Lee Doyle, North American CEO, said at the Advertising Research Foundation audience measurement conference in New York that businesses in the transactional arena--the Amazons, the Expedias--have benefited the most from the Web. So have auto marketers, as people use the Internet to research extensively pre-purchase.
But what he called "low interest" advertisers in the Internet arena have more research to do. It's unlikely, he said, that an individual will use the Web to research paper towels or other household goods. Those types of marketers, as a result, may only be spending 2% of their budgets on the Web, and continuing to rely on traditional avenues that have served them well over the years.
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"Low-interest advertisers are struggling in finding how to use the Web effectively," he said.
In contrast, automakers and entertainment companies (because of public fascination with TV shows and films) are spending about 10% of their budgets online.
Over time, Doyle said he expects the low-interest advertisers to spend more, but that is contingent on improved metrics that reveal more ROI insight. "I think they will spend more, but we need different metrics than we have now," he said.
In addition to improved metrics, the boom in Internet video advertising may also persuade them to up their budgets--because video ads are the type of traditional media they have used effectively for decades. They know how to use it "as a persuasion tool," he said.
In regard to online metrics, Doyle suggested that better data is needed to gauge effectiveness of the oldest form of Internet advertising: banners. The number of impressions, or simple exposure, is no longer an adequate measurement. A gauge involving engagement or impact is needed, he said.
"We need better measures of those things, [so] that we can look across different channels," he added, to determine which media are most effective. Metrics need to be developed that more closely or "directly" align with "business results."