• by Ross Fadner , June 17, 2008

Ad networks: pearls or pork bellies? That was the question facing a panel of publishers, ad network operators and ad agency executives at the OMMA Publish show in New York on Tuesday. Moderator Wenda Harris Millard, co-CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, asked her panelists what marketers mean when they talk about performance. Is performance best served by a click?

Forbes.com CEO Jim Spanfeller answered that one with a resounding ‘no.' “Brand advertising is the most efficient allocation of big marketer dollars,” he said. “The Internet has not fundamentally altered how consumers respond to advertising.” Spanfeller used the example of Proctor & Gamble's Tide to illuminate his point. “There aren't enough clicks on the planet to move 500 boxes of tide,” he said, adding that if you're P&G, you have to look to buy in increments of 1,000 as the most efficient means of moving boxes of Tide. “The biggest irony that will come from the Internet is it will restore the luster of brand marketing,” he proclaimed hopefully.