Interep & Cybereps Host Integrated Marketing Workshop.

Interep and Cybereps, an Interep Company, recently sponsored a workshop entitled, “What’s In Integrated Marketing,” in Boston, for members of the marketing and advertising community.

The workshop focused on uncovering the trends and exploring the myths surrounding integrated marketing campaigns and cross-platform media selling. Keynote speakers included Geoff Ramsey, CEO of eMarketer, a leading provider of Internet statistics and trend data, and John Parikhal, CEO of Joint Communications, a global leader in media strategy and consumer trends.

Both Parikhal and Ramsey agreed that the current marketing environment, including widespread Internet access, has made it increasingly difficult to effectively impact consumer behavior. Mr. Parikhal noted that the average person is exposed to 30,000 message impressions each day, a far different environment than baby-boomers – the majority of today’s marketing executives – were raised in. Parikhal stated, “One of the biggest marketing myths today is that someone is out there waiting to hear your message. The fact is, people are actively using technology to avoid hearing from your through the use of TIVO, answering machines, remote controls, and list of other means.” His presentation suggested that the answer lies in creating a “micro-mass” media campaign, that “works the media overlaps, especially radio and the Internet.”

Mr. Ramsey’s presentation focused on the changing media environment, particularly with regard to the proliferation of Internet usage and on-line marketing. Some of the facts on Internet marketing cited by Ramsey included:

– There are over 3.6 million active websites, but the average user visits 14 per month.

– According to eMarketer, last year marketers spent $7.1 billion for on-line advertising, with $7.6 billion predicted for 2001. This figure jumps to an estimated $20.5 billion in 2004.

– In 2001, on-line advertising is expected to take 3.1% of total advertising.

– On-line usage is estimated to represent 4.1% of total daily media usage.

– E-commerce, banners, rich media and e-mail marketing each have a distinct set of benefits and limitations.

Mr. Ramsey concluded in his presentation that “the only way to create successful on-line campaigns is by integrating on-line as part of print, television and radio.” He cited a statistic from an Advertising Age 2000 survey of media buyers, sellers and advertisers, saying that 83% believe cross-media packages will be key to future media buying and selling.

Ramsey also presented the following facts on the synergy between radio and Internet advertising:

– 43% of Net users say that they listen to the radio while on-line.*

– 29% of Net users say that they have visited a website as the direct result of hearing a radio ad.*

– 45% of Net users say that they use radio as a source of finding URLs.*

* Source: Arbitron

Deb Durben, President of the Interep Marketing Group, stated, ” ‘Integrated marketing’ has become a catch-phrase in the advertising industry, but most marketers are still a bit confused as to what is entails and how to benefit from it. That’s why we decided to host this workshop.” She continued, “Interep – and now Cybereps, as well – has been developing integrated marketing campaigns for our clients for many years. Because of this experience and the superior results that we have been able to deliver to our clients through cross-platform marketing, we are eager to spread the word to the advertising community.”

The workshop also included a panel focusing on case studies and examples of successful integrated marketing campaigns. Panelists included Greg Smith, Carat Interactive, Jane Steinberg, ABC Radio, Jim Brandt, MP3.com and Kathleen Johansen, Ryan Partnership.