Making sense out of today's industry news has become a Jekyll and
Hyde experience. One minute we're up, the next we're down.
Headlines often speak of doom, when the content is actually
good news. For instance, a recent eMarketer article titled
"Economy
Deals Online Ad Spending a Hit" sounds dismal
when, in fact, it predicts the growth of online ad spend
in 2009 and beyond. Sure the growth percentages have slowed,
but who'd expect double digits in the current economic climate?
Display advertising is predicted to grow by 6.6% in 2009,
and online as a whole growing 8.9%. Compared to the predicted
decline by 4% to 7.8% in US TV ad spending, online display
looks downright rosy, so let's not drive nails into her
coffin just yet.
Most
articles on the death of display seem to focus on one of
three culprits -
1. Lack of solid measurement standards
2. Outdated buying and pricing methods (CPM)
3. Irrelevant and bland ads
Many use the term display media synonymously with branding
campaigns. Yet banner ads are utilized in every imaginable
online scenario except search – CPM, CPC, or CPA. And
with the exception of keyword data in Search, most online
measurement is dictated by the same three metrics –
impressions, clicks, and conversions. Metrics that are admittedly
ten years old. What if we come up with some new criteria?
1. Engagement Advertising – This is a way of targeting and measuring media based upon the relationship between the consumer and the brand. What if an advertiser had insight into who was actually seeing their ad, and whether that person was a prospect or existing customer. Online technology is capable of this granularity, and many companies are working to harness it in various ways. Networks use targeting that's based predominantly on aggregated data derived from within their own technologies. The only problem is, you only get it when you buy on their Network. TruEffect's DirectServe™ technology allows advertisers to use the information they already have to find their customers anywhere they buy media on the web.
2. Media evaluation and purchasing based upon the buyer's needs – The traditional way media has been sold hasn't provided advertisers a lot of choice or negotiating power. But what if an advertisers could tell what percentage of eyeballs within a specific media buy were already customers? Could he negotiate a better rate for his acquisition campaign? Or what if that same advertiser could gauge the effectiveness of multiple buys by seeing how much customer overlap there was between them? The possibilities are limitless when an impressions is served based upon an actual relationship, or lack of, between an advertiser and an individual consumer.
3. Relevant messaging – Banner ads are accused of being bland and irrelevant. A recent AdAge article says the current burn out rate for a TV ad is down to only eight showings. If we extrapolate this to the web, my guess is it would be even less. It's safe to say today's consumers, inundated with sensory input, are somewhat desensitized to banner ads. Is it bland creative, or simply an irrelevant message? Search advertising shows us it's the relevance that counts, because nothing's more bland than a three line text ad. If we can hone in on one to one targeting, the technology already exists to micro-target on the fly with custom messages, without the expense of creating hundreds of actual ad variations.
Hard times require innovation and persistence, and yes, advertisers are going to demand better ROI and measurement solutions. At least we can rest assured that technological advances, and smart marketers are already leading the way. And it doesn't appear that display is going away any time soon.
– Layne Salter
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