The
Evolution of Web Advertising:
How
the Field of Advertising Has Found Its Way onto the Internet
by Mireille Shebbein
In the Beginning…
In the beginning, there were print advertisements,
television promotions, and radio broadcasts
elevating a certain product, design, religion, anything that needed a good
deal of advertising. Marketers and researchers invested millions of dollars
in advertising schemes to push for the product or deal, just so it could
sell on the market. Everybody who knew anything about the market and advertising
knew that these three entities were an essential step to take if the product
they were going to invest in was going to sell. Between newspapers, radio
broadcasts, and television sets, the advertisers’ dreams were becoming
reality. The spectacular launches of their products/designs catapulted
into unknown territory. Television itself was probably the most favored
entity and is still the most popular way to advertise and publicize something.
The key ingredient here with television: billions of people are watching
television everyday, and once the commercial is up and running for that
item, the audience increases and the interest of that product sky-rocketed.
The result was a booming economy based on high-cost advertisement. Are
we lured in so easily by the lush decorations of the marketing designs?
Persuasive Advertisement
Grocery stores, local malls, restaurants, radio and
television commercials- all of these forms of businesses have one form
or another of advertisement and it is used essentially to attract publicity,
customers, and in turn- sales. Grocery stores advertise low prices
to reel in customers and assure them that this grocery chain has
the best bargains for groceries. Local retailers will try to attract
their clients by promoting the latest trend and saying that it is so
luxurious that you must indulge in its comfort. They are fundamentally
persuading you, the consumer, that their merchandise is unsurpassed
and you should shop there. Furthermore, restaurants will advertise
that they have the finest food and that their great establishment is the
mostdelightful
place to eat as well as the most appetizing. Again, another form
of advertisement. Even commercials have strategically chosen certain successful
actors and ideal settings to promote efficiently a product or an
item. In this trade, advertisers want to induce the notion that this entity
is powerful,exclusive, works like magic and even is
guaranteed.
These catchy phrases have found their way onto popular search engines and
prominent web sites. They are transcendent of the new way to advertise
on the Internet.
Internet Innovation
| " Web
Advertising has exploded and grasped our attention like nothing else." |
|
With the advent of the new technological era, the
entire human species is sitting in the front row seat of the most spectacular
phenomenon to ever happen. The computer age is here, and the power is within
this magnificence. The computer hype began in the mid to late 1990s, when
Bill Gates created this masterpiece now knows as "Windows." Before that
though, there were a few geniuses in the Silicon Valley area of the West,
and in this small community, an explosion happened. Not so much a conflagration
with fire, but a blaze of interest that sparked an inferno. The fuel of
this computer- interest inferno was the mind; the minds of these geniuses
who knew that computers would catapult our world into territory unheard
of before. Years of hard- work and research finally paid off when the Internet
was discovered, and the world has never been the same. E-mail, web searches,
search engines, home pages, commerce online, web broadcasts, web advertising.
These capabilities are all allowed via the Internet. Web advertising has
exploded and grasped our attention like nothing else.
Web Advertisement
Web advertisement is a simple strategy that takes
an old idea and attaches it into a more attractive packaging: the Internet.
Web advertising is the new way to endorse a company product. By using high
tech, ingenious software such as Shockwave, Java, and Enliven, advertising
is projecting its way as being one of the most popular and lucrative paths
to take as a marketer and investor. The web sites will help promote company
names in a whole new fashion that is unprecedented. Its battle is not against
old predecessors such as the radio and television; instead, its goal is
to renovate the current approach taken in advertising. "The functional,
entertaining and compelling ads are helping to brand and drive direct response,
often without the user having to click through to an advertiser’s Web site"
(Anonymous 21). Web advertising particularly has transformed our idea and
concept in that it is something new and exciting. People are really looking
for something fresh and innovative; web advertising does just that.
 |
A Three-Step
Method to Success
Like in any other field, advertisers must go through
three stages to successfully win over the advertising- online market. First,
the advertisers must take that initial step in deciding that "yes," they
do want to take this chance at a new way of advertising. "The initial phase—the
deliberation and decision—should focus first on determining whether a firm
may benefit from Web advertising. Specifically, the decision has to be
based on an evaluation of the company’s objectives, the possibility of
reaching identified target markets using the medium, and the perceived
need to meet the competition headlong, or leapfrog, over it, and the anticipated
benefits of such a strategy" (Wossen 39). The job of advertisers is to
plan a market strategy.
