Online Ads Build Better Brand Awareness

The internet can be more successful than other media in increasing and sustaining brand awareness, according to research carried out by Freeserve.

A series of ‘Virtual Surveys’ conducted by the internet service provider show that consumers find internet advertising more memorable than TV or radio advertising because it is more interactive.

According to the research, which examined how people respond to advertising across different mediums, awareness of internet advertising was lower overall than awareness of TV and radio advertising. However, interest in online campaigns was found to tail-off less quickly with consumers being able to recall ads they had seen on the internet more readily.

Freeserve’s head of research, Faye Weeks, said: “Internet campaigns are more useful for building brand awareness rather than for driving sales. Most online advertisers try to persuade people to ‘click here and buy this.’ They don’t realise that the medium is more successful in building brand recognition over longer a period.”

Further research from Freeserve has found that while the internet still comes second to TV and radio in terms of consumption, people are spending more time surfing the net than they are reading magazines or newspapers. Regular internet users were also found to watch ten to fifteen percent less TV.

Weeks added: “The internet is now competing properly with other media. It’s too simple to say that TV or radio will lose out to the internet, but it is becoming a part of people’s everyday lives.”

Freeserve announced last week that it is expanding its e-commerce portal into a “virtual shopping precinct” to cash in on the predict pre-Christmas boom in e-commerce (see Freeserve Gears Up For Online Christmas).

Freeserve: 0845 070 0066 www.freeserve.co.uk

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