How To Leverage Online Advertising

Nielsen Wire — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:29:39 +0000

Brand advertising budgets took a hit in 2008, with expenditures dropping 2.6 percent compared to 2007. While most media suffered, two bright spots were Hispanic cable TV, where ad spending grew 9.6 percent, and cable TV, where growth was 7.8 percent. But what has happened to online advertising?

Perhaps the biggest challenge facing advertisers and web sites is the plethora of sites competing for scarce advertising dollars with little to offer in the way of differentiation. Unfortunately, no single formula or strategy has emerged to guide advertisers looking to build brand loyalty, share of mind or unit sales when it comes to the online world.

Regardless, online media continues to have a tremendous amount of unrealized potential. Roughly 57 percent of Fortune 1,000 companies advertised online in at least half the quarters from the past three years. But the way they have been doing so points to a scatter-shot approach: 20 percent of Fortune 1,000 companies are distributing ad dollars across 32 or more web sites, while another 20 percent are hitting 8-31 outlets.

A number of companies are finding success: ConAgra, Exxon Mobil, Clorox, Cisco Systems, Foot Locker and Barnes & Noble each bought millions of online impressions in the fourth quarter of 2008, and got the most bang for their buck by concentrating more than 90 percent of their digital dollars on a single web site. On the web site front, ESPN.com recently overhauled their entire site, moving easy-to-use streaming video and advertising to the forefront. The results have been impressive: 45 seconds per page, an audience of 19.5 million visitors and 29 percent of advertising utilizing non-standard formats.

Learn how to deploy effective online advertising strategies, including Nielsen’s four-point plan, in the current issue of Consumer Insight.

Holiday Shoppers Continue to Shift Purchases Online for Convenience

Nielsen Wire — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:12:01 +0000

American consumers will continue to shift their gift buying online this holiday season, citing convenience, time saving, and price according to Nielsen Online. Amid the current economic downturn, 53% of consumers cite price as a reason to buy online, compared with 46% last year. However, convenience continues to trump price as 76% of consumers cite the ability to shop 24 hours a day and 74% cite time saving as key factors for choosing online shopping.

The results are based on a Nielsen Online survey, conducted November 6-11, intended to gauge online consumers’ holiday shopping plans for 2008.

Top 10 Reasons to Shop Online (U.S.)

RANK	Reasons To Shop Online	% Of Respondents
1	Able to shop 24 hours a day	76%
2	Saves time	74%
3	Avoiding crowds	65%
4	Saves gas	59%
5	Sales/Discounts/Promotions	55%
6	Low prices	53%
7	Comparison shopping	48%
8	Selection	40%
9	Available product information	37%
10	Items are in stock	37%
Source: Nielsen Online, Pre-holiday Survey, November 2008

Holiday Gift Dollars Shifting Online

Survey results indicate that holiday gift budgets are shifting online. Respondents said that they would spend an increased percent of their holiday shopping budget online, an average of 41 percent compared to 39 percent last year. And more respondents indicated that they would spend the majority of their holiday gift budgets online, up to 36 percent from 32 percent a year ago.

Prospects For Growth

More consumers plan to make purchases in the “Toys & Video Games” and “Books” categories this holiday season than last. The top three retailers when ranked by the year-over-year increase in respondents intending to shop there this season were: Amazon, Wal-Mart and Barnes & Noble.

“We believe holiday online sales will grow from 2007, but likely at a single-digit rate and representing the smallest increase we’ve seen since the online commerce market was born,” said Ken Cassar, vice president of industry insights, Nielsen Online. “If there is a silver lining, it is that consumers continue to view the online channel’s principal value proposition as convenience, more than price, allowing retailers the opportunity to differentiate on service and selection.”

Black Friday And Beyond

Throughout the upcoming holiday shopping season, which officially commences with Black Friday on Nov. 28, Nielsen Online will report weekly – and, in some cases, daily – online audience data for top online shopping destinations as well as for its annual Holiday eShopping Index.

Download Nielsen Online’s full press release.