Interactive Seven 2009 Supplement - Marketing Week

MWIB_260209_p029 19/2/09 17:38 Page 29
INTERACTIVE ONLINE
‘Me’ generation: Online
marketers are using websites
such as Facebook to better target
their advertising
completely changed the way in which brands interact with
their target consumers.
“Brands have a huge opportunity to really engage with
their audience and many have been taking advantage of this
by using the powerful toolsets available. More than ever, advertisers
are able to target exactly the right audience and create
a two-way dialogue, which is important for users as well as
brands.”
The benefits of being able to target the right users and
monitor the effectiveness of campaigns, in ways not available
to those using broadcast media, is online marketing’s
unique selling point.
However, the industry is
not immune from the effects
of the economic downturn,
and against a backdrop of collapsing
banks, car makers,
building firms and high street
retailers, industry leaders say
maximising budgets to ensure
maximum brand exposure is
essential.
Work hard for the money
Microsoft Advertising commercial
director Chris Ward
says: “As ever, the key issue
for marketers will be continuing
to ensure that their budgets
work as hard as possible.
They should be looking for the
points of influence and connections between online and offline
activity. Neither exist in a bubble, so judging how best to
spread budgets to gain maximum influence on the consumer
will be more important now than ever.”
Getting ahead
Google UK director Mark Howe adds: “History tells us that
slowdowns are when winners get ahead. The performance
gap between the most successful companies and their competitors
becomes greater than during a growth period. The
winners continue investing in growth and focus on profitable
products and customers while carefully managing costs.”
The industry is certainly booming, with networks opening
up the reach of online marketing. Yahoo! has created the
Yahoo! Network offering advertisers access to over 80% of
the UK internet population through its links with publishers
and advertising networks.
AOL’s Platform-A has also continued to expand and has
now rolled out across eight countries in Europe, reaching
“Marketers need
to be more focused
on how to retain
customers”
James Murray,
Interwoven
more than 160 million internet
users on the continent.
Platform-A International
managing director Brendan
Condon claims: “Platform-A
is the only online advertising
network that offers a full suite
of advanced affiliate, display
and search solutions across
Europe, which perfectly
addresses the complex needs
of today’s advertisers.”
Marketing Week Interactive 29