Online Stands Up To Be Counted
Following the announcement that the IAB and NRS will join forces to move towards establishing an online planning currency, chief executive of the IAB, Guy Phillipson, explains why this is such an important and necessary step for the industry…
During my 100-day review of the IAB shortly after I took on the role of CEO, a 40-something FMCG man of great standing leant across his boardroom table and said to me sagely: “Online’s too old not to have a planning currency”.
As I left the building and strolled back to my office, his poignant words hung like stalactites in the cold January air, so I vowed to make the creation of a planning currency a key part of my Five-Point Plan for the online industry.
One long hot summer later and I’m pleased to report that the plan is on-track and the online advertising sceptic I quoted above is getting what he needs to further fuel the inclusion of the internet on his media plan.
A joint industry committee led by the IAB and the NRS has reached an agreement to publish a substantial quarterly internet audience survey, which in itself is a landmark event but more importantly marks a step closer to the establishment of a single online planning currency. From March 2007, following testing, the market will have access to the UK online audience demographic information; frequency of usage, usage by location and mode of access, for example by PC or through mobile devices.
You might wonder why it has taken so long. Well to get this far has been a bumpy and complex road. How do you agree the equivalent of a BARB for the internet, especially with diverse stakeholders including the IPA, ISBA, AOP and of course a whole range of different internet media owners with different opinions and motivations.
Remember, planning currencies don’t come cheap. You’re probably looking at a few million pounds a year to run the online version, so in addition to agreeing parameters we’d have to convince the industry to invest.
Why is it so important to have a currency? One of the reasons online has grown so fast without such a tool is because it’s second to none for direct response. CPC, CPA, ROI, you name it, we can measure it. Of course, that’s perfect for finance, travel, Lotto etc. But how does an FMCG brand go about planning coverage online?
A full-blown single industry currency would enable websites to be measured and compared alongside TV and print and this is the ultimate aim.
Broadband has transformed the internet into a branding medium and with brand advertisers, including consumer packaged goods, pharmaceuticals etc., waking up to online, they will be able to plan campaigns with greater confidence.
Until there is a single currency we have an interim solution that gives advertisers and agencies access to regular, accurate profiling of the UK internet population, enabling them to more effectively plan their online brand campaigns against traditional media.
The NRS online population survey will help improve the consistency of existing panels such as Nielsen//NetRatings, comScore and BMRB by providing an accurate quarterly UK audience data for them to weight to.
Why did we choose NRS? Because of its robust 36,000 annual sample of 15+ adults. NRS is face-to-face, too, not just a phone survey. This is important because it picks up internet users who don’t have a landline, like students for example.
Looking ahead, the online currency is likely to include Brand Engagement as one of the critical metrics so the IAB is also launching a cross-media research initiative to test the effectiveness of brand advertising online compared to other media.
The brand engagement study will compare the effectiveness of online against other media, including TV, outdoor, PR and even word of mouth. It will involve 1,000 internet users around the UK, using focus groups and online questionnaires. The research will concentrate on the supermini car sector, which includes models like the Renault Clio and Ford Fiesta.
This year the IAB is hard at work creating tools and running initiatives which unquestionably provide advertisers and agencies with proof of online’s brand-building capabilities. It just goes to show that the internet is not too young to prove itself.