In the UK at least, online advertising delivers substantially higher ROI and sales uplift than TV, while achieving reach equal to press and outdoor. That’s per global research firm GfK, which was commissioned to look at the effectiveness of cross-media campaigns by eight unidentified “fast moving consumer goods” advertisers in conjunction with Google. Gfk’s Media Efficiency Panel evaluated eight FMCG ad campaigns to measure the effects of cross-media advertising on short-term sales, as well as to assess the return on investment. It's finding: online, on average, is more efficient than offline at delivering short-term sales ROI. In addition, online now competes with press and outdoor when it comes to reach, GfK found. Digital campaigns reach on average 33% of the online population, while press reaches less than 40% -- and outdoor just 30%. What’s more, online consistently delivers higher sales uplift than offline, according to GfK. Average uplift on a single contact with an online ad was 9%, compared to 6% for outdoor; 7% for TV; and 8% for press. Google Search, meanwhile, proved the biggest driver: 41%. The panel also found significant reach by digital campaigns to consumers not exposed to TV advertising. A minimum of 25% of consumers exposed to at least one online ad were never exposed to TV ads, while 46% of those exposed to ads on YouTube and other online videos had no contact with corresponding TV ads. As Babita Earle, digital strategy director at GfK, notes, the new research comes in the wake of online increasing its share of advertising budgets. “With online advertising spend set to increase significantly over coming years, it is vital that media planners have quality information and data so they can fully understand the best ways to optimize ad spend, both online and offline,” Earle said. GfK said it worked closely with the Kantar World Panel to recruit 8,000 households for its study.