Three quarters of marketers will increase or maintain their online advertising budgets during the next six-months, according to new research from MSN and the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB).
The latest instalment of the Online Pulse study, which surveys 500 leading brand managers, marketing directors, advertising agencies and media buyers, shows that the number of brand-led campaigns has increased by 5%, while more traditional direct response campaigns have fallen by 12%.
Danny Meadows-Klue, chairman of the IAB, commented: “We’ve been researching the branding power of the web since the mid-nineties and we’ve proven it works. As more of the big brands are realising the benefits of online brand campaigns in achieving brand standout and others are starting to follow, it is no surprise that smart marketers are shifting their budgets towards online brand campaigns.”
The survey also found that that the most powerful benefit of online advertising was deemed to be its ability to target consumers individually. 16% of marketing directors and brand managers believed the sector’s one-to-one focus will ensure that online will be the “most accurate way of reaching consumers in the next five years.”
The perceived benefits of online advertising were felt to be; accountability (67%), targeting (64%) and cost-effectiveness (63%).
However, the survey also revealed a lack of creativity in online advertising, with two thirds of media planners and buyers unable to give an example of online advertising that really stuck in their minds over the last six months.
Research from communication management company, Jaywing, has also predicted a significant increase in marketing spend on new media campaigns during 2003 (see Research Predicts Rise In New Media Spend During 2003).
