Advertising migration

As more advertising migrates from newspapers and TV to online, the question increasingly being asked is how effective is online banner advertising?

Well, according to one new report, it is very effective. New Nielsen research shows that one third of the Australian consumers exposed to an online advertisement are able to recall that advertisement when asked to do so.

Even more interesting, 41% are able to link the correct brand to the unbranded advertisement. The research was based on 100,000 respondents and was developed to provide benchmarks through which companies can measure the effectiveness of online advertising.

Tony Marlow, research director at Neilsen, says in the past few years there has been more of a focus on measuring the number of click throughs an advertiser gets.

But this shows that banner advertising is a highly effective medium. “I don’t want to talk subliminal but there is something going on,” he says.

So how does that compare with offline advertising – for example outdoor, radio and TV?

There is no comparison, for the simple reason that it is very hard to measure.

“Online you can show that one third had been exposed and recalled the ad and two thirds did not recall the ad. But you cannot ascertain that 100% certainty in any other media.”

Marlow says another interesting observation is that the intention to purchase a product or service increased by 4.9 percentage points following exposure to an online advertising campaign.

And in good news for readers who hate annoying advertising tricks, he points out that the research showed in the large proportion of cases just an advertising impression was required to be effective. “So you can have an impact and be meaningful without being annoying.”