Web advertising builds brands ... and I believe it

OPA study demonstrates Web advertising builds brands :: BtoB Magazine

A recent study by the Online Publishers Association (performed by comScore, and called “The Silent Click: Building Brands Online”, but not available until June 25) indicates that online advertising builds brands.

Now you might think ... "Hmmm, that's not too surprising. A study by the Online Publishers Association shows that there are deep benefits to online advertising." But, I believe it - and more than just from a potentially biased survey - but from real-life experience. At my last job I initiated online banner advertising, and advertising through behavior-based advertising networks. Not too surprisingly people who were exposed to our ads were exposed a lot (and for very little $$ relative to traditional media). The results? When ad recall was evaluated across media (TV, radio, newspaper, out-of-home, and online), the TV ads had the highest proven recall. But only a bit behind were our very simple and cheap banner ads. There was a huge space beteen those two media and the next (newspaper).

The lesson? Online media is a very important part of a branding effort, and must align tightly with all other media, including:

• TV,
• PR,
• Radio,
• Newspaper,
• Out-of-home,
• Etc..

PR is a very important ingredient to building brand value

Research by Text 100 (a PR firm) called "Media Prominence: A Leading Indicator of Brand Value. How Effective Public Relations Contributes to Brand" shows that PR builds brand for complex products better than ads.

Key findings from the research were interesting:

• "Media prominence accounted for 27 percent of differences between the brand values of Interbrand’s Best Global Brands.
• "The relationship between media prominence and brand value depends on “product involvement” – i.e., the degree to which customers research a given product or solution prior to purchase. Media prominence was more associated with brand value for “high involvement”products compared to “low involvement” products. Advertising expenditures, however, were a leading indicator only for “low involvement” products, and accounted for very little brand value among “high involvement” products.
• "Media prominence was a particularly important component of brand value for computer-related industries, such as software and hardware manufacturers, as well as computer and Internet service companies, accounting for 48 percent of differences between companies’ brand values.
• "The results suggest that, in general, media prominence accounts for approximately one quarter of brand value, although this value is often higher for high-involvement brands, and particularly so in technology. This underscores the importance of managing and growing brand value through public relations efforts."

I wonder ... the results show that PR heavily influences brand perception, and this result was delivered by a PR company. Hmmm ... Okay, not that I really doubt it, but it is kind of humorous.

I believe that a key important point that needs to be made is that Public Relations is a critical type of communication that needs to be managed by a company as part of its overall media strategy.

Poorly Placed Advertising

Just for fun ... from the good folks over at Trendhunter.com. It is time to sit back, relax, and enjoy some Poorly Placed Advertising.

Top 10 Internet-Advertising Websites - and other neat charts

The team over at MarketingCharts.com continues to provide good information.

Top 10 Google Advertisers - April 2009
Top 10 Internet-Advertising Websites - May 2009
Top 10 Online Retailers by Conversion Rate - April 2009

and ... my favorite:
Best and Worst US Cities for Hair

Top Brands in 2008

CoreBrands has released its 2008 ranking of brands. At the top are perennial favorites (with a couple of minor changes between 2008 and 2007):

1. Coca-Cola
2. Johnson & Johnson
3. Harley-Davidson
4. Hershey Foods
5. Campbell Soups

The listing makes for great reading.

Will the economic slump throughout 2008-2009 hurt any of the top 100 brands, or help others into the top 100? Watch for next year's release!

Viral Video Chart - Top 20 Viral Videos

Want to have some fun wasting some time? You have to check out the latest top 20 viral videos, as compiled by Unruly Media.

Why waste any more time here ... check out today's Top 20.

Pricing vs. Social Networks: "We Boobed"

It is all over the news and the blogosphere ... an interesting story about pricing and sizing. The gist of it is that British retailer Marks & Spencer was charge more for bigger bras. It makes sense ... more bra, more engineering, more costs, higher prices. Well, okay, it made sense to someone at M&S.

• How did this play out? A group formed on Facebook called "Busts 4 Justice". Sign-ups for this group took off, and the publicity they garnered was overwhelming.
  
