September 4, 2007 - by Katie Chatfield
Return on Innovation
One of the most difficult questions for brands is: I know I need to be online...but how much do I need to spend?
Of course there is always a need for hard numbers, particularly around how much do you need/ can you get away with shifting online to get results.
A great question to ask is:
- if you took 5% away from the ATL TVC media budget
- what would you need to spend online to create the same reach and frequency to the conquest audience?
For one of our clients, bellamyhayden was recently able to evidence:
- that we could gain almost 3 times the exact target audience we needed to reach to make up the budget shift
- with less than half the budget
- delivering 4 times the time with brand
- and articulate the product benefit in a way the would also increase packaging recognition in channel.
Trying new channels needn't be a huge risk, and one of the underexplored benefits of digital engagement is the insights that can be gained.
For example at KraftFoods.com, the strategy is to empower the consumer with relevant information such as recipes and nutrition information; to demonstrate the values and attributes of Kraft's brands in interactive ways that can't be achieved offline; to involve consumers in the brands, and to help them integrate Kraft's brands into their everyday lives.
One involvement initiative that targets "millennials," young adults born between 1979 and 1994, is the Kraft Cooking School. Since many of these young adults haven't learned to cook at home, Kraft addresses their need with on-demand videos that explain basic tasks and methods needed to cook a meal. As many people in this group are online, it's an ideal way to reach them and involve them in Kraft's brands.
Insights Kraft wants to learn, and address, about its consumers include things such as which consumer behaviors Kraft wants to change or reinforce and whether the experience should be emotional or functional.
Kathleen Olvany Riordan, VP of global digital marketing strategy at Kraft Foods, explains: "In traditional advertising, the rule has always been 'think of one thing you want to say.' With digital marketing, it's 'think of one thing you want the consumer to do. It's not whether we gain the consumer's attention -- it's whether they give it to us."