Internet Research At The MRG

Fitting in with the conference theme of Media Research Comes Of Age, Paul Dyson of Millward Brown International changed the title of his paper to Internet Research – Old Before Its Time from Should I put some of my budget into new media? – Researching the Internet.

Internet research is the real baby amongst media research but is a bit of a freak as it’s growing extremely fast. Research over the net is easy,cheap & quick (relatively) and it is controllable.

Dyson briefly talked about the development of web advertising from static text banner ads to Interstitial advertising which takes over the whole of the PC screen. He went on to talk about the power of internet research:

• It is robust, the MBI research panel was 30,000 strong,
• It is all electronic so there is a fast turnaround with data available immmediately,
• It is non-intrusive

The net gets much closer to actual exposure rather than opportunities to see. Brands are remembered after very little exposure, there was only 1% more awareness amongst those who clicked through to the advertisers website. The main drawback at the moment is lack of coverage but can be used to deliver more detail and even sales.

The Internet is certainly the ideal medium for research.