These last few days I have been presenting some new global data findings to various members of the industry press in New York; namely do people “see” and “like” ads online – and is there a way of measuring this in better ways then the archaic concept of ‘click thru’ in relation to display advertising.

I mentioned that I think offline there is a key distinction between “advertising” and “design” agencies – the former focusing on strategy over function. Digital often gets a rough ride in my opinion with agency folk supposed to know everything from e-commerce to brand building. FAIL! A good designer does not equal a good art director or copywriter – these are wildly different skill sets. I for one therefore am championing the call to see Madison Avenue marketing moguls fully embrace digital media and bring a much needed maturity and wisdom on how to better develop consumer relationships in the 21st Century, alongside all our technical know-how. I really do believe over the next few years we are going to see more and more the growing distinction between digital design agencies and digital ad agencies, and in truth you already can with a lot more strategic concepts beginning to be discussed.

Brian Morrissey from Ad Week just picked this up on his own blog “Are designers to blame for bad Web ads?”

So here’s my thinking based on ad strategy over creative execution; rather than utilise budgets for microsites, we spend time, energy and budgets building better ads. A concept I have could name several global advertisers already shifting towards. The bottom line is all advertising exists where users are and brings the message to them – TV to sofa, etc. Most advertising actually enhances content – people buy magazines to discover cars/clothes, etc shown off in glossy double-spread ads. Ads in most media are both physically large and plentiful, yet all are enhancing stories that create desire. None of them expect you to go elsewhere…

Online has perpetuated the misconceived notion that you need to “change the channel” to see the ad, i.e. go to a microsite, and we measure this by CTR. Can you imagine doing that on TV? “Click here to watch the TV ad”… good luck!

Now that CTR is failing, to those who suggest display advertising will die to widgets is suggesting all TV, Print, Outdoor is ineffective and will die also. Hogwash. Display advertising hasn’t even evolved into what it could or should yet… I wrote about this before following a high profile argument on whether advertising online would fail?

I am convinced, it’s not the format or channel that’s failing, it’s the metric that is floored. Clicks work great for search, appalling for display. Interaction Rate tries to compare a video ad with a single interaction point, to a game ad with tens of interaction points – you cannot. Period. It’s creative dependent, so all benchmarks for Interaction Rate are floored.In fact I just wish Interaction rate would be erased from any discussions surrounding benchmarks. That is why there is huge need to move towards measuring online display ads the same way as we measure web visits – in terms of numbers of arrivals, and amount of time they spend there. Hence “Dwell Time”.

It’s a fallacy in people’s thinking that digital is purely constrained to websites; that “online” means web-browser… especially when I spend half my life checking online from my iPhone or seeing more and more digital outdoor panels. Similarly it’s a fallacy to think that the golden age of advertising is over and the maturity of those who tread the path for many years before and understand how to build a brand no longer matters; worse, they are being bad mouthed by code-junkies. Look, consumers are media-neutral, clients are media-neutral – and TV, Print, Outdoor works and will ALWAYS work – it’s just that they will evolve as they embrace an element of audio-visual interactivity following receiving an internet connection. Dwell Time in turn offers a potential way to port across media channels as they become interactive, thereby offering advertisers a genuine way to measure display advertising and answer “yes the consumer SAW your ad” in a way TV or Print currently cannot.

So my argument is that if we created better ads where people are, better engaging stories – utilizing what we have learned offline and entwined it with the potential of online – people would not be annoyed so much, but rather enjoy ads. We discussed the other night at dinner how many times TV ads are searched on YouTube and then posted on Facebook, for example. But we DO need to justify online advertising, as we have created a rod for our own back. We need a metric. We need some way of convincing clients, as that is what they have come to expect from online; it’s measurable. This is what we have been doing for the last couple of years in trying to develop “Dwell Time” on the back of some discussions with agency folk a couple of years back – a simple catch-all metric that works across all display formats and gives us something positive to say against declining clicks. Dwell Time measures the number of people who touch an ad (rate) and for how long in seconds (duration) discounting all those who leave the ad before one second. It also only tracks user behavior, so as soon as you mouse out, counter is stopped and restarted if you mouse back in – all per impression/exposure.

Having monitored well over a billion impressions globally over last few months, and spliced data from all formats, to time of day, to publisher environments, and by industry verticals, to global regions – comparing to click-thru and monitoring effect of video in relation to creative impact – I have been utterly blown away by what I have learned as I have poured over the data. A lot of misconceptions I had thought have been corrected especially in regards to the most effective formats.

