Upgrading THE Online Ad Sale

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, March 1, 2001 by Helen Berman

Banners are the equivalent of image ads. They're an eyeball medium--a "quick visual fix," says Easton--and they're generally sold to advertisers who want to introduce a product or spread a wide net. "If we have a new client that's testing the Internet, it's likely that we'll start with a banner campaign for branding, making sure they're reaching as much of our audience as possible," says Adelaide Juguilon, CMP Media Inc.'s online manager for custom media solutions.

Sponsorships, on the other hand, support advertisers who want to make a deeper impression on a more targeted audience. By using text links to microsites, skyscraper banners, or scattered buttons that reinforce the brand name, advertisers can "own" a special section, department or newsletter.

A special upcoming edition of Business Week Online will offer sponsorships for sections on technology, finance and hot companies. The sections, says Shine, "will be completely dynamic and interactive. You can wrap your advertising around [targeted] editorial, and then we'll ask what else you're looking for, whether it's sweepstakes or [other creative]."

Certain other online tools are starting to capture audiences at the narrowest end of the spectrum. Last month, for instance, CDW (Computer Discount Warehouse) tested "procure panels"--interactive banners--on 400 sites on the B2BWorks network. Visitors can click tabs within these "panels" to request catalogs, receive a call or download the CDW tab onto their desktops. Cookie technology then tracks customer behavior to customize the panel. Customers who place an order, for instance, will subsequently receive procure panel options for order tracking.

Audience size, of course, also determines price. Just as in print, the more targeted the online audience, the higher the CPM. BusinessWeek Online, for instance, charges a flat $80 CPM for monthly sponsorships of its sections, such as "Small Business." CMP Media, on the other hand, charges between $40 and $110 CPM, depending on the section and type of ad. Plain banners running throughout the site, in other words, cost about half as much per thousand as, say, a skyscraper banner in a targeted section on electronics.

The Advertised Product

Ever see an automotive ad on the Web without a picture of a car? Certain advertisers--auto, motion picture, fashion--require visuals to sell, and visuals require certain online marketing tools. That's why automotive advertisers are the heaviest users of full-size banner ads, according to a study by AdRelevance.

Retail advertisers--who sell more by brand than by visual--are the heaviest users of microbuttons, which deliver a third of retail ad impressions. Software companies make the most conspicuous use of half-banners; entertainment ads are the biggest users of animation; and consumer goods are fairly evenly spread among all sizes of banners and buttons.

The more sophisticated the product--and, by extension, the audience--the more sophisticated the choice of online advertising. A computer-game marketer, for example, is more likely to want pop-ups, interstitials, or other "rich media" to show off a product to a younger, tech-savvy audience. (See "Rich Media," this page.) But a typical business-to-business manufacturer of steel shelving is likely to pick information over imagery when it comes to online marketing.