Integrated Measurement: Online Advertising Grows Up
Source: Nielsen

If the Internet has truly “arrived” and is being taken seriously, why have we not yet seen significant brand advertising dollars follow? Maybe it’s because we’re in the midst of one of the worst global recessions in history. Perhaps it’s because online creative units tend to replicate the print experience instead of redefining the consumer experience. Most likely is that the online ad industry has decided to remain independent—we speak our own, at times arcane, language; we use our own effectiveness measures reinforcing the belief that the Internet is a direct response media; and, we have yet to provide easy methods to help advertisers understand the role of the Internet in the entire marketing mix. In effect, we have made our lives, and potential livelihoods, very difficult.

The good news is there is hope. As a medium the Internet is quite the contender (and brand dollars are beginning to shift its way). To continue growing, the online ad world must take a hard look at itself as part of a broader, media industry-wide context and, as one prominent TV client put to me, “grow up.” The Internet does not exist in a vacuum and we’ve moved past the days when it is practical to operate like it does. Leading marketers look at media from a holistic perspective to reach today’s increasingly connected consumers. So too must anyone participating in the ad industry.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 9:51 pm and is filed under Business and economics, Internet, Media and entertainment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.