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..