Marketing on the Web

Brand and Banners on Internet marketing

I was reading an internet marketing article titled Advertising on the Web published on Admap magazine written by Rex Briggs from World Advertising Research center.

Rex was explaining the conceptual mistake in measuring “clickthrough” (CTR) ratios as Brand enhancement. Although everyone agree that Banner ads increases the Brand awareness and Brand value, so far there is no credible factor can be used to track the performance of Banner ads.

The article categorically rejects following assumptions

• Brand enhancement can happen only on the web site
• Brands have more to say than can be conveyed in a banner.
• “Clickthrough” should be sought by all advertisers
• The level of “clickthrough” determines brand enhancement

Rex argues that Banners doesn’t require any click or interaction from consumers if they are intended for Brand enhancement. His analysis indicates that consumer click on banners because the ad is relevant to the content and inducing for engagement. Also the consumer perceives an immediate need that can only be fulfilled by click through to a website where the ‘promise’ made in the banner is delivered.

Unfortunately there is no credible reason why consumer need to click on Banner ad, which require no immediate action from consumer. If that is the case, all the TV ads should have generated tremendous sales by the next day of advertisement?

So ads seeking to increase Brand enhancement or Brand value doesn’t need to be clicked. They must be simply seen by customer in right place and right time. Because 96 percent of the boost in ad awareness was caused by the banner exposure alone. The remaining four per cent was caused by click through. Rex asserts that this patter is consistent across various brand enhancement measure we measured.