K N OW L E D G E
P O I N T
K N OW L E D G E
P O I N T
K N OW L E D G E
P O I N T
K N OW L E D G E
P O I N T
How to maximise the return from your online display advertising
As it has matured, we have learned that online advertising can improve awareness and brand perceptions. For a medium where frequency levels can be
capped, it is worth noting that the first exposure is the most effective, so aiming
for reach among your target is a useful objective to set. Improvements on most
key brand measures tend to stabilize after around four exposures.
There are many factors which affect an ad’s ability to perform well online. Placing the ad on a relevant site can make a big difference for some categories, and
the amount of clutter on the site can affect most performance measures. Beyond these aspects, the creative itself has a huge influence on the ad’s ability to
perform, with the best ads sharing some key characteristics.
Introduction
Incremental effect of internet on Brand Metrics within multimedia campaigns
Average Percentage Point Increase over Unexposed (Control) Baseline
10
Exposed - Control
In the last decade there has been, and continues to be, a lot
of speculation about what the web can realistically bring to
marketing. Here we focus not on speculation, but on what
we have learned.
8
6
5.9
4.4
3.5
4
3.0
1.4
2
How the medium works
0
Ad
Awareness
Online advertising achieves more than just driving behavior
via click-through. In thousands of research studies comparing
exposed to non-exposed respondents of various campaigns,
online advertising has demonstrated its ability to drive key
brand metrics – brand and advertising awareness, message
association, brand favorability and purchase interest.
Message
Association
Brand
Favourability
Purchase
/Intent
Consideration
Brand Status
Online advertising works regardless of how well known the
brand is. Average ad performance is similar for well known
and lesser known brands for most key brand metrics, although the indications are that it is easier to generate purchase intent for less well known brands. This is consistent
with our offline learning.
Further, when used in a multimedia campaign, online advertising can enhance brand awareness, ad awareness, intended
communication and favorable brand opinions.
How to maximise the return from your online display advertising
Aided
Brand
Awareness
1
© Millward Brown January 2008
K N OW L E D G E
P O I N T
K N OW L E D G E
P O I N T
K N OW L E D G E
Brand status
P O I N T
K N OW L E D G E
P O I N T
Opinions on online ad formats
0%
12
9.8
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Banners
9.8
Ads wit h video
8.7
Delta
Skyscrapers
Ads wit h audio
6
5.2
L arge Rectangles or Squares
4.9
Out-of-frame ads
2.7
2
2
2.5
2
Pop-in between ads/Interstitials
2.9
Pop-up ads
0
Very Postive
Online Ad
Awareness
Message
Association
Brand
Favourability
High Awareness
Medium Awareness
Low Awareness
Somewhat Positive
Neutral
Somewhat Negative
Very Negative
Purchase
Intent
Coverage
Source: MarketNorms
From a cost-effectiveness standpoint, the first impression
is the most effective; the most cost-effective exposure frequency is one. While this is true for many media, this is
particularly relevant in the online world, where frequency
caps can be set. However, the ability of online advertising
to generate brand awareness and purchase intent tends to
stabilize at around four exposures.
How popular is the format?
Many online ad formats are received positively. However,
Dynamic Logic’s AdReaction Study (2005) showed that non
opt-in e-mail (Spam) is almost as unwelcome as telemarketing. Both are viewed negatively by over 75 percent of
U.S. consumers. By contrast, Web site ads have far greater
acceptance.
Optimal exposure frequencies
80%
Opinions on general ad formats
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
60%
Newspaper ads
Magazine ads
Bil lboard/Outdoor ads
04%
T V ads
Radio ads
Cinema ads
20%
Product placement ads
Website ads
0%
Direct mail (postal)
0
Opt-in email ads
Brand Awareness
Non-opt-in email ads
1
2
3
4
5
6
Purchase Intent
Telemarketing
Very Postive
Somewhat Positive
Neutral
Somewhat Negative
Context
Very Negative
The nature of the Web site on which the ad is featured has
little or no impact on the ability of an ad to generate brand
awareness. However, for some categories, notably Automotive and Pharmaceutical, context is hugely important in
driving purchase intent. Being in context may simply be a
surrogate for being in the market (or having a given condition/disease in the case of pharma). This is not true for all
categories, however. Entertainment ads for TV shows and
movies tend to appeal to a wide audience and, thus, the
in-context argument does not apply.
Nevertheless, there is another hierarchy within Web site advertising formats. Pop-up and pop-under ads and those
that pop in between loading pages are particularly disliked,
as are ads that have animation that move over the page (out
of frame).
How to maximise the return from your online display advertising
2
© Millward Brown January 2008
K N OW L E D G E
P O I N T
K N OW L E D G E
P O I N T
K N OW L E D G E
Aided Brand Awareness Delta
Purchase Intent
5
4.2
4
3
2.7
2.3
2.2
P O I N T
3
2.5
2.1
2
1
1.7
1.7
1.0
1.0
0
Skyscraper
Banner
2
1
K N OW L E D G E
The role of ad sizes, CPG example aided brand awareness
Is context important?
Aided Brand Awareness Delta
P O I N T
Standard
0.7
0.6
Rectangle
L arge /Wide
Source: MarketNorms
0
Automotive
In context
Pharmaceutical
Entertainment
Not
Creative
Source: MarketNorms
Clutter also affects ad performance. In a study conducted
jointly by Dynamic Logic, NielsenNetratings, and Double
Click, clutter was shown to negatively affect brand favorability,
message association and click through rates.
