More than just clicks
The Internet is no longer a mystery. With its endless possibilities for sharing information and its ever-growing number of users, it has become an indispensable part of the marketing mix.
Since the beginning of Internet advertising, it was mainly about the click rates of the advertising banners. At last, advertising was directly measurable. This one-sided way of looking at things has actually long since become outdated, because it reduces Internet marketing to a kind of modern direct marketing. This is despite the fact that countless studies by renowned institutes prove that online advertising has a major impact not only in direct sales, but also in brand building, brand sympathy and brand topicality. 13 online key players - some of them competitors - got together in an uncomplicated way and launched the Internet site www.mehr-als-nur-klicks.ch this week. In a very informative way, the site explains the hitherto often unknown possibilities of online advertising. In addition to examples, there is also the possibility of downloading a large number of impact studies in the online sector. The offer is rounded off by further links with additional examples.
The companies involved in the campaign are Plan.Net Suisse, 20 Minuten online, Newsnetz, Blick.ch, Adextra, Swisscom/Bluewin, Search.ch, Microsoft Advertising, Axel Springer, gmx.ch, Omnimedia, Stailamedia and Zattoo. The fact that the campaign is so broadly based means that it will certainly not fail to have an impact. Werbewoche wanted to know from Urs Schneider, Chairman of the Board of Directors of mediaschneider, what he thinks of this initiative and what points are important to him in Internet advertising.
Urs Schneider: Compared to Germany, we are lagging behind in Internet advertising. Not only in terms of volume, but also in the use of creative options. Why is that?
We certainly lag behind the major European countries in terms of Internet advertising. But that's also due to the incomplete recording of advertising investments. There are also quite good creative solutions in Switzerland, but compared to Germany, we certainly have some catching up to do. Implementations with annoying pop-up ads are not really creative ideas.
Why did people talk mainly about click-through rates until today?
I think this is due to the standardized measurement methods that have been introduced. Judging the success of an online campaign only on the level of click rates is insufficient, because these can be massively influenced by the advertising media used. If you have to click away from an ad first in order to get to a website, this is simply nonsense. But it increases the click rates and thus apparently the success of a campaign. The annoyance is not even talked about. The demands and the technical possibilities for reporting have increased enormously and are not only based on click rates.
How important is the branding effect with the Internet?
Since every consumer receives between 4,000 and 5,000 advertising messages every day, advertising has to break through the filter in order to be noticed. That's where special forms of advertising help, even on the Internet.
Why has the branding effect of online advertising been treated so stepmotherly so far?
Perhaps because of the lack of blanket options. At the beginning of a campaign, it is definitely worth using branding days and switching to standard advertising formats after a few days. Streaming ads can also significantly increase the impact of standard ad formats.
Can branding advertising also increase the success of performance marketing?
I think so, because the influence of other media such as posters, ads or TV spots, which are used simultaneously, increase the response of performance campaigns. However, the success measurements of performance campaigns are questionable. Post-view conversions are partly based on adimp, which occurred weeks ago. This "contact" is then assigned to a transaction such as an order and counted as a success. This can all be calculated nicely, but the influence of other advertising contacts is possibly much stronger. From this point of view, the question of increased impact can only be answered to a limited extent.
Will an increased use of branding advertising on the Internet, be able to increase the share of Internet advertising in the total advertising volume?
Branding advertising also costs more, which certainly has a positive impact on providers' advertising revenues. In my opinion, the total volume of online advertising will continue to grow at double-digit rates over the next few years. A real boost will come in two to three years when TV and the Internet merge even more closely and interaction on TV advertising becomes a reality.
