Study Shows Shifting Budgets From TV To Internet Leads To Increase In Reach.

DoubleClick Inc. announced the release of its Cross Media Reach and Frequency Study at its Insight 2003 industry conference. The study, which was designed to demonstrate the impact of shifts in media allocation on audience reach, reveals that by using standard media planning tools for both offline and interactive marketing, marketers such as American Airlines, Subaru and Kraft Foods, could increase reach by shifting dollars originally spent on television to the Internet.

DoubleClick commissioned Nielsen//NetRatings and IMS to develop these marketer case studies using their WebRF tool. This customized tool enables cross media planning, extending traditional reach and frequency data into online advertising. Additionally, the study used MRI data, which provides demographic and general cross-media behavioral information to explain the media consumption patterns within Gross Rating Points (GRPs), the standard metric for measuring television campaign effectiveness. Custom media planning scenarios were created for each marketer, assessing shifts in reach and frequency across media, that resulted from increasing the Internet’s share of advertising investment.

The study shows that by dividing the campaign target audience into online and offline segments, the online portion of the target tends to watch less television, be younger, more affluent, more educated and more likely to be a professional, therefore more desirable to marketers. The study found that by increasing online spend, American Airlines, Subaru and Kraft could increase reach of light television viewers.

American Airlines Can Increase Reach By More Than 3 Million Consumers To reach American Airlines’ target audience, business and leisure travelers aged 25-54 with incomes of over $60,000, their advertising agency, Temerlin McClain, primarily used spot TV and cable augmented by newspapers. In addition, in contrast to the other campaigns in the study, a relatively high percentage of the media mix was already devoted to online (5%). In comparison to the offline target audience, the online target audience was more desirable, since they were younger, with a higher income, and watched television infrequently. In order to increase reach among its target audience, a planning scenario was developed which increased online spending from 5% to 15%. This lead to the following results:

— More than 3 million additional consumers were reached due to the increase in online spend, revealing a reach increase of 3.2 points from 61.1% to 64.3% of the target audience.

— Among light-to-medium television users (the more desirable portion of the target), GRPs increased from 34.9 to 44.1.

“With the increase in reach of over 3 million users and the fact that light TV users’ frequency exposure increased, the results of this cross-media study clearly show a way to more effectively reach portions of our target audience through an appropriate online allocation. This will give the media buy better ‘load balance’,” said Rob Britton, Managing Director, Advertising, American Airlines.

A 7% Increase in Subaru’s Online Spend Would Lead To An Increase In Ad Frequency Exposure Subaru’s advertising campaign was targeted to adults aged 25-54 with incomes of over $60,000. Its online target audience was younger, more educated and were higher income consumers, compared to the offline target audience. In order to increase reach among its target audience, a planning scenario was developed which increased online spending from minimal to 7%. This lead to the following results:

— Among light television users (the most desirable portion of the target), GRPs increased from 75.4 to 78.4.

— Frequency of exposure among light television users increased from 3.98 to 4.11, but declined among heavy television users from 35.6 to 34.3.

“The results showed that by increasing our spend level through a small allocation of online in very targeted placements, we had the opportunity to better balance the frequency among our audience,” said Richard L. Crosson, Vice President, Marketing, Subaru. “Online advertising offers opportunities for highly targeted audience composition, a factor that can no longer be excluded for successful media planning and buying.”

“The study confirms that consumers can no longer be efficiently reached through television alone, highlighting online’s important role in the media mix,” said Doug Knopper, Vice President and General Manager, Online Advertising Solutions, DoubleClick. “In the past there has been a disconnect between the way online and traditional media planning and buying has been conducted; today the WebRF tool will allow marketers to bridge this gap.”

Research Study Reveals Kraft Shift In Online Spend Could Increase Reach Among Light TV Users

The Kraft Foods’ Oscar Mayer Lunchables goal was to identify opportunities to extend their reach of women aged 25-54 who have children. The online audience is more likely to be younger, more educated and watch less television than the offline audience. Therefore, in order to increase reach among this audience, a planning scenario was developed which showed that increasing online spending from 0% to 15% could lead to the following results:

— Overall increase in reach of the intended audience (from 83% to 87%) due to the campaign’s focus on mothers. Studies have shown that women with children are heavy Internet users.

— Among light television users (the more desirable portion of the intended audience), GRPs increased 7%.

“Since the rate of TV viewing has declined for online users over the last few years, it is essential to our business that we are able to effectively reach the right audience so that our media planning and buying initiatives are as successful as possible,” said Carole Walker, Director eCommunications, Advertising and Strategy, Kraft Foods North America. “Looking beyond GRPs, and incorporating media usage data into the mix will continue to be part of our business plan as we look to increase our return-on-investment.”

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