NONE: Re: ONLINE-ADS>> Sponsorship VS Banner Advertising
Re: ONLINE-ADS>> Sponsorship VS Banner Advertising
David Bentley (bentley_at_onlinemagic.com)
Fri, 9 Jan 1998 18:09:54 -0000
Hi,
This is my first submission to this forum. I have been on it for a while
but have been rather quiet, probably more due to excessive workload than
anything else.
I work for Online Magic in London - as a senior account manager - and we
have had some interesting Sponsorship v Advertising debates.
In the UK sponsorship has tended to be more prevalent than banner
advertising. The model, viability and success of banner advertising in
Europe has historically been unsuccessful. That is changing as the years
role on and now Unilever is increasingly looking at it and investing in
research as to its effectiveness.
Since 1994, Sponsorship has been more prevalent (by companies and brands)
because it was found that if they could sponsor a site it was inevitable
that the costs to the company would be lower than if they were to maintain
their own site - also withconsiderably less hassle. This was all back in
the time when web marketing was a very basic affair and singularly
dimensional. Sponsorship was also very dependent on finding a site that
fitted the right positioning of the brand/company and provide a positive
association. Invariably those who did use a sponsorship model where youth
(or 'yoof') and trendy brands.
The web has moved on and the budgets have been increased, users have
multiplied and capabilities of the media realised.
However Sponsorship is still paramount to the fabric of European web
marketing with banner advertising revenues still floundering. We have just
launched a sponsored Soccer Wold Cup 1998 site { http://www.wc98.com } for
General Motors Europe. The aim is to produce a viable football site that
communicates their official sponsorship of the tournament, whilst at the
same time implementing mechanisms onto the site which generate traffic to
dealerships - in part through banner advertising.
But why is it all so different with only 3,500 miles between continents?
Well, in the end the sites which are created in the US, tend to be created
with a viable commercial proposition. In Europe we are still waiting
(although it is getting very close now) for the commercial possibilities of
the web to take hold. Over here the focus of our marketing creativity is
the capturing of audiences and building niches so that when the Internet
turns into a mainstream and commercial media - our clients are in the
position to be able to take full advantage.
When we catch up, I am sure that banner advertising (and rather more
creative forms of advertising) will start to be effective and a booming
industry - I give it 6 months.
Regards
David
Senior Account Manager
Online Magic : London
www.onlinemagic.com
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