The Kingdom of the Internet

The Kingdom of the Internet

The kingdom was lost

Events accumulate in strange ways. Ben Franklin observed,

For want of a nail the shoe was lost,
For want of a shoe the horse was lost,
For want of a horse the rider was lost,
For want of a rider the battle was lost,
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost,
For want of a nail a kingdom was lost.

If you don't get a good start you may never get anywhere. Advertising can be like that too. For years now, data has shown that a high impact commercial at a 10% rating can achieve about a 4% awareness level. If you spend about 100 times as much money behind it, 1000 TRPs, it can achieve over 80% awareness in reach. However, a low impact commercial might only score a 2% awareness on the first exposure, and no matter how much time, effort and money is put behind it (even over 100 times the money) it will never get over 45% awareness among the general public. Poor start, poor finish.

Media are like that as well. We know the accumulation patterns for exposure to every major medium. We also know how ads are noted and recalled in each and can guess at how those accumulate. And, of course, we know the cost of effective units in each, which allows us to compare the power of each medium at different budget levels. So, here's the rub. Remember the kingdom that was lost…?

Well for now, no matter how much money you spend on the Internet at equal budget levels your commercials are remembered by at least ten times as many people in any other major medium. The Internet doesn't have enough nails to brand the kingdom.

The Internet is inhibited

On a weekly basis, only half the public has access to the Internet. Television reaches 95%, radio and magazines 90% and newspapers roughly 80%. Poor start and one of the major reasons why we don't try to brand most products online.

With time, this inhibitor will disappear, but for now it is a reality we should deal with when we plan media mixes and create performance expectations.

Quick math - don't blink

The cost efficiency for the exposure of a full banner ad on the Internet is roughly $25. Because Internet ads are recalled by from 7-10% of those exposed the recall CPM of banner ads is roughly $300. For $1MM,this translates to a little under 3 ½ MM recall impressions, which in turn results in 17 adult recall TRPs. Seventeen adult TRPs on the Internet buys about a 3% recall reach (sometimes called awareness). By extension, $5MM buys 85 TRPs and 7% and $10MM buys 170 TRPs and about 10% awareness.

Media comparisons

Of course, every major medium has its own set of cpms, recall rates and accumulation patterns. By performing the same quick math on other major media, we develop a table that displays commercial awareness norms for each medium at different budget levels.

Recall reach or awareness norms at different budget levels

Medium/Unit* $1MM $5MM $10MM
Primetime TV 30' =70% 90% 95%
Drivetime Radio 60' = 60% 84% 90%
P4C Magazine = 55% 80% 83%
1/3 pg BW News = 35% 62% 67%
Banner Internet = 3% 7% 10%

*Naturally, if ad units or dayparts changed, relationships would as well.

Put another way, regardless of the budget level, other major media are roughly more than ten times as powerful in terms of reaching consumers with a message that will be remembered. That is why we use Internet advertising for reasons other than branding and why life will become even more interesting when the Internet is integrated with the television set.