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Newsletter 09/2001


1. Guest column
• What Marketers really, really want - relevant online measurement

2. MarketPlace
• Trend indicator: September 2001
• Study: Fictitious banners prove effectiveness of online campaigns
• Germany: Banner ads are very popular
• Germany: Cross-Media is still at the beginning

3. DoubleClick NewsDesk
• New Brand and Audience Network
Structure Opens up Online Opportunities

• DoubleClick appoints Acting Chief  
Financial Officer

• DARTmail gains 25 top marketers as new customers

4. Online Marketing Know-How
• Developing Rich Media Strategies
• Privacy Matters - P3P and IE6 - An Introduction to Privacy Preference Technology

5. Shortcuts
• Bonus points for SMS ads


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guest column
Richard Wheaton
Managing Partner,
Carat Interactive
What Marketers really, really want - relevant online measurement

It is easy for those of us who have worked
in Interactive media for several years to forget
just how new 'new media' is to the majority of
marketers. The vast majority marketing decision-
makers here are still undecided about the role of
Internet advertising in their marketing activity.
Online media is still not a 'no-brainer' to senior
clients who have achieved results throughout
their careers using 'traditional' media.

A major failing of the online advertising industry
has been our over-dependence upon click-through
as a performance indicator and measurement
metric for online advertising campaigns.

Why do I say this, when for many years I have
been promoting interactive media as the first truly
accountable medium?

Well, it's because today our greatest problem is
the standard accusation that 'Online only gets a
0.5% click-through rate'. This seems to be the
only key statistic that many people remember
and it makes our brave new medium seem a little
unimpressive and, well, unresponsive. We could
even be accused of being defeated by the very
accountability that the Internet offers.

There are, however, new tools that let us measure
beyond the click, and are now allowingus to show
a fuller picture of the branding impact of online
advertising. It is a key role of my team at Carat

Interactive to explain how online media complements 'offline' media activity, as a highly measurable new method of connecting with consumers using these tools.

It has often been assumed, incorrectly, that the initial click-through and ROI recorded for that click is the key performance indicator. However, we now have two additional new metrics:

1. Branded impact and branded response
Simply put, this is the recording of actions resulting from campaign exposure - i.e. a site visit from a user who has seen the advertising but not clicked on it. For example, when someone types in a web address.

2. Repeat visits before an actual purchase is made
This measurement recognises that users buying a gift or holiday, or opening a bank account online, may make a number of visits before they complete the purchase process. So, if someone visits a site, but then does not make a purchase until a later date, when they return to the site, we measure this.

In reality, clicking out of a site via a banner advertisement could be considered counter intuitive, especially if the site content is especially good. The interactive industry now has an important task in understanding this 'value gap'. Just because 99.4% of users (based on current industry standard banner response) do not immediately click through from a banner advertisement, this does not mean there is no value to those users.

To this end, Carat Interactive has pioneered the use of what we term Beyond the Click analysis, or post-view reporting. It is a key element of our strategy that we measure not just click-through based ROI but also record the post view response and repeat visit ratios in our campaigns.

 

 

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2. MarketPlace

Trend indicator: September 2001

There is no need for pessimism. More than 80% of Internet users react to online advertising. And they do not do it by clicking the ad but by viewing the advertised product. This is the result of a study in the UK, conducted by market research institute E-Hauck on behalf of Starcom, the media planners.

Here are the figures:
• 38% of the people surveyed, between 16 and 45 years of age, have used a banner to search for product information on the Web at least once
• 34% have already shopped online and
• 24% have registered for a service
• 40% of the Internet users thought banners ads were pushy.

Despite the general slowdown in advertising activities, the German online media have maintained an excellent position. AC Nielsen said that the ad volume was $96.2 million (210.5 million German marks) in the first half of 2001. In the second quarter, turnover rose by 11%. In contrast, the increase for traditional media lay only in the one-digit figures. More than half of the online advertising turnover is made in the areas of telecommunication, services, banks, education, media, and hardware and software.

When it comes to predicting future turnover, the market researchers sometimes differ strongly in their prognoses. Prognos, a Swiss institute, expects the general development to be positive. Prognos say that online advertising in Europe will grow more strongly than any other advertising sector during the next years. They predict a turnover of $166 million (€186 million) for the year 2001 (which means an increase of 20%). For 2002, they expect a turnover of $331 million (€370 million) and for 2005, the market researchers at Prognos expect the figure to rise to $880 million (€984 million), meaning that the Internet sector would amount to about 3.5% of the entire advertising market in 2005. Today, the corresponding figure is 0.7%.