Should they decide to carry out a promotion a certain way, they are taking
a chance at succeeding or failing. It is an enormous chance to take for
both parties. For the company, it is a large leap of faith in the advertisers
because if the ad campaign is a flop, and a publicized one at that, then
the company name is tainted and may be hard to salvage its sanctity. The
advertisers have to be sure if they want to take on a case because should
they fail, their name may also be tainted and no other company might want
to do business with them again. Furthermore, they must investigate thoroughly
the boundaries of the project and what they must do efficiently to profitably
win at a marketing campaign. It all depends on what the company has in
mind as the spirit of the campaign. What do they foresee in their vision
of their product? Who is the discourse community or audience that will
be targeted? These questions and many more must be fully analyzed
to see what is going to be done in the advertisement, and how it will be
executed.
The second strategy for successful web advertising
is to make sure the site will lure in the customers and the sales. "No
matter how attractive or jazzy-looking, if the Web site does not pull in
visitors, the effort is for naught. The trick is to make people—albeit
the right kinds of people-- curious about site. Some unique features of
the Web make this task difficult. It does not have prime-time shows or
unique programming features. Some look for entertainment on the Web, but
there is no comprehensive listing of what is being featured where— no TV
guide for the Web. Even avid users have to be pulled in from the outside
either through other sites, word of mouth, or traditional media. Advertising
one’s addresses on a regular basis in both print and broadcast media is
one practical way to attract customers" (40). The advertisers have to decide
precisely who the target audience will be, and then they must work accordingly.
The degree of the lure and seduction of the advertisement depends highly
on who the demographics are.
The layout of the banner
is also a key element when considering how to attract these customers.
If there are too many people on the site at the same time viewing the same
feature, then it will get too cluttered and jumbled, thus producing a delay
in the speed of the browser. The best thing to remember when designing
the banner is to keep it simple and to the point because this allows the
speed of the browser to still be fast and the banner will still be attractive,
but more in a direct kind of way.
The third way of dealing with web advertising
is the "integration" phase. This is the most interesting phase because
it incorporates all existing media- related entities, along with the Web.
Researchers say that it is essential to also use these established methods
to help advertise online even more. "Web ads need [to integrate other marketing
communications] to create synergy with other media. So far, perhaps because
of the emergent nature of the technology and the decision of companies
to [do] it alone, bypassing ad agencies, the focus given to an integrated
approach appears minimal. Displaying Web addresses in advertisements is
better than nothing at all" (42). By using this method, companies will
integrate all possible vehicles to launch a successful advertisement campaign.
Web advertising is starting to emerge, and it will only explode into a
huge field when it develops fully. In the meantime, advertisers are using
all elements of persuasion to help support web advertising.
A
Valuable Vehicle to Success
Web advertising is a whole new way to play in the
marketing field: "The potential to reach so many diverse markets makes
the Web immensely attractive for global advertising. In fact, Web advertising
is touted as already significant and growing. As firms large and small
rush "to have presence in cyberspace," the number of World Wide Web sites
is increasing at an unprecedented rate. So is the number of consumers attracted
to it" (33). Times are changing and society is trying to keep up with the
ways of the world. Advertising on the web is available to the entire world.
"Traditional media differ from the Web in their accessibility, market size,
and the critical mass they reach. TV and radio ads tend to concentrate
on a well-defined geographic domain.
On the Web, however, the market could well be
global, and the market segment less well defined. The contrast is the highest
between the Web and traditional media when it comes to the potential for
interactivity. Still another difference is in the penetration level of
each medium and, consequently, the clutter that accompanies the specific
medium" (36). People in India can visit libraries in France, while children
in Ireland can shop at the toy stores in New York. While their jolly hours
of shopping and surfing over the Internet are taking place, brilliant advertisers
are taking their shots at marketing success by promoting whatever their
product is at the top of the screen. The promotion of the item would be
in a rectangular banner that illuminates, sparks interest, and, well, sells.
However, it sells in a different way, a way that is dissimilar from the
ordinary newspaper ads in black-and white, or the television ads with the
same idea for a commercial. This way is different; its new, its futuristic.
Everything else is done online, why not web advertising? A big difference
between advertising on the Internet than advertising on the aforementioned
ways is that it is a sign of the futuristic world we are in. It is advertising
thorough a computer screen.
