• by Masha Geller , November 27, 2001

America is not the only country in the world that's working to improve online advertising. It is, after all, a world wide web and once in a while it may pay to look to our colleagues overseas for some moral support.

The Incorporated Society of British Advertisers and the Advertising Research Consortium today unveiled a study of how major UK advertisers are using new media in their marketing communications.

And, according to report author Jonathan Lace, "Despite the burst of the internet bubble the situation amongst leading advertisers appears robust. Spending on website development, e-commerce and Internet advertising will continue."

According to the study, development costs of companies' main brand to consumer websites have been substantial and further significant spending is expected over the coming year. Concurrently, e-commerce systems are in place at 60% of companies, half of which expect to see significant growth next year (only 2% expect to see a decline).

Also, two-thirds of companies surveyed advertise on the Internet - of which one-half plan increased spending next year and only 12% expect to see a decline.

Why is this important? As the author of the report said, "Nothing runs away with money faster than an e-business project, and it is critical to see how much others are spending, how they are doing it and what makes for success."

More importantly, the study points out that success in new media is very much dependent on "internal company accountability" in terms of measuring the effectiveness of websites, e-commerce and web advertising. Obviously, we all knew that part already, but it's always worth repeating... even overseas.