When we look at all data, we find some startling truths. Nearly 10% of all ads are “touched” and those that are, are actively played with for about 1 minute – slightly less for ads without video. Compared to your 0.5% CTR is saying that for every 5 people who click on an ad, 100 will play for one whole minute! That means consumers are 20x more likely to explore a brand next to content, than click thru to advertiser’s site. Not only that, but they will spend twice the length of average 30 sec TV ad, with the potential to actively explore the product and strike deeper emotional connections that result in greater brand recall. It also means that with a shift to pre-roll 15 second ad formats, in Banner video is doing the exact opposite – it’s driving more interactions and creating longer periods of time to hold their attention as they are done on user request, not forced upon. Afterall, if user is not interested, they leave the ad and hence ‘zero’ Dwell Time, not a 60 second Dwell Time.

That alone is a HUGE incentive for advertisers who want to engage with consumers. It also suggests that people do not dislike advertising online at all, any more then they dislike ads in print – in fact the opposite – and should be the confidence we all need to discuss ways of better engaging with consumers, and demanding bigger creative budgets from clients.

That is not all; desktop ads outperform all other ad formats with the exception of floating ads. Yes that is right – floating ads both attract consumers to interact and hold their attention – not for as long as other formats, but enough to prove to me that people are prepared to accept, interact and respond to the format – 3x more than ANY other format. How many times have I stood up and said that high CTR on floating ads was driven by people trying to close the ads? How wrong I have been…

I am going to hold other findings till we publish the research in a few weeks time in the next Eyeblaster Analytics Bulletin.

Or of course you can still build microsites and just hope people “change the channel” and try and justify to clients the dwindling CTR and dwindling budgets with demands for greater ROI, whilst the rest of us realize post-impression is more powerful then click-thru, that huge amounts of search is driven by display ads, that offline sales are drive by online display, and people online both like ads and play with them – for a whole minute – and they would do so a LOT more if we could just build bigger, better ads that actually enhance the consumer experience.

Dean Donaldson | Digital Experience Strategist

The importance of display and search is best seen as a conversation that happens between a consumer and the brand – you become aware of something and seek information, often from 3rd party independent reviews. Consumers and brands are media neutral; a TV ad drives online search drives in store purchase… So with this in mind we cannot lock all consumer experiences into simple robotic conversions, like click-thru to site. Less than 0.5% display clicks followed by a 70% onsite abandonment rate is grossly inefficient. Whereas at least 5x conversions happen as a result of post-view compared to post-click, the art as all advertising is in that striking emotional connections that push a consumer through a conversion cycle – just not always seen immediately. 995 out of 1,000 ads are not clicked, yet 30% of all paid searches can be attributed to happening after being exposed to a display ad first. Think TV driving laptop searches, for example.

Online goes deeper than mere exposure; at least 10% of all ads are touched – and this sees 5x conversion in banner over on site conversion if you include such functionality as you are hitting a wider target group and facilitating them to respond where they are. Taking this further, understanding if the consumer has been exposed to the brand message or is already a “client” facilitates different messaging to be shown to them that is more relevant – but the real sequencing effects happen with display and search. “That’s a great phone, where did you get it… is it available as pay as you go… how does it compare to contract” we see a consumer exposed to a message (display), the desire is investigation (search) which is targeted in sequence (comparison site) which all drives a consumer through a conversion life-cycle towards conversion. Allowing the system a degree of auto-optimization, sequencing messaging, adapting to each individual and allowing conversion in banner, on site or in store is the heart of the channel connect strategy.

It’s about taking knowledge from video content streams, frequency of standard display, enhancement of interactive creative’s, consumer desire to research before purchase, as well as discovering prior exposure and as a result of this more targeted message, being able to claw back greater ROI and reduce those inefficiencies – on a macro global cross-agency level, down to a micro campaign exposure per consumer.

Eyeblaster Channel Connect for Search (CC4S) is open source connectivity to “any” paid search provider to consolidate conversion data across all display and search exposure.

Capitalizing on the open-source nature of the development of the web, Eyeblaster’s CC4S means you are not locked down into having to serve display and search through the same vendor. This means it allows advertisers and agencies the flexibility to work with multiple partner relationships in existence whilst monitoring the consumer life-cycle. It works alongside a global campaign management system to allow multiple agency relationships across territories, so being able to consolidate disparate sources of data and assist analysis by language or region. It is a totally independent solution away from publisher ownership to give you a unique perspective, whilst confidence in the only ad server to achieve compliance for IAB’s Media ratings council across the breadth of online display. Integrated into live campaign dashboard, simple customizable reports, Excel interfaces and PowerPoint summaries to give you and your agencies the insights you need.

