Which agency integrates print and digital?

Integrated media planning - using print media, TV, radio, direct marketing and online- depends to some extend of the way agencies are organised. I came across an interesting point-of-view from Giles Rhys Jones. He points out that the digital agency should be able to handle all aspects of the communication job: PR, advertising and DM.
Today though, many digital agencies exist next to traditional advertising, public relations and direct marketing agencies offering through-the-line brand activities. The role of print media is obviously better understood by this group of agencies, than by the pure digital agencies.

Traditional media consumption by Internet users

New research from Ketchum and USC Annenberg among Internet users (18+) in the USA shows the mixed media use and the dominant position of TV and local news. The table shows the evolution over the last three years.

Forty percent less budget, same effect

Kobalt presented research that indicates that brand owners can do with 40 percent less media budget while still obtaining the same result. With the analysis of data of thousand + campaigns the media agency concludes that cutting away the waste and advertise in a more selective way will result in a decrease of the TV budget of 5-20 percent. The online and radio budget can decrease with 10-20 percent and outdoor even up till 40 percent. Print is already very selective, cost can only be reduced by 5-10 percent. Managing Director Beijer of Kobalt adds that for FMCG's 76 percent of the total effect is derived from only 23 percent of the media target group. Time to make bold changes, but the marketing and advertising world is slow. And of course this piece of research calls for other research to confirm such dramatic changes.
Maybe another figure will make marketers and advertisers change their mind. Also in The Netherlands the number of "No Brochures" mailbox stickers has increased dramatically. Last year 14.6 percent of all Dutchmen did have such a sticker, an increase of almost 10 percent. On average every family receives 34 brochures and folders per week. Consumers are probably reacting on the overload of brochures, folders, flyers and door-to-door newspapers.
Both pieces of research call for a more personalised approach. This will probably be more expensive per contact, but also more effective because more relevant. Today's media options offer plenty of possibilities to become more personal in advertising.

Google to take lead in media integration

Google announced it will introduce a broad new strategy that will help advertising agencies to plan, buy and manage all types of media. At the AAAA Media Conference, Google's advertising and commerce president Tim Armstrong announced that Google will enable media planners to manage mixes of off-line ad online media. This so-called "Dashboard" will automate a difficult task for today's planners and buyers.
It is striking to notice that a company that started to influence the entire media scene only a few years ago, is now taking the high ground in this most-discussed subject. The discussion is not only about comparable measurement of online advertising but also about the dominant role of media agencies vs. creative agencies. And Google obviously want to play a role in this latter discussion as well.

New strong evidence for magazine effectiveness in media mix variants

When magazines are added to a mix of online and television advertising purchase intention increases with 7% (vs TV and online 5.6%), brand favourability increases with 7.3% compared to 4.5% with TV and online. On other brand metrics as aided brand awareness and advertising awareness the effect of adding magazines is important but less impressive.
Recent research of 32 cross-media campaigns across ten categories by Dynamic Logic (a Millward Brown research company) provides strong evidence for the use of a mix of different media. And the important role magazines play in the effectiveness of advertising investments. Magazine effectiveness represent for example 62 % of the combined effect on brand favourability. The research also shows the limited value of online advertising on the five metrics. The incremental effect of the online investment tops at 22% of the combined effect.
This is the second analysis made by Dynamic Logic, I have reported on earlier research (17 cross-media campaigns) in the Sappi publication Life with Print. Comparing both pieces of research the striking decline of effectiveness of online media becomes apparent. Online advertising' share topped at 38% on the brand favourability metric.
It seems that this new research -based upon more cases- includes the effects of diminished newness and therefore attention of online media.

Magazines increase web traffic

The MPA (Magazine Publishers of America) published a week ago further proof of the effects of integration of media. I've written about integration before, the various pieces of research confirm with strong evidence that magazines boost traffic to websites. And have a strong effect on purchase intention. The effect on website visits, after having seen an automotive ad in magazines, was strongest, traffic almost doubled. Online media need offline media to generate traffic was confirmed by a survey of BIGresearch. Magazines scored best among the Top 10 media to trigger online search, TV scored second and newspapers third. Internet advertising scored only a ninth place at slightly more than half the score of magazines. Magazine brands are strong brands as another study showed. After having watched an online video ad on a series of sites, consumers turn most to magazine sites for further information, significantly more often than going to online portals.

Integrating media and the interaction between media is making media planning a lot more complex and interesting. Understanding the role of print media in this new media landscape goes beyond readership surveys. Tools need to be put in place to trace the path consumers follow after reading.

The paradox of choice in media planning

Media planners have a difficult job, the number of options to "touch" consumers explode. Consumers are confronted with advertising all day long, and creativity is put to the extreme to reach and start a dialogue with them. A campaign in Manhattan for example used HDTVs and Bluethooth technology integrated in busshelter walls to promote Discovery Channel.
Google, Yahoo, MSN and AOL dominate online ad spend in the USA -they have 92% of all spend, traditional media brands go online and online media brands start off-line, the number of television channels and pay per view options increase rapidly, television, video, music and games can be viewed and listened to via different platforms. The choice is inflating.
And the planner has not (yet) the tools to measure all of these new media the way he can with traditional media.
Touching consumers is getting more complicated, less reliable, less effective, more trial-based and above all more expensive. That might explain why certain advertisers decide to stick to the tried and trusted media. Unilever and Heineken announced some time ago that they would do so and recently Gini - a drinks brand from the Orangini Group - also announced that it would shift its media budgets away from television. Television simply requires too much budget to be effectively seen by consumers.
Question is whether the online advertising opportunities will not be doomed to the same scenario. The enormous amount of digital data as estimated by the IDC/EMC research this week illustrates the difficult task of the planner. How can he select the most cost efficient places to promote his clients brands? Today he does so by not choosing - he stays with Google, Yahoo, MSN or AOL.