Measuring the links between online and offline advertising is
difficult, but increasingly search usage is being used as a proxy to
gauge the effectiveness of traditional advertising.
“Search
provides a perfect bridge between offline and online,” says Peter
Hershberg, managing partner at Reprise Media. “We know people do not
randomly end up in a search box, and by measuring search after a
commercial we can measure how much brands are resonating with
consumers.”
Not
long ago, one of the biggest software companies in the US decided it
wanted to take the plunge into the digital world and spend a much
larger part of its budget on online advertising.
The process
quickly ran into a problem. Once people clicked on the search results
or the online banner ads, they were directed to a website. The snag was
that there was no money to create new content for this site; most of
the software company’s budget had been spent on a snazzy, 30-second
television advertisement which would not hold the interest of web users
for long.
In
desperation, the advertising executive in charge of the account walked
around the company’s US headquarters in a hunt for content. He found a
room full of tapes of footage of every speech ever given at a
conference by senior executives; he also found a store of magazines
that were being published for company employees and its clients.
“These
parts of the company never had to talk to each other before,” says the
advertising executive, who did not want to identify his client.
“Finding this was just what we needed, though. After getting rid of
content that was out of date and after finding out what we did and
didn’t have the rights to use, there was enough there to create a very
interesting website. Companies sometimes have more content than
they realise.”
This story is being repeated across the globe as
companies increasingly put the web at the centre of their advertising
strategy yet struggle to find content to put on their sites.
It
is already clear that media consumption is changing. The widespread use
of high-speed internet connections allows people to watch video on the
web and exchange video, pictures and text with others online. PwC, the
consultancy, estimates that 187m households around the world have
broadband internet access, up from 30m in 2001. Within three years, the
figure is expected to reach 433m worldwide.
Advertising and
marketing campaigns therefore have to adapt. “What was once a one-way,
static dialogue with the consumer is now a network of dynamic
conversations,” a recent report on advertising by PwC concluded.
“Campaigns built entirely around broad messages, faceless audiences and
mass distribution are becoming a thing of the past.”
In addition,
the lines between traditional advertising and online advertising are
blurring. Traditional ads, which lack the interactivity of the
internet, are increasingly being used to encourage people to visit
websites, where they can get more information or be urged to buy
something.
A good example is an online initiative by advertisers
such as Doritos, Alka Seltzer and Chevy cars ahead of next weekend’s
SuperBowl, the American football final, which have one of the world’s
biggest live audiences with an estimated 90m viewers.
These
companies are attempting to generate excitement with websites seeking
entries for amateur ads that will then be aired on TV (plopplopfizzfizz.com and chevycollegead.com). The advertisers are hoping that people will return to the web to look for the ads after seeing them broadcast.
Measuring
the links between online and offline advertising is difficult, but
increasingly search usage is being used as a proxy to gauge the
effectiveness of traditional advertising.
“Search provides a
perfect bridge between offline and online,” says Peter Hershberg,
managing partner at Reprise Media. “We know people do not randomly end
up in a search box, and by measuring search after a commercial we can
measure how much brands are resonating with consumers.”
So how
should a compelling company site be built? The most effective include
different kinds of content, including video, audio and interactive
features.
Cisco, the US maker of network switches and routers, says it
has recently “significantly increased” its spending on the web, and it
has begun posting more video and audio content on technology subjects.
“We
are embracing the web as our basic platform for all our
communications,” says Kelly Hemmingway, senior broadcast producer at
Cisco. “Two years ago, webcasts were a combination of PowerPoint
presentations and audio. We have changed the model . . . and introduced
a [video] news-style format last September.”
As well as
news-based video reports, Cisco is putting up regular podcasts. These
audio recordings, which can be downloaded on to iPods or other portable
music devices, are available on Apple’s iTunes website for free,
meaning that Cisco can reach an audience previously beyond its reach.
“We
have set up our own broadcast network for customers, which aims to
demystify technology . . . It is extending our reach with a new
engaging type of content,” says Maureen Hands, new media
broadcast producer at Cisco.
The video services also showcase one
of Cisco’s products, which it calls “a YouTube for enterprise”. Last
year, its audience for news@cisco exceeded 1m, and the company reports
a good response to the podcasts, which started in September.
One
of the features of the Cisco initiative is to get staff involved, and
executives have been surprised how many of the company’s programmers
enjoy doubling up as reporters and editors.
At Intercontinental
Hotels, the staff are already part of its advertising. But now,
concierges in 134 countries are going to be the stars of the company’s
web-based videos. Currently in production and due to roll out in a few
months, the hotel group hired an outside company to make videos, which
will cost $5,000 to $7,000 each.
“We have noticed a big focus
[among our customers] on digital media because of the emergence of
broadband,” says Jenifer Zeigler, senior vice-president of global brand
management at Intercontinental Hotels, which spent $10m on training
concierges for their new role.
“We had to strengthen our
website because people have much higher expectations, and making these
videos is a really cost-efficient way of doing that.”
Other
sources of content are Intercontinental Hotels’ sponsorship of the
Aston Martin racing team, which generates photos and video material, as
well as its sponsorship of National Geographic photoshoots, which
allows the hotel group to use the photographs on its website.
Even
for companies that cannot take on such ambitious plans, there might be
more available than they realise. For example, many banks and larger
companies decorate their headquarters with impressive corporate art
collections. These can be used to create a prominent visual feature
online.
“Especially when companies join efforts with someone who has
experience in presenting content, like a media company, they can do a
lot with the information or knowledge they already have,” says Eric
Bader, director of digital at MediaVest Worldwide, a media services
agency.
Some inevitably get it wrong. Earthlink, the internet
service provider, last year decided to re-use material from its radio
advertising campaigns as content for podcasts. The initiative created
such a storm of protest that the company decided to make fun of itself
and start a competition for the worst possible podcast.
But there
are ways to avoid looking out of touch. Cisco, for example, uses
professional journalists to ensure its programmes do not contain too
much jargon which often seeps into company-specific conversations, and
to make subjects intelligible to new audiences.
“It is very costly [to create content] . . . but professional talent helps to raise the bar,” says Ms Hands.
Seven ways to bring the corporate website to life
■Print publications.
Companies spend millions of dollars producing in-house publications,
reports and catalogues or magazines for their clients. Once checked for
topicality, accuracy and copyright, articles and pictures can be
re-used on websites, perhaps grouped together in themes or with other
relevant content.
■Conferences. The
specialised conferences that companies organise for internal purposes
or for clients often produce expert material that can be used as a
theme within a website. When speaking at conferences, check whether you
will be able to reproduce video or audio of your company’s
contributions on its website.
■Sponsorship.
Any corporate sponsorship of arts, sports, music and other events
should be used to the full. Ensure the right to re-use content is part
of the deal. Photographs can be used on the web, for example through
the creation of slide shows, and music and video can help liven up a
website.
■Corporate art. Investments
in arts and antiques can be good for more than just decorating
conference rooms. Photographs, combined with history, can create an
interesting slide show or be used to illustrate other parts of the
website.
■Archives.
Sometimes corporate archives can be a source of interesting content –
all owned by the company. Examples include a timeline of patents or a
selection of photos of important moments in the company’s history.
■Old advertisements. Just
as people like watching television programmes based on old advertising
campaigns, or specials about the 1970s, 1980s or 1990s, old publicity
material can provide interest by tracing the path of a company’s
branding or product development.
■Employees. Chances
are that among your employees there are plenty of amateur video
enthusiasts, musicians and photographers. Ask them for ideas on content
and presentation. If you want to test their ideas before going public,
try it out first on the corporate intranet.
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