• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, May 26, 2003

Data Supports Importance of Branding on the Internet

As a follow up to a recent MediaPost emailing in which Masha Geller, in a response to a recent study concluding that branding comes in second to direct response, suggested that advertisers shouldn't ignore the Web's branding potential, considerable data show that most marketers do feel branding is important.

Initially the Internet's interactive aspect made many people believe that the medium's main marketing purpose would be for direct response, partially because the more immediate ROI of direct response appeals to those who must prove their advertising is succeeding, says David Hallerman, Senior Analyst with eMarketer, in the study.

However, according to a DoubleClick study, when branding awareness is the primary objective, respondents rate online advertising almost as effective as print, with a 4.1 compared to a 4.2 score, respectively, and slightly more effective than radio, with a 3.9 score (all on a scale of one to five). And the data further supports the fact that brand awareness is the primary objective of four out of five US marketers, though impressions from direct response ads continue to be higher. Increasingly, Hallerman notes, marketers understand that online advertising's influence works to both branding and direct response goals.

Online Ad Objectives Among US Marketers (% of respondents)

	Spring, 2002	Fall, 2002
Building brand awareness	75%	82%
Acquiring new leads/ registrants/ customers/ clients	59	69
Driving immediate sales	43	69
Driving retention	40	51
Upselling to existing customers	28	44
Providing company or product information	38	58

Source: DoubleClick, December 2002

Recognizing branding strength on the Internet, Lexus hired MSN to create a high-end branding site for the car manufacturer called Luxury for Living. "The content offerings are intended to keep users on the site without bombarding them with advertisements," said The New York Times in February 2003.

A Hallmark Flowers campaign on Weather.com delivered a 33% lift in unaided brand awareness, more than double the "MarketNorms" for that metric according to Dynamic Logic. The other three branding metrics studied also gained substantially higher lifts than the online norms in a survey of almost 2,000 Weather.com visitors.

Branding Effects of Hallmark Campaign on Weather.com December, 2002

	Lift	MarketNorms (Dynamic Logic)
Ad Awareness	38%	30%
Unaided brand awareness	33	16
Aided brand awareness	13	5
Purchase consideration	13	5

Source: Weather.com, Feb 2003
Lift: relative difference between control and exposed responses
MarketNorms: Q3, 2002

While the branding campaign measured awareness and purchase consideration, Hallmark found that its sales expectations doubled as a result of the ads. Additionally, those exposed to their branding ads are now 50% more likely to visit Hallmark's Web site.

You can find out more here at eMarketer.