Forty
years ago, television was "new media"; fifteen years ago, cable television
was the same medal and caught respect of advertisers. Now so does Internet.
When
television audiences migrate to Internet, media plans follow, because the goal
of any brand is to reach target audiences effectively and efficiently. According
to a Forrester Research report, 78% of respondents admitted giving up watching
television to the computer (Figure 1). Graphic, Visualization and Usability
Center of The Georgia Institute of Technology conducted an Internet study. The
findings indicated that 37% of respondents stated that they ¡§use the Web instead
of watching TV on a daily basis.¡¨ Many studies pointed out a fundamental shift
in media habits (Hyland, n.d.).
Figure 1
Predictions
for online advertising revenues in 2001 and beyond differ to varying degrees,
but they do concur that Web advertising will grow every year - although not as
fast as its initial vertical incline.
Myers
Reports predicts ad revenues will increase nearly 70 percent in 2001, with a
growing share of the ad dollars coming from e-businesses. In 2000, 31 percent of
online ad revenues were from e-commerce, compared to eight percent in 1998
(Figure 2). This growth is still very impressive, when compared to the
advertising industry as a whole.
Figure 2
"Online
advertising's death is greatly exaggerated," says a Forrester
Research study based on interview with fifty-nine industry bigwigs including
AOL, MSN
and IDG. Advertisers plan to double online spending by 2003, signaling a 508
percent increase in between 2000 and 2005, the report says. Traditional advertisers¡Xnot
dot-commers¡Xwill "embrace and drive" 84 percent of digital marketing
in the United States by 2005, the report said.
Now
old media revenues withers as mainstream advertisers storm the Web. Instead of
stuffing junk mail into the mailbox outside your house, they send it directly to
your mailbox. And companies get smarter, choosing sites that take better aim at
their potential customers. Therefore, we can predict that online advertising
will be growing in the future.
Web advertising has a distinguishing feature¡Xinteractivity. Consumers expect to be treated as individuals, with their preferences catered to. They control the different ways that information was presented. Also, they control information order and the length of time. On the other hand, marketers customize the messages to the consumers. Interactive advertising provides benefits to both consumers and marketers. Therefore, interactive advertising is a win-win advertising.