Re: Do publishers want to make money?

From: Brad Jensen <brad_at_elstore.com>
Date: Thu 31 Jan 2002 22:42:17 -0500

"Rob Frankel" <Rob_at_RobFrankel.com> wrote:

> On 1/31/02, Jason Geraci wrote:

> >Branding occurs through advertising whether we want to
> >admit it or not! The problem with the branding idea is
> >that if advertisers agree that branding occurs even if a
> >direct action doesn't occur...then they no longer can
> >argue for cpa's and cpc's. That is the bottom line.

It doesn't matter if 'branding' occurs in the advertising
impression.
If I can get sales from it, I keep doing it. If I can't, I don't.

The web's great advantage as an advertising medium is the fact
that results are trackable. Now you are arguing that we should
ignore that. No one is going to. The fuzziness of print media
causality is not a wonderful thing to be emulated online. At least
not from the point of view of the person paying the bill.

> There's another argument here: branding requires its own
> discipline and budget. Advertising should not be expected
> to do anything more than raise awareness for the brand,
> which by itself a poor reason to advertise. Advertising
> is really more about raising awareness to build sales; the
> delivery of a brand occurs after that connection is made.

I see you do not agree with each other about what branding is,
(and actually I tend to agree with Rob).

Online, If I have the choice between two advertising opportunities
I am going to pay for the one with results I can track all the
way to a sale. It's the only opportunity I can tell the real cost
of, and compare one price with another on. If I want vague
uncertainties and high prices, I'll use print advertising.

> >Advertisers would rather lie to themselves and publishers
> >than to pay for a valuable service, which is brand
> >advertising.

Sure we will pay - say a dollar for a million impressions. Then
you'll say the impressions are worth more than that, based on
results. Now we are back to cpa.

CPA and CPM are the same thing measured with different rulers.
Offer a cpa to get the advertiser you want on board, then measure
the CPM. If you don't get what you want, find someone else who
will get better results or offer a higher cpa, until you get the
best cpm you can get. And when you dump an advertiser with a cpa
that is too low, if your site meets his goals, he will come back
with a higher price. Unless there are other sites that offer him a
cpa and results better than yours, in which case your price is too
high - for that advertiser.

> You may be overestimating advertisers' abilities. My
> experience has been that very often, they seek the simplest
> way out: that's why they keep chasing outmoded models
> (like demographics instead of psychographics). It's all
> they know.

I am surprised that they chase any graphics, instead of trying
dozens of venues and expanding their presence in the ones with the
best price performance.

Maybe they have crummy software.

Brad Jensen





Received on Thu Jan 31 2002 - 21:42:17 CST