Commentary

Hot Fun In The Summertime

Everyone knows that Web traffic and advertising slow down in the summer, but there are sites that succeed while the others are sweating it out.

Data from Nielsen//NetRatings says Yahoo! was last summer’s leader, with 1,562 individual advertisers. Meanwhile, Webshots was second with 1,154. The Web’s number one photo site, according to ZDNet, which allows users to store, share, and print digital photos, "was not hit by the summer falloff as far as traffic [is concerned]," says company president Narendra Rocherolle. Since the site deals with photography, it may be used heavily during the summer by users with vacation pictures.

Similarly, Realcities, with 585 advertisers, succeeds because its collection of individual city sites appeals to summertime travelers. The site, owned by Knight Ridder Digital, also appeals to vacationers "who want to know what’s going on at home, what the home team’s doing. They can’t get this information anywhere else," says Hugh McGoran, vice president of national advertising at Realcities.

A similar site, Digitalcity.com, was also ranked high by Nielsen//NetRatings, with 500 advertisers.

Maggie Boyer, vice president of media at Avenue A, says many different types of sites are good summer buys because they appeal to different aspects of the summertime lifestyle. Entertainment-based sites like MTV.com attract young adults and teens on summer vacation. "They have more free time to consume media, and in the summer they’re image-conscious and active," she says, so advertisers like Nike that sell activity-related products will buy sites like MTV to reach them.

Boyer also says that travel sites like Expedia are logical destinations for summer vacationers, and retail sites like MSNshopping appeal to summertime shoppers. Weddingchannel.com and its ilk attract summer newlyweds, while Weightwatchers.com and other diet sites are a perfect fit for the multitudes looking to shed weight in the summer before heading to the beach.

"Summertime advertising gets a bad rap for being slow, but there are opportunities for marketers to get in when there’s not as much saturation on the sites and more share of voice," Boyer says. Another reason to advertise in the summer is because rates may be lower, she says. And since advertising in traditional media is slower in the summer, it’s a good time to go online "to supplement the down season. It’s a great way to keep it alive during the down months."

Another strategy sites use to boost summer advertising is selling long-term packages. "A good percentage of our local advertising is sold in longer-term packages as opposed to spot buys, so our advertisers are there year-round," McGoran says. "We also have longer-term sponsorships on the national level that carry over into the summer."

Last summer there was a 20% dip in online advertising, according to Marc Ryan, Nielsen//NetRatings’ director of analysis. There were 38,430 unique ads on July 23, compared with 51,519 on March 19, the peak date. Data from CMR shows that online ad revenue ranged from $211 million to $223 million per month for June to August last year, compared with $293 to $322 million for the Q4 months 2000.

Prospects for this summer are rosy because recovery is predicted. "After last year’s blowout with budgets slashed, this looks like a great year," Boyer says. "Advertisers are committed to spending this summer and it looks positive, even compared with the busier Q1 and Q4."

"We’re looking forward to an outstanding summer," McGoran says. "We expect auto will be strong again this summer and telecom and wireless will remain strong. We also expect to see more from entertainment and retail than last summer."

Next story loading loading..