In assessing effectiveness, the creative itself is more important that other variables such as frequency of exposure
and category. An analysis of over 2,500 online campaigns
showed that the quality of the creative was the biggest explanatory factor distinguishing between strong and weak
ads. Just taking video ads, the difference in performance
between those with highest ad awareness (top 20 percent)
and those with lowest ad awareness (bottom 20 percent)
is marked.
Ad size
There are many types of ad sizes used online, but most can
be separated into three groups:
•
•
Banners, which appear horizontally (typically at the top
of the page). There are two predominant sizes, standard
banner and leaderboard (super-banner)
Skyscrapers, which appear vertically (typically along
the right hand margin of the page). There are two major
sizes, standard skyscraper and wide skyscraper
Rectangles, which are much more square shaped than
the more classically rectangular banners and skyscrapers. The two most prominent sizes are the medium rectangle and large rectangle
Most noticed video ads have biggest effect
Most and Least Noticed Video Ads
20
Exposed-Control
•
15.6
10
0
10.3
9.3
1.8
0.2
6.9
3.1
3.2
0.1
-1.5
-10
Aided Brand
Awareness
Video Best
When considering ad size, bigger is better. Looking at ad
shapes, rectangles tend to perform better, because they do
not frame the content like the more ignorable ad shapes
such as skyscrapers.
How to maximise the return from your online display advertising
7.4
6.1
Message
Association
Brand
Favorability
Video Norms
Purchase
Intent
Video Worst
Note: Most/Least noticed defined as top/bottom 20 percent sorted by Online Ad Awareness delta
Source: Dynamic Logic’s MarketNorms through Q3/2006, Video N=108 campaigns, n=125,733 respondents
Looking at static ads alone, while the numbers are smaller,
it is again clear that the more noticeable the ad, the greater
its influence.
3
© Millward Brown January 2008
K N OW L E D G E
P O I N T
K N OW L E D G E
P O I N T
K N OW L E D G E
•
•
6.3%
Exposed Control
6.0%
4.1%
•
3.0%
2.2%
2.2%
1.1%
•
-1.1%
Me s s a g e
Ass o c i a t i o n
-1.9%
Pu rc h a s e
I n te n t
B ra n d
Favo u ra b i l i t y
•
The effectiveness of online advertising is affected by the
speed with which new developments become commonplace. Over time, as the novelty of rich media has
worn off, we have seen a lessening of its impact and
persuasive ability. Video is becoming more popular as
an online ad format, but its performance is likely to decline over time as well, as the novelty subsides.
Source: Dynamic Logic’s Market Norms approx 250+ campaigns
Sta t i c No r m s
Static Best
P O I N T
The value of novelty
-0.5%
-1.9%
Aided Brand
Awareness
K N OW L E D G E
sumers may only be exposed to one frame of an ad, it
makes sense to include the brand in all frames)
They are enjoyable and entertaining
They engage the viewer. In many instances this creates
an interactive experience that takes advantage of the
interactive nature of the web, such as linking to recipes,
joining in discussion groups or downloading a coupon
However, viewers should never have to interact with
your ad in order to see your brand or message — click
through rates are simply too low
Communication is kept simple
Most noticed static ads have biggest effect
Most and least noticed static ads
8.5%
P O I N T
Sta t i c Wo r st
Creative units containing video elements perform up to two
times better than other online advertising campaigns on
measures of awareness, message association, brand favorability and purchase intent.
Rich media and video: aided brand awareness
10
Ads containing video elements tend to outperform the average
Overall Vs. Video
20
Exposed - Control
Shift
17.2
0
10
02Q1
02Q2
02Q3
02Q4
03Q1
Rich Media
8.8
03Q2
03Q3
03Q4
04Q1
04Q2
04Q3
04Q4
05Q1
05Q2
05Q3
05Q4
06Q1
06Q2
06Q3
06Q4
07Q1
Video
7.9
Rich media and video: purchase intent
5.9
4.8
3.5
6
3.2
2.1
1.8
Aided Brand
Awareness
Overall
Online Ad
Awareness
Message
Association
Brand
Favourability
Purchase
Intent
Shift
0
Video
Source: Dynamic Logic’s MarketNorms Q4/2006
0
02Q1
02Q2
02Q3
02Q4
Rich Media
03Q3
03Q4
04Q1
04Q2
04Q3
04Q4
05Q1
05Q2
05Q3
05Q4
06Q1
06Q2
06Q3
06Q4
07Q1
It is clear that, online at least, there is value in using the latest technologies.
The creative is inextricably linked to the brand (in some
instances a constant component of the ad — when con-
How to maximise the return from your online display advertising
03Q2
Video
Source: MarketNorms CPG
The best performing rich, online media ads (non-static ads)
have striking similarities to the best TV ads:
•
03Q1
4
© Millward Brown January 2008
K N OW L E D G E
P O I N T
K N OW L E D G E
P O I N T
K N OW L E D G E
P O I N T
K N OW L E D G E
P O I N T
Information cited in this document is drawn from MarketNorms®, Dynamic Logic’s database of online advertising in
the U.S. and Europe.
Knowledge Points are drawn from the Millward Brown Knowledge Bank,
consisting of our databases of 50,000 brand reports and 40,000 ads, as well
as 1,000 case studies, 700 conference papers and magazine articles, and
250 Learnings documents.
www.millwardbrown.com
How to maximise the return from your online display advertising
5
© Millward Brown January 2008