January 2001    Editor's note: If you are receiving this for the first time, Beyond The Click is a newsletter from Dynamic Logic that provides useful insights about online advertising based on our research and analysis. You are on our mailing list because we have either met you or worked with your company. Our goal is to send you brief and actionable "news you can use." We welcome your feedback and hope you pass it along.

N E W S  Y O U  C A N  U S E

Traditional brands see online advertising lift message association by 16% on average New Dynamic Logic research (based on AdIndex data of 13,633 respondents) shows that online advertising significantly lifts message association for traditional brands as well as brand awareness levels. The impact is generally stronger in the area of message association - a metric that quantifies the degree to which people associate a particular message (i.e., "Just For The Taste Of It") with a specific brand ("Diet Coke"). For traditional brands, message association is lifted by 16% on average whereas brand awareness is lifted 5% on average. An important reason for the difference in the lift levels can be attributed to the fact that many traditional brands have high levels of brand awareness before they started a given online advertising campaign (measured around 77% on average for the brands we measured). Messages for brands change more often than brand names themselves, so these baseline levels are generally lower (measured around 24% on average for the brands we researched). It is generally harder to lift a level that is already high than to lift a number that is low. The lesson is that traditional brands should use online advertising to increase message association with their brand, thereby extending the knowledge of the new tagline or brand positioning. While brand awareness for traditional brands is increased through online advertising, the effect on message association is even more significant. * Results for traditional advertisers based on sample size of 13,633 participants in the AdIndex normative database. The Control and Exposed groups are recruited simultaneously to remove any potential impact of alternate channel marketing efforts. Exposure data was recorded when the banners appeared on the web sites used in the actual campaign. Types of banners tested included airlines, packaged goods, financial services, travel services, health & beauty, entertainment, jewelry & gifts and retail.

M I K E   A N D   M O L L Y

Finding the Pulse by Mike Carlon A critical part of CPR training is learning how to find a pulse. While Anthony Edwards makes it look easy on ER, the reality is that most people trying to measure a pulse for the first time have a hard time doing it. In the wake of diminishing valuations and decreased spending on online media, many doomsayers believe that the pulse of the Internet advertising industry has stopped. However, just like students taking CPR for the first time, critics of Web advertising are looking for a pulse in the wrong place. Is the industry dead? Some cite the Q3 2000 slowdown in online advertising spending that contributed to a decline in quarter-to-quarter online ad revenues (Source: IAB Internet Ad Revenue Report) as evidence of the Web's demise as an advertising medium. Others point out that near zero click-through rates prove the ineffectiveness of the medium as an advertising channel. But these critics looking for a pulse have their fingers in the wrong spot. There is life in online advertising if you look at branding data. As previous issues of Beyond The Click have highlighted, campaigns that have been tested with AdIndex have demonstrated an ability to influence consumers exposed to the ads. As we see here, even large traditional brands with high levels of awareness benefit from the impact on message association. Traditional advertisers know how to look at the big picture and they are slowly finding that this medium deserves a seat at the branding table. Don't confuse the demise of click-through with death of the industry - it is only just beginning. For four years, Mike has been conducting marketing research for advertisers including, Citibank, Delta Airlines and Unilever. You can write to Mike at mike@dynamiclogic.com Branding Strategy Varies From Brick to Click by Molly Hislop Dynamic Logic has done extensive branding research around online advertising for both traditional advertisers and online pure plays. Through that experience, I have seen that online branding strategies vary quite a bit by whether a client is an established brand, or whether it is a new company in the beginning stages of building its brand. New companies should focus on making their brand known. This is best done through ads with large, prominent logos and simple messages articulating what the company does. Successful campaigns keep things simple and do not overwhelm consumers with too much information. The key success metric for companies in this category is Brand Awareness. People are not going to buy your product if they have not heard of you. Since most traditional brands already have very high awareness levels (who has not heard of Coke or Ford?), the objective of those campaigns is different. Many of these clients are looking to maintain or increase their market share. To do so, traditional advertisers must convince and remind consumers why their products and services are superior. The message, or tagline, in an ad campaign can be used to remind consumers of the unique value proposition of the brand. The well-known, traditional advertisers should focus on using online advertising to build their brand though clever and compelling messages. This will help consumers differentiate them from others in the same product or service category. Developing and building those top-of-mind associations can come through for advertisers at the point of purchase. Molly Hislop has conducted online and traditional data analysis for such clients as AT&T and American Express. You can write to Molly at molly@dynamiclogic.com

A B O U T   M A R K E T N O R M S ®

Advertisers, publishers and agencies use MarketNorms to understand which aspects of online advertising have the greatest impact on brand lift. The MarketNorms database developed by Dynamic Logic of over 3,250 campaigns across more than a dozen industries has branding lift metrics, ad and brand attributes, environmental/site data, audience data and other campaign information collected in over 4.8 million surveys. www.marketnorms.com

A B O U T   A D I N D E X ®

Dynamic Logic's AdIndex is a research tool used by online advertisers to measure the effectiveness of their campaign beyond click-through. By providing real-time metrics on brand awareness, purchase intent, message association, and creative evaluation, AdIndex empowers online marketers to optimize their campaigns and get a true measure of the campaign's impact. AdIndex was developed by Dynamic Logic and is patented technology. www.adindex.com

A B O U T  C R O S S M E D I A   R E S E A R C H ™

Dynamic Logic's CrossMedia Research measures the value of integrated media packages and quantifies the success of a cross-media campaign with any combination of media (most commonly online, print, television or radio). CrossMedia Research allows advertisers, agencies and publishers to understand cost effectiveness of different media in the mix.

A B O U T   L I N K ™

Link for Digital, an online copy-testing solution developed jointly with Millward Brown, provides advertisers, agencies and publishers with consumer feedback on their creative executions before the campaign goes live. Online ads must be memorable, communicate your message, and be persuasive. Link provides diagnostic and evaluative insight into which creative performs best.

C O N T A C T   U S

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