• by Ken Liebeskind , June 26, 2001

Is rich media Internet advertising as powerful as TV ads? Yes, according to a study by Harris Interactive, which conducts the Harris poll. In a study released Friday, the company reported that Unicast Superstitials, perhaps the best known rich media format, "stands on equal footing with television."

Equal footing means the ads appeal equally to viewers, who were asked a series of questions in the study, which compared Superstitial and TV ads for Mercury Mountaineer, Miller Lite and Nextel. The advertisers were chosen to represent three top ad categories: automotive, food and beverage and telecommunications.

Almost 2000 people took part in the study, which was conducted online. They were asked specific questions concerning brand recall, purchase intent and likeability of the ads. They only saw one form of advertising and weren't asked to compare the two. The responses for the formats were measured against each other.

The study found that Superstitials communicate the same copy points as well as or better than TV. They can be as likable as TV. They provide brand recall similar to TV. And, they generate the same level of purchase intent as TV. Two of the three Superstitial ads were as likeable as TV. There was 81 percent brand recall for Superstitial ads compared with 93 percent for TV.

"The performance of Superstitials was well above what we expected to find," says Marianne Foley, vice president, strategic initiatives, Harris Interactive. "It should be a very significant indication to the advertising industry. If they devote the same level of media planning and creative effort to their Superstitials as they do to their TV ads, they can significantly increase their overall campaign effectiveness."

"This study allows us to compare and contrast online and offline advertising and helps cement the Internet as a critical component of our media mix," says Gina Shaffer, digital marketing manager at Miller Brewing Company.

Dick Hopple, Unicast's chairman/CEO was elated, calling it "a watershed study for the Internet advertising industry." The study, commissioned by Unicast, is the company's latest effort to promote its format, which is growing in popularity from its continued efforts. Foley says Unicast will build a database with this kind of information to share with clients.

Rudy Grahn, a Jupiter Media Metrix analyst, went along with Hopple, claiming the study demonstrates the effectiveness of online advertising, which can deliver the same metrics as TV. But he criticized the study for comparing online advertising to TV. He asserts that the mediums are different, with online able to target itself much better. Thus, companies like Unicast, eager to sell online advertising, shouldn't compare themselves to TV but stress their differences. Of course, Superstitials are often online versions of TV ads that utilize TV creative. Still, the fact they are delivered in a different way should enable companies to sell them distinctly.

Foley says this is the first study of its kind that compares Internet and TV advertising for multiple advertising categories. Past studies have been done by individual advertisers, she says.