• by Masha Geller , February 6, 2002

Say what you will about branding online, but it's time to face the facts - it works.

Such is the conclusion of the latest joint effort between the Advertising Research Foundation, the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the MSN network, and researcher Rex Briggs, who today announced the results of new research that validates the importance of online advertising.

According to the study, which examined Unilever's Dove Nutrium Bar ads on TV, in print and on MSN.com, online advertising's share in the media mix can have a significant increase in the effectiveness of an overall advertising campaign.

The research suggests that CPG brands that increase their online advertising may result in increased key metrics, such as brand awareness, brand attributes and purchase intent.

Also, higher online frequency boosts branding effectiveness. Specifically, the study found that increasing the frequency of online ads from 1.7 impressions to 3.1 impressions over six weeks while reducing TV and print by .5 and .6 impressions respectively, would have boosted unaided brand awareness by 11% among the target demographic. By the same token, increasing online ad impressions to 12.5 impressions would have resulted in a 32% lift.

TV, print and online advertising are each effective at branding, the study shows, yet online is generally more cost-efficient in terms of branding increases from the pre-campaign level.

Granted, these findings are based on just one campaign, but the results are so encouraging that researchers are planning to conduct a Phase II study with more than 15 publishers and six major marketers in the near future.