“Is the Web a branding or a direct-response medium?” That’s a phrase that ought to make every person in this business cringe at its very utterance. In some circles this question is still fiercely debated, but for the most part, the consensus is that we’re way past this dilemma.
“Branding is key for many advertisers because ideally it leads to purchase,” explains Rene Bell Adams, associate director at StarcomIP. “That's why in most cases, branding and acquisition are difficult to separate, but are rather prioritized objectives of any campaign. I don’t know of many clients who are looking to brand without ever hoping for an initial or a repeat sale.”
Purchase Intent is arguably the key link between branding and response (acquisition). It is the point at which a consumer interest, motivation or preference becomes an actionable and directed likelihood that a purchase will result from the time spent digesting, evaluating and deciding that a defined need can be met through the exchange of hard-earned dollars for utility, value and/or service.
Across the board, we’re consistently witnessing online’s ability to increase the proven key branding metrics, but at the end of the day, isn’t it all about purchase intent?
“I don’t agree that it is all about that,” says Nick Nyhan, founder and president of Dynamic Logic. “It’s about educating consumers to the point where - if in market - their purchase intent would be high. But every metric along that continuum or down that funnel is important depending on where the brand is (in its lifecycle) or where the consumer is (in market or not).”
In other words, purchase intent is both the means to an end (the purchase) and the end of a series of means (points to purchase). Nyhan’s perspective cautions us not to discount those steps, which ultimately facilitate a positive lift in purchase intent.
“Research is key to understanding how the purchase intent metric is affected by an online campaign,” underscores Adams. “Vendors and marketers alike need to fully understand how to measure against the purchase intent metric and need to develop comprehensive campaigns to that end, in order to continue to grow the online arena for this purpose.”
Dynamic Logic’s MarketNorms Database of over 700 campaigns shows that the impact on overall purchase intent is about two points on average. A variety of other factors influences this number, such as ad sizes, audience type, sector, product and brand tenure.
Anything over and above the industry averages is clearly moving in the right direction. Here’s one example of a case study that outperforms the standard.
Since 1996, Purina had created and managed more than 30 branded Web sites supporting its businesses. In 2001, Purina's budget for online advertising was minimal, because the company wasn't sure whether online advertising suited its brand. Purina tapped research firm comScore to determine whether Purina should expand its Web presence to include online advertising. comScore’s charge was to find out which third-party Web sites attracted Purina's target audience of current and potential customers.
ComScore overlaid its online panel of 1.5 million Internet consumers with the Knowledge Networks frequent grocery shopper panel of 20 million households to identify 50,000 consumers whose offline buying habits and Internet usage matched Purina's target audience.
When assessing receptivity and likely response to these placements, research revealed that 36% of those exposed to the ads said they were likely to buy Purina brand dog food in the next three months, compared to 24% of those who did not see the ad – a lift in purchase intent of 50%.
To this end, Nyhan shares some nuggets from the trenches for the market, in particular regarding frequency. “Measuring by frequency indicates whether persuasion metrics like purchase intent and brand favorability plateau or go down as a result of overexposure. Controlled education and teasing, in other words, building frequency over time is the way to go, not yelling repeatedly at people to buy something.”
The Purina case study accentuates this insight, reflecting on the influence of frequency on purchase intent.
“A multi-campaign outlook, as opposed to a one-off effort, stands a better shot at accomplishing lift over time, with consistent tracking in place to ensure maximum lift,” adds Nyhan. “You can’t go from zero awareness to high purchase intent. You have to crawl before you walk and run. If you try to go too fast and too aggressively, you get an x-10 situation: high awareness, some purchase from low hanging fruit, but a lot of irritated consumers who will not be there for your market expansion in the future.”
Finally, Nyhan reminds us that better creative is another vital component in the path to driving purchase intent.
While purchase intent is the cog that ultimately joins branding and response, the paths that lead to and from the bridge that crosses the chasm are equally important.
A negligible lift in purchase intent is not necessarily reflective of the bigger picture. Sizable shifts along the consumer adoption process leading up to intent should be monitored to assess initial lifts. On the flipside, there is still a significant leap from intent to action. What people say they will do and what they actually end up doing can be two completely different things. And for this reason, marketer follow-through to assess the full impact of latent conversion is crucial in order to help gauge the full impact of online marketing programs.