• After embarassing itself with bad responses to the campaign, M&S reformed their pricing policy and kicked off a "We boobed" campaign (see creative below).
• The, er, upside for M&S is that there sales have, er, bounced back substantially after all of the publicity.

This experience demonstrates three things:

1. Social Media is WAY powerful. Companies need to pay attention to it and respond to it quickly, with honesty and integrity.
2. Bad pricing is just bad business. Bad PR is worse.
3. You can win when you are up against the wall - if you are smart. Pick a good strategy, put some great advertising behind it, and go win.
   

Advertising Methodology (16) - Measurement

Recalling the old adage of “you can’t manage what you don’t measure”, it is time to focus in on measurements.

Earlier in the Advertising Methodology the point was made that you have to plan and prepare to know what measurements you are going to make, and build tools to make those measurements.

Now that your campaign is in production, measurements are taken, taken again, taken again, taken again, and so on. But the purpose of taking measurements is not just to create pretty pie charts (but, hey, who doesn't like a pie chart). The purpose of taking measurements is to tune the campaign. This may reflect back on changing elements of the campaign plan – including the media, the concept, and the creative itself.

Ultimately, the campaign must achieve its desired results. If everything has been done right, then these results should equate to the goals that were set out at the beginning.

Advertising Methodology (15) - Media Buying

After it is established that the campaign should work, media space is bought. This one small line represents a lot of work. The planning and buying should actually happen much earlier in the process. But, it is at this point in the plan that the rubber hits the road, and the media space must be there. It is also the point where, if the campaign development slips, negotiations will need to be pulled off with the publishers to save the campaign.

Make sure you have a good media planner and buyer that you can trust and treat as a strong ally, and who will negotiate with publishers and other media companies to your benefit.

Advertising Methodology (14) - Testing

After building the creative, it is tested. Depending on the type of creative it may be subject to technical tests. For instance, if a web-site is built, it must be tested to ensure it meets typical technology norms such as functionality, security, performance, and so on. If the campaign is a pull-tab, it must be tested to ensure that you can’t see through it, modify it, or otherwise determine the game piece’s outcome. This test should be carried out by a test team that is separate from the development team.

The next step will be to test the ad in front of Stakeholders. Stakeholders may include employees and customers. Like a review of good art, the test at this point isn’t to see if the ad is funny or well-liked. The point is to ensure that the ad is:

• On-brand, and
  
• That the message is clear, actionable, and memorable.

Again, this test should be conducted by someone other than the team that built the campaign.

Just to reiterate (because it is really important) ... the point of testing isn't to see if people like the ad. A good point here is that it is well documented that advertising that is funny (i.e. well liked) isn't advertising that is easily recalled.

Advertising Methodology (13) - Preparing for Measurement

While the Creative is being built, the Measurement tools also must be built. Measurements may come from a variety of sources including web statistics, sales statistics, customer surveys, and so on. This is the time to dig in, figure out how to measure the results, and build the methods and score-cards to catch the results.

Advertising Methodology (12) - The Creative Process

From this point, the Advertising Campaign enters a Development Realm. The project takes on a distinct creative flare. The Creative Team looks to the strategy work done to date, and brings in previous campaigns and the brand standards to start building the campaign’s Concept.

The Concept will be vetted with the client. This is often a very passionate moment for the client and the Advertising Agency. If the Concept survives this trial at all it may be chewed up and spit out as a sad semblance of its former self. How do you avoid this trauma? There are two tasks that the Advertising Agency has. First of all the Concept shouldn’t be a surprise to the client. The Agency must socialize the Concept with the client throughout its development. Secondly, the Agency must constantly evaluate the Concept against the Advertising Plan and everything that went before it.

The Creative Build may be a relatively long and complex process, and can include everything from writing copy, to shooting & editing commercials, to animating banner ads, to setting up landing pages, to building interactive games, to recording voice-overs, etc., etc., etc.. If the creative involves integrating with a client’s systems – like their web-site, transactional systems, CRM systems, and so on – then the appropriate IT or similar teams from the Client should be closely involved in the development of the system.