Will it change things? I think we are just scraping the surface of linking all display and search media, such as TV to PC search or Outdoor to mobile search – all delivering the next sequenced message across channels. Search and display is what online marketers have been waiting for since pay-per-click went mainstream 10 years ago – a real value proposition linked to actual consumer behavior, and places click effectiveness in its natural environment – i.e. search. I think we are only just entering a whole new phase of consumer understanding to deliver advertiser benefits.

Dean Donaldson | Digital Experience Strategist

http://tinyurl.com/cc4s-conversion-analysis

http://tinyurl.com/imedia-value-of-display

At a Tokyo trade show, the tyre company Bridgestone (no less!) has dazzled the crowds with its o.3mm flexible e-Paper that has got to have Sony and Amazon feeling like they are soon to become the future of fish-and-chip wrappings!

Resembling a flexible piece of plastic, and complete with a touch screen surface provided by a WACOM tablet, the A4 sized full-colour capabilities are jaw-dropping. The ability to scribble-on-screen is ensuring Bridgestone’s 13” colour screen ‘has the future written all over it’. Though screen refresh (0.8 secs min) and price ($500+) is a little prohibitive presently, this is the first stab at a revolution for the print industry that has got Rupert Murdoch himself excited. Suddenly updateable newspapers and magazines are well within reach.

According to ePaperCentral, “unlike other e-paper devices like the Kindle and Sony’s 505/700, the Bridgestone model does not use E Ink based technologies. Instead, it uses a powerful technology built in house that could completely revolutionize e-paper called QR-LPD.”

When you contemplate that anywhere between 60% and upwards of all magazine content is advertising based, the potential for a hybrid online print media is mind-blowing. Magazines and newspapers currently account for over 30% of global media spend, and this technology will see the convergence of print and digital agencies as opposed to the current threat that print feels.

Consider the fact that consumers are willing to pay for magazines with such vast advertising exposure – often full screen, as the advertising enhances the experience as opposed to detracts from it – there is no reason to expect ePrint ads to be any different. Women want to see the latest Jimmy Choo’s or Gucci handbags, men want to see the golf clubs and gadgets – we are talking the most natural place for information with not just full-colour photos, but full-screen interactive video; I am talking full on product demos at a user’s choosing, served by your friendly, global ad management platform!

Now the OPA are pushing for larger formats, we may still find a backlash on current PC & laptop monitors as consumers are used to much smaller “banners” online, but e-Paper is the best bet yet at taking an already established advertising model and enhancing it with real-time insertion of measurable full-screen videos. Taking something small and making it big could be seen as intrusion, yet taking print and making it interactive I predict will no doubt be seen as enhancement, in the same way as digital outdoor currently is.

With HP and Fujitsu already pushing e-Paper, Bridgestone is the latest Kindle-killer to the market. Expect normal paper to go the way of papyrus very soon – and then feel happy about saving the trees…

Bridgestone QR-LPD Color E-Paper Review

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Bridgestone QR-LPD Color E-Paper Demonstration

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Bridgestone Color E-Paper Featured on a Japanese Show

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Editor’s note: Since posting there has been some interesting feedback, so worth checking “Apple, Playboy and the future of comics“

People are creatures of habit. The majority of what we do online is hang around our favourite news, entertainment and social networks – and communication is by far the largest part of our daily internet usage. Our comfort sites make up 60% of our usage, and physically ‘browsing’ and exploring the web is actually less than 10% of what we do today; where as communication is over 30%. Just look at the way you spend your day online, even when on the move – and that ever growing inbox! That is why the global certification of Eyeblaster on the new Windows Live Mail system is such an important part of targeted online advertising.

Hotmail has always been one of the dominant players in terms of free email clients for both consumers and business users alike; surprisingly over 30% of business email is transmitted via Hotmail. As an ad-funded email client, it has always been a viable alternative to those not willing to pay for Outlook – the industry leading business email client.

The new Windows Live Mail is a next generation of email client that is actually a replacement for Outlook Express. Microsoft has made it easy to manage multiple mail accounts and so much more; e.g. integration with other Windows Live services, such as Messenger. There is also a desktop version to complement the browser-based version.

So why all the fuss on this change from an online marketing perspective? Penetration of ad-funded communication is naturally a key aspect, but there are other significant reasons that are important considerations for advertisers.

From my own observations of consumer behaviour within email clients, looking at campaign data, it seems fair to deduce that when a person is in that ‘communication mindset’, consumers often want to take a moment’s break from writing mail to ‘play’ whilst they think. Allowing them to explore brands in situation is therefore an important aspect of the type of advertising that works in an email environment, as there is a huge reluctance to “click” here – at least until the user has reached the “sent mail” page. I always advise that you are one third likely to click ads when reading and writing mail compared to when you have sent your mail.

