Blazing New Media Trails With Old Media Tools

If you've read any advertising related news story, blog or newsletter lately, you wonder how we all stay employed. Barely a day goes by without some new alarm that the web, cell phones, video on demand or gaming will doom traditional ad models. If we don't plunge in quickly, we'll perish.

Response: March 2007
By Timothy R. Hawthorne

Blazing New Media Trails With Old Media Tools 

If you've read any advertising related news story, blog or newsletter lately, you wonder how we all stay employed. Barely a day goes by without some new alarm that the web, cell phones, video on demand or gaming will doom traditional ad models. If we don't plunge in quickly, we'll perish.

Pardon my serenity, but "new media" offers a bright future to direct response television, not a dire one. Sure, new technologies demand new responses. But to take full advantage of fast-breaking opportunities, those hard-earned "old media" lessons will serve you quite nicely. Just as you wouldn't hike to a new campsite without a well-supplied backpack, you shouldn't design ad campaigns without proven tools. You may hike to new locations, but you still bring your old shovel. To forage for kindling to light up your site, you hang on to your trusty old flashlight.

Search engine ads may be new to you, but writing ad copy certainly isn't. Full motion phone ads seem novel, but you've shot compelling video for years. Before fretting over every new medium, remind yourself that direct response television generates strong sales for a reason. What's more, a maturing internet didn't doom DRTV at all-it provided a complementary sales channel. If you keep your wits about you, all the new media will do likewise.

IF IT'S SO NEW, HOW DID IT MAKE SO MUCH MONEY?

U.S. advertisers devoted $12.5 billion to online advertising in 2005 and should spend $17 billion in 2006. Such large numbers indicate an established market, yet it earns under five percent of all U.S. ad revenue. According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, banners and other displays accounted for 21 percent of 2005's online ad buys. Text-based classifieds brought in 17 percent. The dominant format is search engine ads-hyperlinked website invitations that appear on search engine results pages and on contextually relevant websites. These ads netted a robust 41 percent of 2005's online ad take.

Right now, online video is a niche format. IAB estimates that "rich media"-which also includes flash animations and sound embeds-accounted for only eight percent of last year's online ad spend (for 2006, eMarketer projects an increase to $410 million). But as broadband booms, the "sight, sound and motion" that makes TV ads so powerful will define internet ads as well. When that happens, don't be afraid to ask an experienced DRTV expert for guidance. Sight, sound and motion aren't exactly revolutionary.

THE SAME, JUST DIFFERENT

"Not so," insist internet pundits. "The web isn't television! Mouse buttons click faster than TV remotes! You can't just plunk TV shots online!" Well, for some purposes you can. A DRTV client website could easily break down infomercial footage into short clickable feature demonstrations. But the pundits have a point: luring surfers to websites is as specialized an art form as crafting calls-to-action.

Infomercial results regularly confirm that "the more you tell, the more you sell." So the 9-15 seconds that web surfers tolerate for preroll ads seem woefully insufficient. Fortunately, you don't have to relate an entire product story in eleven seconds. The preroll's purpose is simply to inspire the click; your landing site converts the sale.

The punditry objects: "The only way to capture that click is to roll Video 2.0!" Really? DRTV already assumes that even in a half-hour program, every second counts. You never know at what moments consumers tune in, so you produce each segment to arrest their attention. Gripping visuals, quick vignettes and magical transformations are already in the toolkit. Agencies that may never have uttered the word "preroll" have crafted sales-proven likenesses literally thousands of times.

But creative is just half the equation. Advertisers must place their video where the target demographic will see it. With thousands of websites that display rich media ads, and over 130 contextual ad networks, buying prime ad space demands data. A whole new world? Hardly. Tracking the performance of creative elements and media outlets is fundamental to DRTV media buying. What's new is the database that gauges websites and ad networks, not broadcast stations and TV networks. Tell your computer whiz to get tracking. A Forrester Research study discovered that over 30 percent of people exposed to online video ads visited advertiser websites; 14 percent sought out a store; another 14 percent requested more information. Now that's a response worth pursuing!

DON'T WORRY, MOBILIZE SNAPPY

Perhaps the most eagerly anticipated new media ad channel is the data-enabled mobile device. Google and Yahoo have partnered with service providers in Europe and Japan to test ad delivery models, and ESPN has leveraged its branded mobile service for similar video rollouts. But with mobile video consumption still below two percent, widespread adoption seems distant.

Though advertisers spent only $45 million for mobile advertising in 2005, Informa Research Services predicts that expenditures will explode to $11 billion by 2011. Wireless visionaries predict that mobile handsets, phone and data service will become free to subscribers who agree to view ads. Whether these appear as short videos before voice mail checks, or interstitials that separate mobile web interactions, experienced DRTV firms are prepared to customize video and manage the accompanying database.