Market researchers from Zenith Media see the future development for Internet ads rather negatively. They say that the industry will not experience strong growth before 2002. They mention the introduction of the Euro as the new single currency in many countries of the European Union as one of the factors from which the online advertising industry will benefit.

 

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Study: Fictitious banners prove effectiveness of online campaigns

Everybody is talking about cross-media. And in the debate, some people tend to forget the advantages that online advertising offers. A recent study in the UK shows that pure online campaigns can also be very successful. Dynamic Logic created the brand "YesSirNoSir" with the sole purpose of analysing the branding effectiveness of a pure online campaign.

The idea:
The test focused on "YesSirNoSir" as the brand of a fictitious British service provider. The brand was introduced exclusively on the sites of iVillage.com and FTMarket - Watch.com.
On these sites, more than 2 million banner impressions were registered between May
and the beginning of June 2001. DynamicLogic analysed branding metrics such as brand awareness, banner awareness and purchase intent. Apart from the target group there was
a control group that was not exposed to the banners.

The results:
During the campaign, both the target and the control group showed a favourable attitude towards the new brand (measured via questionnaires)

Brand awareness increased both in the target and in the control group. The control group showed a brand awareness of 4%, versus 11% for the target group which means an increase of 175%. An even more detailed analysis showed that brand awareness among the male target audience lifted by 429%

Source: DynamicLogic, 2001

The target group was able to link the banner to the advertised brand

The effectiveness of online advertising grows in proportion to the number of banners, i.e.  the more banners are used and the more often they are placed on a site, the higher is the  branding effectiveness.

For more information go to:
http://www.yessirnosir.net/result.html


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Germany: Banner ads are very popular

Banner ads are an essential ingredient of the marketing mix. A study conducted by Dialego, an Aachen, Germany-based online market research institute, showed that the Internet has a firm place in the marketing plans of major companies from the IT industry, just like traditional media such as print media, television and radio. Here is another result: 70% of the 280 IT directors polled invest in online advertising.

One out of five companies already invest more than 10% of their total advertising budget into online advertising. The same number of companies spend between 6% and 10% of their overall budget for online ads. Clear trends can be seen when it comes to ad types. 70% of the companies surveyed rely on banners and text links. Sponsoring is important for 36% and pop-ups are used by about a third of the companies. Researchers at Dialego say that in the future, sponsoring (65%) and banners (51%) will even play a greater role than now.

Whenever the movers and shakers from the IT industry surf the Web themselves, they show clear preferences for certain ad types. 53% prefer banners, 49% text links and 47% sponsoring. Pop-ups and viral marketing, i.e. a kind of mouth-to-mouth advertising on the Web, only play minor roles.

Source:
http://www.dialego.de/de/dialego.php3?thema=studien&nav=studien

 


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Germany: Cross-Media is still at the beginning

The time has come for cross-media strategies to enter the media market. However, the implementation of the strategies is still not very advanced. German media companies are only beginning to combine campaigns for the print media, the Internet, television and radio. This is the result of a study from Cap Gemini Telecom & Networks that has recently been published. Researchers said that the main objective is to combine online and print advertising.

The study analysed the print editions and online presentations of leading German media companies. Researchers found that the current problem is this: Traditional media companies face stagnating revenues from sales and advertising, and at the same time, new competitors from the areas of entertainment and telecommunication are trying to enter the market. In addition, fast technological development requires huge investments. Cap Gemini say that well-organised cross-media strategies could be one right step to solve current problems.

Cap Gemini say that the fundamental changes of the media world caused by the Internet and digitalisation may not be easy to deal with. However, they emphasise the fact that these changes also offer huge opportunities to improve a company's position on the market. At the same time, links to readers and advertising customers can be strengthened and new customers can be gained. Analysts say that newspapers and magazines are in a particularly good position because these companies already have large content archives and a high number of subscribers and ad customers. Bottom line: The only thing that is still missing is the right strategy.

