New research from Datamonitor adds further discussion to the argument over whether or not internet and mobile phone advertising is effective.
Insight Analysis shows that advertisers may be losing interest in the internet right at the point at which users are really starting to embrace it (see
Forecasts). This is backed up by research from Starcom IP. Further research shows that advertisers may be thinking about and measuring the effectiveness of internet advertising in the wrong way (see
Forecasts).
Datamonitor says: “Despite being hit by more traditional forms of advertising from the moment they awake, consumers across Europe are responding positively to adverts that appear on mobile phones and online.” Nevertheless, advertising across traditional, offline media appears to be the most successful way to encourage European consumers to visit a website.
The findings, taken from Datamonitor’s IMPACT 2001 survey, reveal that European consumers that have been exposed to new media promotions have reacted positively. Of the 6,000 European respondents to the survey who remember having seen or received an online promotion in the last six months, 64% responded positively to these adverts at least once.
IMPACT shows that the most successful way to encourage online European respondents to visit a website is to use offline media. When asked which form of advertising was most likely to make them visit a website, 79% of people confirmed this. Within the offline media channels, TV, ‘word of mouth’, newspapers and then magazines were the most likely to make consumers visit web sites – in that order. Less effective were radio advertising, direct mail and leaflets and poster advertising.
New media advertising stands up to this competition, says Datamonitor. The results show that online adverts are almost as likely as magazines to take readers to websites.
“New media marketing is an important and growing channel, but integration with more traditional, offline advertising is essential. Two factors highlight this fact; offline advertising is crucial in driving online traffic, and the audiences for online advertising are often different from those for offline adverts. Maintaining consistency in message whilst tailoring marketing messages to the specific audience is key. The question is now not whether new media marketing is effective, but how to integrate it into the whole marketing strategy,” said Piers Berezai, Datamonitor consumer markets analyst.