Another powerful point that supports web advertising
is that the viewer and advertiser are creating a relationship with one
another through this new process of advertisement. What happens with web
advertising is a bit different than what happens with regular advertisement.
When someone is on a major search engine such as Yahoo
or Lycos, there are advertisements
at the top of the screen that promote a certain object or ideal. In any
case, whenever the browser clicks on the banner to find out more information
about the item, then the creators of the banner ask them a few questions.
Questions such as name, location, hobbies, and occupation are just some
of the few. These questionnaires allow the marketer to research who the
target demographic audience is. "This kind of targeting is what makes Web
advertising potentially more attractive tan old-media advertising. Whereas
TV and print advertising shoot for swaths of the population, Web advertising
offers companies the potential to deliver an ad to exactly the kind of
person they want to reach" (Brown 28). Once the name is discovered, and
the interests are acknowledged, then the marketer has a substantial amount
of information about the person and they can send them "information" about
other items that the consumers may like. This creates a repertoire between
the advertiser and the consumer. "The Web has the potential to overcome
at least one limitation if traditional broadcast media lack of access on
demand. The user can click on any Web site, access its home page, and browse
through layer upon layer of information at any time. No longer is the ad
presented only when the sender desires. Once the information is stored
and updated to make relevant, the user decides on both the extensiveness
of the search and the particular attributes or issues pursued. This makes
the Web the most convenient information source for those within its link"
(Wossen 36). This is one way of how web advertising is really allowing
the world to establish different relationships on the Internet.
A Dimming Light?
Of course, with any new idea that comes around there
is always a certain sense of skepticism involved. Many critics of web advertising
feel that it is not a surefire strategy, which will enhance the revenues
of a certain product. Anti- web advertisers feel that television ads are
such an accustomed ritual, which by deleting them from the face of advertising
is virtually impossible. "The eye- catching vector graphics, which are
produced by animators, are considered to be essential to the growth of
web advertising. The online market, currently at $2 Billion, pales in comparison
to the $50 billion expected to be spent on TV ads this year" (Swartz 30).
This could be one negative aspect of the web advertising. Many critics
are also saying that "web advertising still is a "nice-to-have" and not
a "musthave for marketers" (Krauss 12). However, advocates are saying that
the whole industry online is still growing. It is in its infant stage and
that in time it will be the largest strategic way of advertisement. Once
again, web advertising is not replacing other means of communication—instead,
advertising in general is just expanding onto larger means of publicity.
Million-Dollar Punch
Web advertising is growing so rapidly because of
the ingenuity that it is accompanying with the hype of the computer era.
One way it is gaining recognition and prestige is the revenues it is bringing
in. "In its birth place, the United States, Web advertising is already
a two-year-old phenomenon. Advertising revenue estimates range from $20
million for all of 1996 to $157.4 million just for the first nine months
of the year" (33). Web advertising is expanding new horizons of advertising
grounds that are destined for victory. It is continuing to grow and recharge
the world of advertising. The reflection of revenue created through web
advertising is a direct correlation to its elevating success.
Synergistically
Speaking…
The evolution of web advertising has undoubtedly
transformed our world online into a different realm. It is almost unrecognizable
the feats that this new technological revolution has brought forth. Although
web advertising online is not annihilating the old versions of advertisement,
it is using those other means of television, radio, and newspaper ads to
synergistically
work together to enhance the market and boost sales. It is by no means
deleting the other forms of communications from the faces, ears, and eyes
of the consumer. All the methods will work together to transform and shape
the future of advertising. Granted, the web will be the new fashion because
of the popularity and grandeur of the Internet. The other media- related
sources would primarily be the backbone, the identifying link that will
establish the needs of the consumer. However, the web is continuing to
grow at a fast speed. Its existence has personified new means to advertise
by.
A Continuing Charge
Web advertising is still in its infant stage and
it will take a few more years to really see the impact it will have on
the economy. Right now, it is still a fresh idea that is blossoming beautifully.
Along with television, radio, and newspapers, advertising on the Internet
will all prove to be successful, lucrative, and surely beneficial in the
long run. It is hard to say exactly which powerful force will beat out
the other. However, one thing is definitely for sure: web advertising is
a strong evolutionary stage, and has surely proven itself to do very well
over the Internet. Its transformation is continuing to grow and it is only
a matter of a few years until the visibility of its fierce reign will show
to be successfully well.
Bibliography
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