Source:
http://www.de.cgey.com

 

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3. DoubleClick NewsDesk

New Brand and Audience Network Structure
Opens up Online Opportunities

The online market is changing - and as new technology and fresh thinking push the industry forward, it will continue to do so. DoubleClick works with increasingly sophisticated marketers today who have two main objectives
• To partner with respected brands, and
• To maximise their potential reach across a qualified audience

Recognising that these goals are not mutually exclusive, DoubleClick has introduced an innovative new approach to its media network to help marketers achieve their dual objectives more effectively and seamlessly than ever before. Under the new structure, DoubleClick provides two complementary networks - the Brand and Audience Networks - along with more tailored, flexible solutions for targeting, creative implementation, pricing, optimisation and branding.

Marketers now have the opportunity to achieve both contextual and audience targeting across the two networks, using customised media buying approaches that include site specific, run of affinity buys, run of network buys …. AND any other Brand / Audience Combination.

The Brand Network
The Brand Network aims to satisfy marketers needs for content association. The sites on this network represent high profile brands that are easily recognised, generate significant levels of traffic, have respected content and trusted interaction with their unique user base. Integrated content sponsorships and enhanced advertising formats on brand sites further reinforce strong associations created by being on such a site.

The Audience Network
In this part of the Network, marketers can realise their reach objectives via an expanded, unduplicated audience base. Sites on the Audience Network cover the most popular content categories (including Entertainment, Business & Finance and Auto) and provide flexible opportunities for targeting and optimisation using DoubleClick's DART technology.

How will this structure benefit online publishers and advertising customers? Here is an overview:

Advantages for online publishers:
• Web sites can contribute a percentage of their unsold inventory to the Audience Network - by combining with similar content from other Web sites, marketing effectiveness is increased. The opportunity works well for large Web sites not able to sell all of their inventory, and for sites with a specific audience whose brand name is not well known.
The objectives: higher revenue, larger reach.

• Previously, DoubleClick represented sites exclusively; now, DoubleClick offers a non-exclusive option which is available to all sites regardless of their current sales solution. This allows DoubleClick to better respond to the individual needs of site owners

• Publishers benefit from DoubleClick's relationships with top advertisers worldwide.

• Dedicated account management in both Brand and Audience Networks.

Advantages for advertising customers:
• Greater reach via a larger audience base and variety of content categories.

• The technical infrastructure built to support the two networks ensures that advertisers achieve greater unduplicated reach across European markets.

• DART features that allow for precise targeting and optimisation

• By offering greater flexibility for advertisers, we enable our customers to create "advertising packages" that fit their specific needs, both with regard to targeting and pricing.

For more detailed information go to:
http://www.doubleclick.net


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DoubleClick appoints Acting Chief Financial Officer

Bruce Dalziel is DoubleClick's new Acting Chief Financial Officer. Dalziel took over from Stephen Collins who stepped down from his office on August 10, 2001, in order to focus
on some of DoubleClick's strategic initiatives. Dalziel had previously been the company's Vice President of Finance and Operations for the Technology, Data & Research businesses.

For more information go to:
http://www.doubleclick.net/us/corporate/presskit/press-releases.asp?asp_object_1=&press%5Frelease%5Fid=2539


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DARTmail gains 25 top marketers as new customers

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Clearing House, Excite UK, National Post online, Harvard Business School Publishing and AutoTrader.com have all turned to DARTmail, DoubleClick's e-mail marketing solution, since May 2001. With these leading marketers
and publishers, DARTmail has increased its customer base to more than 250. In the second quarter of 2001, DoubleClick's DARTmail platform delivered nearly 2 billion e-mails on behalf of their customers.

For more information go to:
http://www.doubleclick.net/us/corporate/presskit/press-releases.asp?asp_object_1=&press%5Frelease%5Fid=2535


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4. Online Marketing Know-How

Developing Rich Media Strategies

Rich media has become an increasingly popular tool for online marketing. It offers interaction, advanced animations and audio/video elements that give marketers improved opportunities to gain the attention of users. And these advantages can also be measured.
A variety of studies have shown that rich media can be very effective both in building brand measures and in driving response.

Millward Brown found that rich media banners achieve click-through rates that are 340% (!) above average. A Diameter study showed that Flash banners were 67% above average in brand measures.These figures mean that rich media can be used in order to reach a variety of marketing objectives, because the technology achieves high response rates and, at the same time, has an excellent impact on objectives such as brand awareness, purchase impulse, etc.

