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Subject: Re: UKNM: online ad tolerance collapsing
From: Ray Taylor
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1998 13:40:52 +0000 (GMT)

From: Ross Sleight <Ross [dot] SleightatBMPINTERACTION [dot] com>

>We should aim for accountability and high targeting capabilities, and rely
>on synergy with other offline marketing activity to provide the brand
>awareness and brand perception changing stuff.

Perhaps I have misunderstood Ross's argument, but it seems to me he is
saying that you cannot build brand on the internet - an argument many of the
established ad agencies have been touting for the last couple of years, ever
since they realised they had lost the argument that "you can't use the
internet for advertising."

There is huge untapped potential for using the Internet creatively in
marketing communications. But we are still wrestling with the basics, so
nobody really bothers with the clever ground-breaking stuff. Why then do so
many leading figures in the industry keep telling us that "you can't do
this", "you can't do that" when it hasn't really been tried yet?

I repeat a point I have often made. You _can_ advertise product sales
online, you _can_ build brand awareness online, you can do just about
anything you can do with other communications media. You can do all of these
things with or without other media, depending on the requirements of the
campaign. You can do all of the things they said you couldn't do with
commercial TV in the first few years of its existence, before the industry
started to grow up. But you have to know _how_ and even the best and most
experienced online marketers have only scratched the surface so far.

Research only ever proves the obvious. But then the obvious sometimes needs
proving. So banners have been around long enough that people (in the US)
have got bored of seeing them and often don't see them? Surprise, surprise.

If banner awareness declines, then that can only be good effect. CTRs will
drop, so CPMs will follow, so the banner market becomes more of a commodity,
and easier to use for sales and traffic building (the mass of online
communications requirements for the next few years at least). This will
provide a great incentive for online media owners to sharpen up their act
when it comes to their media offering. And it will also provide a good
opportunity for the best online agencies and advertisers to find new ways to

build brand and sell product online.

Ray Taylor
NMC/Adplan +44 181 639 0015

www.nmcadplan.com
Our reputation is built on results

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