Advertisers need at least a USdollars 1 million budget in order to
mount an effective television campaign in China.
In sharp contrast, however, USdollars 50,000 is all that is needed to
launch a major campaign online, according to Sohu.com senior
vice-president, marketing and sales, Edwin Chan.
Speaking at the Greater China Interactive Marketing Forum 2000, he said
the bonus was that the Internet offered advertisers the opportunity to
target markets more effectively and with a lower wastage rate compared
with television.
But Mr Chan stressed that however a product or service is marketed, it
was important to use the relevant online advertising model.
"Banners are for generating sales leads while emails are for tactical
offers. Buttons (very small ad spaces) are best for surveys, while
fly-bys (also small ad spaces but which move around a Web page) is for
brand awareness," he said.
Mr Chan said that text links, where a hyperlink is attached to key words
within an article was also becoming more popular although he stressed
that the content had to be compelling and relevant to the audience being
targeted.
As a result, he pointed out that talk of the banner ad being dead was an
"over-generalised statement, since what you use is dependent on your
objective".
