Around the Net

Ambitious Online Brands Turn to Traditional Media

  • Adweek, Monday, June 22, 2009 9:45 AM

The allure of Hulu.com's rapid success using traditional television ads has spurred some online brands into putting significant marketing dollars into ads in offline media. Kayak is among a handful of online brands, including Zappos and Amazon, that are seeking TV ads and other offline tactics to create mass awareness and define more broadly what they do.

Apparently, online efforts are falling short in the eyes of companies with ambitious growth plans. In an RFP Zappos issued two weeks ago, the company said it was seeking "traditional mass advertising (print, TV, OOH, etc.)" Robert Birge, Kayak CMO, says, "in spite of the popular folklore, human beings do not live sitting at a browser 16 hours a day. They still watch TV a lot, read newspapers and magazines, drive places where they see billboards and read their direct mail."

Barry Lowenthal, president of The Media Kitchen, says television advertising can help these online brands "bring two groups of people into the fold: Those that aren't already considering their brands and those who are not participating in the category. TV is much higher up the purchase funnel" than online ads, he says.

advertisement

advertisement

Read the whole story at Adweek »

1 comment about "Ambitious Online Brands Turn to Traditional Media ".
Check to receive email when comments are posted.
  1. Paul Solomon from Paul Solomon and Associates, June 22, 2009 at 8:09 p.m.

    Hulu, unlike the other online brands mentioned, is directly geared toward the TV audience, because it is an online service that allows viewers to watch their favorite TV shows and movies anytime they like online, making scheduled family viewing hours obsolete. To many in the entertainment community, it seems odd that Alec Baldwin, a member of the Screen Actors Guild, is asking viewers to watch shows on the Internet, where as of now, actors aren't being adequately compensated. The recent SAG contract gives actors some residuals for shows that are shown for free on the Internet, but many actors, including former SAG president Ed Asner and Martin Sheen, feel that it isn't enough, and have been vocal about their disapproval of the contract as it now stands. Many feel that because of the bad economy, SAG is delaying the issue for two years, when the next contract comes up. Alec Baldwin is making more money from his commercial appearances for Hulu than he is from his appearances on his NBC comedy "30 Rock" that show up on the Internet. Some members of SAG are not happy about Baldwin's participation in Hulu's success. On the other hand, money from online Internet sites is finding its way to the mainstream media, and TV and print outlets can use the infusion of cash. The irony is that Hulu.com is spending advertising dollars on TV and at the same time exploiting actors on the Internet. At least Amazon.com and similar sites don't have this type of conflict of interest.

Next story loading loading..