Superbrands on the Web: first find the Holy Grail

<p>Change the rules of any discipline and noses inevitably get put out </p><p>of joint. And in advertising space, the Web is no exception. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>While the naysayers grow quieter in the face of accountability for </p><p>adspend dollars, the realm of branding remains a dark horse. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Many times it's used for anything where the results are not exactly </p><p>known, in which case we stick with "branding" and seem a little bit more </p><p>comfortable about it," said Beyond Interactive chief Internet </p><p>evangelist, Darien Heyman. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But while getting a brand into the minds of consumers is half the battle </p><p>for anyone venturing into the cluttered 'Net space, Mr Heyman believes </p><p>the real goal of the branding process is to create brand advocates. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"These are people that are not going to be loyal to you on a solo basis, </p><p>they're going to tell their friends about you - word of mouth is the </p><p>most powerful form of advertising." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Taking into account the prevailing truth where "the customer is king" on </p><p>the Web, the trick for marketers in the know is to not only sell to </p><p>customers but to get them to sell on your behalf. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"When you look at traditional advertising vehicles, generally speaking </p><p>there's a tendency to put things in buckets - you're either branding or </p><p>you're advertising and the main reason for this is because with </p><p>traditional media it's almost impossible to close the (sales) loop," he </p><p>said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Coining the term "superbranding" to maximise value on the 'Net, </p><p>according to Mr Heyman it's a fine line between using the 'Net for </p><p>branding or conversely, as a response medium. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"If you're using the 'Net to advertise and you're only looking at it as </p><p>a branding requirement, then you're missing out on the one per cent of </p><p>the audience that's actively ready to engage in a relationship and </p><p>transact with you," he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"But if you're only looking at the 'Net as a response medium, you're </p><p>forgetting about the 99 per cent of people that aren't ready at that </p><p>specific time to interact." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>And breaking through the contradictions has a lot to do with scrapping </p><p>the notion that clickthrough rates truly measure the success of an </p><p>online ad campaign. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The idea here is that we want to look at the ultimate measures for </p><p>success - so if you buy banners that say 'look here for a free sell', </p><p>that would probably get a better hit rate, but is this really the </p><p>ultimate metric that you're looking for as a marketer?" </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Probably not. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Touting the 'Net's accountability also calls into question the validity </p><p>of traditional advertising focus groups. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Now, we're not just asking consumers how an ad made them feel, we're </p><p>actually watching whether they clicked through to the website and bought </p><p>the product, or did they click through to the website and not buy </p><p>immediately but buy a week after?" </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>According to Mr Heyman, thanks to the 'Net marketers and advertisers </p><p>alike are "one step closer to the Holy Grail - a complete return on </p><p>investment." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>And driving consumers to respond to the barrage of ads on the Internet </p><p>has turned context and novelty into the fundamentals for any </p><p>dialogue. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>But singlehandedly changing the rules of advertiser/consumer </p><p>communication, with the consumer in the 'Net driving seat, one-to-one </p><p>personalisation is currently every marketer's golden goose. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"In the US in the good old days, you'd walk into the general store and </p><p>the shopkeeper would know your name, and then we had this whole idea of </p><p>mass marketing and mass production," said Mr Heyman. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Now the pendulum's swinging back, because with the issue of email </p><p>acknowledgement, you can communicate with that consumer with the same </p><p>extremely targeted methods." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>And hype or no, marketers seen to be embracing the medium with an </p><p>innovative twist are experiencing a "beneficial effect on their </p><p>branding" as a result. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Citing the launch of the new Beetle by automobile giant Volkswagen, Mr </p><p>Heyman noted how a significant presence on the Internet has been called </p><p>for in order to convey cutting-edge brand values to the right target </p><p>audience: "It's establishing a bar which needs to be tapped - if you </p><p>want to be seen as hip and trendy." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Ultimately for Mr Heyman, advertisers in any medium are going to have a </p><p>hard time beating the Web's ability to well and truly snare consumer </p><p>attention. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"People remember 20 per cent of what they see, 40 per cent of what they </p><p>hear and 75 per cent of what they see, hear and do," he said, adding </p><p>that for every three seconds of attention captured by a billboard, users </p><p>spent six concentrated minutes per Web stint. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>