NONE: ONLINE-ADS>> WEB-AD'98 COVERAGE: 2/5/98 - Report from the floor, #2
ONLINE-ADS>> WEB-AD'98 COVERAGE: 2/5/98 - Report from the floor, #2
richard_at_tenagra.com
Thu, 5 Feb 1998 17:25:28 -0600 (CST)
Web Advertising '98 Email Coverage
Report from the floor, #2
February 5, 1998
This is the second in a series of 10 reports from Richard Hoy, who
is covering the Web Advertising '98 conference in New York this week.
You will receive these reports in addition to your normal Online Ads
posts/digests.
This coverage is archived at:
http://www.o-a.com/webad98/webad98-archive.html
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This conference coverage is generously underwritten by:
narrative.com
makers of Enliven
the best way to *Capture Your Audience*
Why? Because only Enliven ads deliver a no-plugin experience of
sight, sound, and emotion to attract users, transaction capabilities
to keep their interest, and near real-time reporting for campaigns
that stay on track.
Try Enliven for FREE! Download from http://www.enliven.com
Visit http://www.narrative.com/whosusing.htm for the latest on
who's using Enliven.
Visit http://www.narrative.com/demos/rptoview.htm to find out why.
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GIVING THEM LESS OF WHAT THEY DON'T WANT
Day two of Web Advertising '98 was kicked-off with a session,
delivered by Thom Forbes, on methods for targeting ads.
Thom pointed out that most people have hostile feelings towards
advertising. And it is a big unanswered question as to how much
advertising a person on the Internet is willing to take. He cited a
poll in PC WORLD that showed a major reason people were dissatisfied
with AOL was "the abundance of advertising and spam on the system."
However, advertising done in context seems to work very well. And that
is the potential of the Internet. Thom discussed a case study on
Toyota's use of the Web, which used all forms of advertising to push a
prospect to the Web site. The idea was to use the Web as a tool for
educating potential buyers on which Toyota model he or she should buy.
The banner, print and TV ads drove people to a Web site with rich
information resources. Toyota determined that 7,329 cars were sold as
a result of their efforts, or about a 5% conversion rate.
So though Toyota's success clearly shows the Web's power in closing
the sale, Thom contends it can't be done as successfully only using
the Internet. You can only target on the Web five major ways:
1.) Content-determined targeting - placing ads on sites with content
attracting your audience.
2.) Browser Information - using the data passed by browsers.
3.) Individual User Demographics - using the data provided by users in
a registration process.
4.) Collaborative Filtering - smart agents that determine consumer
preferences.
5.) Real Behavior - monitoring users as they interact with a site's
content.
Compare this to other forms of media, which have very sophisticated
targeting options and models for predicting results. Thom feels that
maybe someday advertising on the Internet may reach this, but for now
the Web is best at delivering information and maintaining
relationships.
IT'S A FLOOR POLISH AND A DESSERT TOPPING; SOME SAY MAYBE; SOME SAY IT
AIN'T WORTH CRAP
If there was any recurring theme in this year's show, it would have to
be that advertising on the Internet is fully capable of doing direct
response and branding. In an extremely interesting session, Larry
Nelson of Anderson and Lemke, Ali Partovi of Link Exchange, and Jim
Waltz of DoubleClick explained how this dichotomy could be possible.
On the other hand, Robert Olson of Virtual Vineyards, got up in front
of the crowd to says banner advertising has really done zilch to drive
sales on his site.
Larry Nelson when through Microsoft's campaign for FrontPage, an HTML
authoring tool. The whole campaign was focused on getting the prospect
to download a free trial version of the software. Roughly 20% of the
budget was allocated to online advertising and direct email, with the
remainder going to print advertising. They were able to attribute 54%
of the downloads to the online component of the campaign.
Robert Olson was the next to talk and he said that banner advertising
has done little to drive sales at Virtual Vineyards. Only 16% of
Virtual Vineyards' traffic comes from online advertising. And of that
only 3% has led to actual sales. For them, public relations and
cultivating existing customers for repeat business has been a better
investment.
Next up was Ali Partovi, who made a convincing case that you can do
both branding and direct response by combining both messages in one
banner. If your message is too much one or the other, you are really
just wasting impressions. As an example of his point, he showed two
banners - one with "collectables.net" on it and one with just the word
"collectables." The difference in click-through was marginal - .44%.
But difference in branding was probably significant because there was
no indication on the second banner a site called "collectables.net"
existed. His conclusion is that it is ok to sacrifice click-through a
small bit in favor of a clearer brand message.
The final panelist, Jim Waltz, made a good point about the quality of
traffic. He showed mathematically how a low click-through rate with a
high sales conversion rate can be equal to a high click-through rate
with a low sales conversion rate. His point - don't go by
click-through alone.
Look for a detailed summary of this session in the coming days.
DAVID YODER SINGS NEW TUNE
There was a small change in David Yoder's tune. David has always
maintained that branding on the Web is not cost as effective as
branding in traditional media. However he qualified it this year by
saying there is something to the concept of interacting with a brand,
which can really only done on the Web.
David went through several examples of how, dollar for dollar, a much
greater reach was achieved with traditional media - specifically
print. However, presented data Media Metrix on the amount of reach
Yahoo can provide to the home and admitted he was surprised. It is
fairly linear - meaning that doubling your impressions on Yahoo
doubles your reach. The same was true for the ZDNet Web site,
SportsZone, and the USA Today Web site. So the Web's reach, though not
as large as traditional media, is something that should not be
dismissed.
Moreover, while traditional media only allows you to do "passive"
branding, the Web allows you to do "active" branding. People are in a
much different mindset - what David termed the "seeking mindset."
Therefore, he concedes that it may not be fair to directly compare
traditional media to the Web. We many, in fact, need different metrics
to measure the effects of branding on the "seeking mindset." It might
be worth the extra expense after all.
Look for a detailed summary of this session in the coming days.
This ends the second report from Web Advertising 98. Stay tuned for more
floor reports and detailed session synopses.
======================================================================
======================================================================
This conference coverage is generously underwritten by:
narrative.com
makers of Enliven
the best way to *Capture Your Audience*
Why? Because only Enliven ads deliver a no-plugin experience of
sight, sound, and emotion to attract users, transaction capabilities
to keep their interest, and near real-time reporting for campaigns
that stay on track.
Try Enliven for FREE! Download from http://www.enliven.com
Visit http://www.narrative.com/whosusing.htm for the latest on
who's using Enliven.
Visit http://www.narrative.com/demos/rptoview.htm to find out why.
======================================================================
======================================================================
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