iMedia Connection: Interview: Horizon Media's Ruby Gottlieb
Dawn Anfuso discusses with Ruby Gottlieb how an increasing number of marketers are testing the Internet waters yet barriers still need to be overcome:
iMedia Connection: What remains the industry's biggest stumbling block?
Gottlieb: I think there are two things. One is developing creative that makes an impact without being uncomfortably intrusive. Rich media works better for initiating response, but you have to question how much to use it — what does its overuse do to a relationship? The Internet is more personal, which presents more risks. That's a big problem right now, finding creative that works for both clients and consumers.
Secondly, feeling the need to justify every dollar spent. We dug our own grave at the beginning by saying everything was measurable. Now we're being held to that. So there's now the feeling that we need to be able to prove the value of the medium every step along the way, as opposed to accepting that it works, like an outdoor board, a radio spot, etc. It's that dichotomy that's troublesome for me.
Hello, this is Rick butting into Steve's post from here on. What struck me reading this interview were the following exchanges:
We’re doing our first Dynamic Logic study as we speak and we should have results by January.
Their first Dynamic Logic study? This is an agency, and after all these years and thousands of campaigns they've over-seen, they've never tested for brand effectiveness before? Is that typical for the state of the industry still, or are they late bloomers?
iMedia Connection: Have you piloted any early Reach & Frequency planning on behalf of your clients?
Gottlieb: No, and I’m having a real hard time believing in it. I’m not sold yet on the methodologies. Fortunately, my clients aren’t asking for it, so I’m not feeling the urgency to push it down their throats until I’m confident I agree, and our Research Director agrees, with what we’re seeing.
Wow. They don't get reach and frequency online? They don't think it matters? They don't trust server-side or third-party panel-based R&F methodologies as valid? (Meanwhile, Tim McHale of Underscore Marketing argues that the new ARF standards for measuring R&F are more stringent for online than any other medium).
Is this surprising to the rest of you that a leading media person thinks this way? I keep thinking that this industry is getting farther along in accepting some common new assumptions about valuing online media by something more sophisticated than simply click-throughs — e.g., brand-effectiveness research a la Dynamic Logic, and old-school ad metrics, like GRPs (gross rating points) and R&F — but then someone who is much more in the trenches than I am at actually buying and selling online advertising, comes along and says these concepts still strike her as dubious and fuzzy. Comments?
Well, I just now see Jim Meskauskas at MediaPost has answered me in advance with a column today titled Why Reach & Frequency is Important To Online Advertising. -Rick
