NewsLine Column: Let’s Get It On The Web
Online advertising has become increasingly popular over the last few years, but there is still room for significant growth. With this in mind MSN is launching a campaign to boost awareness of the internet as an advertising medium among media planners and buyers. Amanda Anthony, B2B Marketing Manager of MSN UK, explains…
There has been much discussion around the online marketing environment in the UK recently, particularly the portal’s role within this arena. Some people have argued, rather negatively, that overall portal revenue is down and due to the current economic outlook, marketing spend directed towards online advertising has been seriously cut. However, portal revenues actually grew, collectively, by 3% last year.
So, the interest is there in online as an advertising medium. However, with the internet currently holding a relatively small share of the advertising market, there remains massive room for further growth. As such the question remains: Is the awareness of just how effective the medium can be, really hitting home with the right people? – That is the planning and buying big players?
MSN is planning to take this issue into its own hands and is launching ‘MSN Let’s Get It On’. This is effectively an ‘agency road show’ targeting the top 20 planners/buyers, showing them how online supplements traditional marketing, through the use of case studies and new research.
Going direct to agencies is really a crucial step because we, alongside other large portals, are expecting to see significant growth in the number of big brands coming online as the market recovers. The online industry has previously come across as overcomplicated with unclear terminology and reporting metrics and MSN is hoping to put some clarity into the arena by ‘de-jargonising’ and using real-life examples of how online works.
The ‘Let’s Get it On’ campaign follows the launch of ‘Advantage Marketing’ back in September 2001, a £1 million trade marketing programme that has enjoyed great wins and proven successful campaigns. Armed with these proof points we can legitimately claim the value of online as an advertising medium.
Other portals are recognising the same issues and undertaking similar programmes. It is encouraging that there is a consensus of opinion and to see large internet forces working towards the same goals – to get advertisers to buy-in to the web.
Indeed, most portals are already attracting revenue in a tough market and research shows that even before this education process occurs, nearly three quarters of media buyers expect their online marketing spend to increase over the next two years. Two thirds of media buyers predict an increase of up to 30% by 2004 and this growth is attributed to two main factors – the opportunity for both breadth and quality in online campaigns.
In the past, online planners would have to plan a campaign across 20 or 30 sites to reach the 60% of the internet population. They can now get this reach using just the top two or three, giving huge width to campaigns. Great quality is available too, with MSN and other portals specifically targeting audiences based on their attractiveness to advertisers and then offering them content in key areas – e.g. cars, money and shopping.
MSN believes in the credibility of this medium and is looking forward to cementing close relationships with the offline agency world.
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