We are also more poised to typing, so data-capture tends to be incredibly effective around email – a great way to add a DR aspect to a campaign that actually carries far more weight for advertisers ROI than a mere click.

And naturally we are chatting with friends and colleagues – so it is a primary position to start your web 2.0 campaign. Instigating consumers to talk about brands, facilitating a ‘tear-and-share’ viral affect via widgets – or real time updates of offers that people can forward-to-a friend; whether theatre show times, to last-minute breaks, to automotive test drives in their vicinity or an offer to taste that new chocolate bar – these are all illustrations of how to work effectively with email clients.

Just be sympathetic to consumers natural reluctance to click and treat any roll-over or expansions with a positive creative reward for consumers, and you are going to find a great way to utilise this environment to your brands’ advantage.

Useful information:

• Out with Outlook Express, In with WLM
• Fingerprint analysis of Email Client Penetration

Obama is the first president to harness digital media, partly because he can as it is now there to be used, and partly because he needed to. So online has been a major part of the Obama brand as it appeals to a new generation of political followers and patriotic enthusiasts. But beyond these, he has tapped into every goofy, geeky seemingly insignificant kid in their bedroom… and given them a voice. A voice that has been identified as having potentially huge ramifications in the virtual world 2.0 – so it may as well be utilized for the good of the whole.

Democracy and freedom of speech, these concepts are intrinsic about people having a voice and fundamental to the American way. Living in UK, we have our heritage in our royalty, passed down generations by blood lines. In the US, it is the brands who are the royalty, who are elected by the people, and proven in the fact they are the first target in any backlash – globally. We expect them to have a moral consciousness, to have a finger on the pulse of modern society thinking, to take a global perspective but be culturally significant at a local level. This is why I think brands and Obama are actually bouncing off one another right now.

Take Pepsi – a global all-American brand. A red-and-white patriotic symbol of ‘times of refreshing’ and very much a part of this royal heritage of all that is American. An American-Global brand utilizing an American-Global icon. And within a global society that is slowly being squeezed towards economic collapse, they know that change is necessary and people need a positive lift, they need refreshing. In fact let’s “Refresh Everything“. Pepsi have tapped into this change and just pressed the cold, hard reset button on brand-building across modern media. People, Obama and Pepsi have just rebooted the entire system, mark my words.

Pepsi’s recent campaign has made consumers part of the conversation: Gone are the days of consumers sitting back and listening to the leader of the country. Now, it’s about engagement at various points of media from social media like Facebook to blogs and tweets, and to in-banner video messages.

So, in celebration of the Presidential Inauguration, Pepsi launched a major web 2.0 event that empowered Americans to speak to the President directly through Pepsi’s video banner ad, predominantly through a YouTube channel and complemented by a destination site entitled “Refresh Everything“. The concept of “Dear Mr. President” ad campaign created by R/GA was promoted by celebrities voicing their well wishes and encouraging you, from your office or home, to do the same.

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It allowed everyone with a webcam or messaging platform to feedback their thoughts and wishes, on what should (and shouldn’t) be changed about the country, by sending a text or uploading a video to the dedicated YouTube channel, and facilitated around key media placements though a fully interactive web banner and served through Eyeblaster‘s breakthrough technology. So in using online and social media channels to connect with consumers, Pepsi leveraged the common American theme, ‘freedom of speech’ to ignite this event – utilizing online media as open forum for consumers to communicate with Obama, yet all the while staying engaged with Pepsi’s brand.

The shifting digital media landscape has created a cultural shift in the way that consumers and audiences engage – whether brands, movements or politics. Pepsi’s banner ad represents the more innovative use of online media; it empowers the end user to interact, form an opinion and speak directly to the American leader – something that truly is groundbreaking and in doing so, speaks to a new generation of consumers. And the evidence speaks for itself, 14% of consumers who uploaded a video to YouTube did so through the banner. Today’s online consumers are lot more willing than we give them credit for.

It is imaginative conceptually as well as demonstration of modern advertising technology, wrapped up in an advert that doesn’t look like an advert. Pepsi is just enabling people to do what they really want to do, and becomes a facilitator of this inevitable change that is happening around the world. It has nothing to do with Pepsi tastes nice or any product push; it is a brand backing a brand in its pursuit of a change for the better. And I believe it has executed this beautifully and left a very sweet after-taste in the mouth of many a consumer or media disciplinarian who long for its success in order to demonstrate to more cautious brands that they can follow suit.

Obama the messiah of Madison Avenue as appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle