I received a text the other day from the CEO of a leading U.S. advertising agency asking me a simple question: “Peter, can you send me proof points for why digital advertising works for brand marketers?”
It turns out that she was in an annual review session with senior members of her consumer packaged goods (CPG) client, including those delightful folks from procurement, and one had asked, “Does digital advertising really work for brand advertisers?”
I was at first taken aback by this question; of course digital builds brands. Why else would the world’s leading CPG companies be investing so heavily?
Unilever increased its digital advertising spending by 40 percent last year, allocating about 35 percent of its U.S. budget to digital, while Procter & Gamble spends a third of its U.S. advertising budget on digital media.
After my initial shock, I set myself to the task of providing definitive proof to my friend. I am summarizing the proof points herewith, to aid all those who find themselves similarly questioned.
1. Digital Advertising Drives Sales & ROI
Nielsen completed more than 800 studies over the past seven years, collaborating with more than 300 CPG brands and 80 companies to measure the correlation between online advertising and offline consumer purchases.
Nielsen concluded that brands can experience a return of almost three dollars in incremental sales for every dollar spent in online advertising that has been precisely delivered using purchase-based information.
Read the full article here.