Although the advantages of rich media are obvious, the technology is still not widely used. According to a Jupiter study, 96% of all online marketers have used rich media in their campaigns. However, the technology's share of the overall market is anything but huge -
only 2% of online ads are built with rich media according to the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau).

Last year, rich media banners accounted for 14% of all impressions in the DoubleClick Network. Nate Elliot, DoubleClick's Rich Media Manager, says that everyone wants to see this figure increase in 2001, the reason being simple: The more marketing clients who use rich media, the more successful their campaigns. To help marketers learn more about rich media, DoubleClick has set up an entire section of their website dedicated to the topic, at http://richmedia.doubleclick.net.

We will also be including a regular column in this newsletter to help marketers find easy ways to use rich media more effectively. This month we start in the most common of places: the Banner.

Building Banners and SkyScrapers as Rich Media
The simplest way is to start with rich media is to try it on the popular 468x60 banner. This
is easiest because most marketers are already running banners. DoubleClick's research shows that High quality Flash animations have the biggest impact: in our recent Ad Effectiveness study, use of Flash increased brand measures by 71%. Apart from Flash, other interactive technologies have also demonstrated improvements in brand metrics ,
for example Enliven, BlueStreak and VidoBanner. The effect: higher levels of attention,
higher click-through rates and higher brand metrics.

But the best news about Rich media banners is that they are increasingly easy to build. Technically speaking, rich media can be implemented with Java applets, for example. Java applets are fast and are only downloaded if and when they are really needed. Today, almost every agency offers animated Flash banners. And although building rich media banners are a little more expensive than using "normal" banners, advertisers need to take into account that the new technology is also radically more effective.

And of course, rich media can also be effectively used with new online banners such as skyscrapers or rectangles.

Hewlett Packard: Java banner (created by Freestyle Interactive)
British Airways: Flash rectangular ad
Homestore.com: Flash skyscraper

For more information about rich media ads go to:
http://richmedia.doubleclick.net


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Privacy Matters - P3P and IE6 -
An Introduction to Privacy Preference Technology

According to an article on Silicon.com, the World Wide Web (WWW) was 10 years old on the 6 August 2001. It was on that day that Berners-Lee and Cailliau first published their idea of a hypertext system, which would allow information in any language or form to be shared across the world. Some feel that, in the intervening 10 years, that openness has gone too far with individual privacy being compromised, particularly in the area of the commercialisation of the WWW. Two distinct approaches to protecting privacy have developed - self-regulation versus legislation enforced by an independent regulatory authority. But is there a third way?

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) was created in 1994 to "lead the World Wide Web to its full potential by developing common protocols that promote its evolution and ensure its interoperability" (see www.w3.org). As part of that mission, W3C has developed P3P (Platform for Privacy Preferences) which is intended to be an industry standard enabling websites to express their privacy policies in a machine-readable language which can be read by the visitor's browser. The intention is that website visitors can set their privacy preferences before they start surfing the WWW and their browser will match those preferences against the privacy policy of the sites visited. In order for this to be done, browsers need to have the ability to read P3P policies - and this has been built into Internet Explorer Version 6 by Microsoft which is due to be launched in late August 2001. This means that, over time, websites will need to ensure that their privacy policies can be "read" by visitors using IE6.

In order to prepare for this, website owners should be following these steps:
1. Audit what happens on each page of their website and understand what (personal) data are collected directly and indirectly (for example via cookies) from or about visitors

2. Ensure that those practices are explained clearly and accurately in the site's privacy policy

3. Choose a P3P generator (see
http://www.w3.org/P3P/details.html#2) and answer the questions in the generator as accurately and fully as possible

4. Use the generator to check that everything is correct before posting on your website.

DoubleClick technicians have worked with the DoubleClick Privacy Department in the US to ensure that DoubleClick's privacy policy is one of the first to be translated into a P3P policy that can be read by IE6 browsers.

For more information go to:
http://www.doubleclick.net
http://www.w3.org


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5. Smalltalk

Bonus points for SMS ads

Customers of Sonera Zed in Germany will soon be rewarded with logos, ring tones, games and special services. They only have to collect enough SMS advertising messages on their cell phones. The principle is simple: Cell phone owners receive SMS ads and then get bonus points added to a special account. For each SMS ad, they get bonus points worth about 5 cents. These electronic vouchers can then be exchanged for the prizes. Sonera Zed Germany operates an SMS fun and info service.

Source:
http://www.emar.de


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