Managed to wangle myself a free VIP ticket to the conference part of the ad:tech conference. Of all the presentations that stuck in my mind was the one delivered by Matt Dodd of Nielson Online about the effectiveness of online advertising. One of the greatest challenges working in this industry is proving that what we do is a) effective and b) measureable. Now you may all be thinking that your monthly/quarterly reporting shows this, but how do your marketing directors or MD’s compare your online activities to other channels, like TV & radio.
Well, the people at Nielsen have come up with a model that does exactly that. Using a series of electronic boxes, similar to those used in TV, connected to your computer they monitor and record every click and keystroke on your PC or laptop. This they have used to analyse users online behaviour much in the same way they do for TV.
Matt’s presentation demonstrated how they analysed a campaign by Danone from earlier this year. You’ll probably have seen it yourself; it’s the Evian Rollerskating Dancing Babies:
Aside from the fact this viral campaign was a huge success they were able to employ this model to prove that brand engagement was not only higher in those who were exposed to the campaign but this engagement lasted for longer than other more traditional forms of advertising. Personally I think this really demonstrates the power that a viral campaign with really strong creative can have. It also highlights how different this interactive media is. I mean thinking about it, this campaign just wouldn’t work in quite the same way if it was on TV. The problem with using this campaign is that it generated over 12 million views. Ok that brings it into line with some TV adverts shown during peak viewing hours but it’s also makes for an unfair trial. I’ve had some fairly successful viral campaigns but none that have (yet) generated over 12 million views. I’d really like to see this model applied to a number of other campaigns, perhaps ones that haven’t been as successful. Really, to prove the case for this model we need to see it applied to several dozen campaigns. Only then when we are seeing campaigns that fail to have the same, if not a better impact than TV campaigns will be truly be able to see the impact of this movement. This will enable us to retrospectively see how & why some online campaigns fail. Only when we can look at these campaigns in the cold light of day, retrospectively and in a quantitive way can our industry evolve and mature to a level that we can truly compete with traditional media.
Filed under: Online Advertising, ad tech, evian, evian baby, internet advertising, nielsen online, Online Advertising, online advertising reporting
Very interesting piece and I agree with your comments that in this new age of marketing we need to move beyond the clicks and impressions model onto a model of engagement. It’s a really exiting time as tools and technologies coverge to make this event come true