’s online. Every brand you can think of has a reasonable spend online.”
The data come from Dynamic Logic’s MarketNorms brand impact database, which combines findings of the many brand impact studies the company conducts on behalf of marketers.
While all brand impact measures tracked by Dynamic Logic have declined over time, some have fared better than others. For instance, the boost in “purchase intent” provided by online campaigns has lost relatively little mojo, dropping from 1.6 percent in 2005 to 1.3 percent in 2007, according to MarketNorms. The average lift in “brand favorability” meanwhile actually rose for a year, from 1.8 percent in 2005 to 1.9 percent in 2006, before sliding to 1.4 percent last year. The award for the most drastically sagging lift goes to “online ad awareness,” a metric that offered online marketers a 7.3 percent leg-up over a control group in 2005. In 2006 that metric fell over a full percentage point to 6.4 percent, before dropping again to a mere 4.8 percent lift last year.
The question for marketers is what, if anything, to do about the declines.
One clear option is to pressure publishers to reduce the number of ads per page. Another is to place more emphasis on non-traditional ad formats and venues, such as “virals” — now officially a noun — and social marketing campaigns.
“The bar is higher and higher in terms of what consumers will pay attention to. The big challenge for brands is being invited in,” said Sarah Fay, CEO of Carat and Isobar USA. “A straight advertising message doesn’t cut it anymore. We’re at a point where we’re trying to meld the message with some form of content.”
Fay believes viral media and social marketing campaigns “can really kick up brand attributes,” but of course that only works with consumers who choose to engage with them.
From the point of view of marketing research companies like Dynamic Logic, measuring brand lift for original branded content and social marketing campaigns has baked in challenges. But Mallon said the company is working on it.
“We definitely work with all the different new things that are coming out,” he said. That includes establishing relationships with the new breed of widget ad networks and tracking original branded content. “The tricky part is getting your control group. How do you intercept people before they get exposed to it? But we have ways.”
Vizeum Digital Newsletter Inspiration #2: February 28, 2007
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Video Online
A busy month in the world of online video. Dynamic Logic build upon their November released online video advertising norms, and drill down further into how using video in online advertising can increase brand metrics. Analysing the impact of the most memorable and the least memorable video ads, a good video can increase purchase intent by 6.9% versus a reduction of 1.5% for a bad video.
Regular youtubers in the US switch off the old tube. 42% of online US adults say they have watched a video at YouTube and 66% of regular visitors to YouTube claimed their YouTube activity is eating into the time normally spent doing other activities, with a claiming they are watching less TV.
As gangs in Mexico take self-expression to an extreme level, Chelsea football club sign a deal with YouTube to deliver the video snacking audience premium content. Premier League restrictions prevent Chelsea from using the service to show actual live footage but do allow for daily update videos and archived footage.
16-34’s are changing their consumption habits at an alarming rate as media companies in this arena are struggling to deliver advertising solutions fast enough for brands to talk to their audiences.
The drive for video is raising the bar for online creativity with high quality video creative delivering high cut through and increases against brand metrics.