Advertising Methodology (11) - The Advertising Plan

Having done all of this research you develop a deep understanding of the company, its products, its customers, and its brand. You also understand the consumer, how they perceive the brand and learn about the product, and how and where shop. Most of all, you get a really good understanding of the bottle-necks and challenges that will prevent a campaign from achieving its objectives. This should lead you to be able to put together a really good first draft of the advertising plan, which will include:

• What are the goals? What does the company need to say to the customer? What is the message?
• How will we reach those goals? What will we do, and what will it cost?
• How do we measure results? How do we determine whether we have accomplished our goals?
• What is the media strategy? What is the best “place” to reach the target market?
• In addition, the Advertising Plan should include the “Plan B”. That is, once the Campaign is in market, and measurements start to pour in, the “Plan B” reflects actions that may be taken if the Campaign is not achieving its objectives.
• Note – by describing the brand, target market, etc., the plan will recognize the expected campaign media but should not dictate the creative. While there may be some assumptions about the creative, the plan should not limit the creative (other than by budget and other practical or relevant dictated constraints). The plan frames the brand, the goals, and how to reach the target market.

Advertising Methodology (10) - The Message

At this point you can define the message that the company is trying to deliver to the customer. This isn’t anywhere near the copy of the ad. It is an important input to the creative process. You have to know that the creative team is getting excited to go crazy with ideas, and this message is a key ingredient to ensuring they head off to do the right thing. The message needs to be a concise and objective document that the creative team can use to understand the salient points you have learned about the company. In that light, the message must include:

• The brand expression
• The audience
• The information the audience needs to hear
• The action that the company wants the audience to take

Advertising Methodology (9) - Purchase Channels

So, now you know what you are selling, who the customer is, how they shop, and what their options are. Now you need to understand the point where a customer drops their money on the counter and buys the product.

• What are the channels?
• How do the channels perform (sales, profitability)?
• What responsibilities does the company have to represent or support 3rd party channels?
• What responsibilities do 3rd party channels have to support the company?
• How or what advertising are the 3rd party channels doing?

Advertising Methodology (8) - Competitive Analysis

Now it is time to understand the competitors. What options are available to the Target Market?

• Who are the direct competitors?
• Are there other substitutes?
• What are their strategies and brands, strengths and weaknesses?
• What are their market shares?
• Where and how are they advertising, and what are their campaigns?

From this you can determine what the sweet spot is to advertise against your competitors. How and who will you pick a fight with? What is the unique thing that you can claim your product / service is the "only" one?

Advertising Methodology (7) - Media Influences

The next step in conceiving and creating great advertising that works is to learn about where the customer looks for information. If your ad is going to get the prospect’s attention, generate interest, make the prospect desire the product, and get the prospect to take action to buy the product … then your ad better be where the prospect is going to be looking. In that light, you need to learn:

• What media does your prospect spend their time with?
• What media does the customer turn to in their purchase funnel? Who or what media do they trust?

From this you may find that your best ad is no ad at all. Maybe you learn that your new strategy should be an email to existing customers, a viral campaign or something else.

Advertising Methodology (6) - Purchase Funnel

Closely related to the Target Market is a need to understand how the consumer buys the product. How do they choose the product they are going to buy and where do they look for information? Looking at a simple sales funnel model, it is important to understand how a member of the target market moves from being a prospect to a customer.

• What is the purchase cycle for this product?
• Who is involved in the purchase cycle?
• How long is the purchase cycle?

You might even consider a trip to a point-of-purchase to observe the shopping behavior.

Advertising Methodology (5) - Target Market

It is now time to learn about the Target Market. Who uses the company’s product, how, and why? What is the benefit to the consumer? Who is the consumer? How do you find the buyer?

• Digest all the research that the client can provide you
• Look for additional research from 3rd parties
• Consider performing additional research

Can you ever really know too much about the Target Market? You don't want to spend your entire project learning about who buys the product and how they use it. But be sure you spend enough cycles on this so that you are communicating with the right crowd and doing it the right way.