It’s 9.12 on a Thursday evening and I’m leaning back on my sofa watching one of my favorite programs, CSI on CBS.
Scenario 1: I see an ad for Gap on TV. I immediately jump up, get dressed into some warm wintery gear and sprint out to my car in order to drive like a bat out of hell to my nearest Gap store to purchase whatever it was that Willy Nelson was wearing.
Probability of occurring: Extremely Low to non-existent (due to the fact I have a TiVo, don’t have a car and Gap would be closed).
Scenario 2: 12.48pm on a Friday. I’m sitting at my pod (I hear this is the politically correct term nowadays) on the Internet and I see an ad for Gap highlighting its new spring range of business casual ware. The retailer is also offering a free gift on purchases over $100 and there’s a handy store locator and map tool to get me quickly to my nearest store.
Probability of occurring: Higher than Scenario 1.
In scenario 1, the difference between message exposure and potential conversion is at the very minimum 15 to 18 hours. The reality is that for this to happen, plenty of additional exposures would be required during that same evening’s programming. A more likely lag would be in the region of days or even weeks. Part of the reason why this happens is because of the human nature of forgetfulness. The forgetfulness factor partially explains why increased frequency is necessary in order to resonate and stick in prospects’ minds.
In scenario 2, however, the potential (and I stress potential) minimum lag between exposure and conversion could theoretically be determined to be minutes.
More importantly, the implication here is that the Web’s ability to target messaging at a time and place that is contextually relevant to the user is unmistakably a sweet spot and best practice. And in doing so, this best practice becomes a clear and profound proof point and support for the Web’s inclusion and use in a typical media mix by demonstrating how the Internet can do its part to help build businesses: through immediacy.
“Time-sensitive targeting and the notion of immediacy are quite important, in that they are examples of how Web advertising can be made even more efficient and effective,” says Doug Weaver, principal of the Upstream Group.
Scot McClernon, EVP Sales for CBSMarketWatch.com, concurs. “Quite simply it makes sense to reach your target audience as close to their moment of purchase as possible -- the Web now rounds out the opportunities to do that. To some degree it's very similar to traditional in that McDonalds sponsors in the morning before lunch, Budweiser in the afternoon before happy hour.”
Completing the trio of wisdom is Derek Hewitt, interactive marketing consultant. “Relevance sells. We already know that content and contextual relevance make a huge difference to the branding effect of an online message. So does timing. If we're going to fish where the fish are, we should learn from fishermen. Few of them bother to go out at midday, when the fish are disinterested. It's way more productive to focus all your casts at dawn or dusk when the feeding frenzy starts. Better to sell beer or movie tickets on a Friday night than a Monday morning.”
Immediacy is thus contingent on the specific nuances and characteristics of both the vertical in question and specific marketing goals that need to be achieved in the communication’s process. This being said, the means to help deliver against this best practice hold true for the most part, in a cross-industry fashion and across multiple marketing objectives.
Instant Messaging is one way to drive home immediacy. Search is another. E-mail is a third. However, at the top of this list is day-parting.
The OPA has been pretty much at the forefront of the day-parting delegation, which works hand-in-hand with the at-work imperative and opportunity that I outlined in a previous showcase article.
McClernon is a man with a lot at stake in the at-work audience, so it is not surprising how exciting the prospect of immediacy-based targeting is to him. “The studies show over and over that e-commerce is poised to capitalize on this tactic -- that the workplace has an amazing amount of business-to-business as well as retail taking place during the first six hours of the workday. There really needs to be some emphasis placed on the direct aspects here.”
Here are two examples you should be familiar with by now, but nevertheless represent key brand and response uses of this tactic.
As I mentioned last week, Budweiser has sponsored “Happy Hour” every Friday afternoon on CBSMrketWatch. As it turns out, the company has just ended (not renewed as reported last week) it’s eight-quarter sponsorship. And if you look this Friday, you’ll see the new sponsor in this in-demand slot. No prizes for guessing which category.
Targeting prospects around lunchtime laid the foundation for KFC’s integrated effort. This tactic helped the Web overdeliver feet through the door, relative to the budget that was allocated against online advertising.
Here’s a third example: On February 10, Sun Microsystems roadblocked Forbes.com for four hours to promote Scott McNealy's Webcast speech announcing Sun's Network Computing launch. The right target/short window resulted in tremendous viewership of the stream.
These examples are three of many that underscore the promise of minimizing the lag between exposure and conversion as an inevitable tactical means to the sales end.
“This is a powerful concept provided we tie it to more than simple click-based conversions,” muses Weaver. “A Stouffer’s ad running at 3 pm with recipe suggestions or description of a great instant dinner could have huge impact on sales, which would almost certainly not coincide with any interaction with the ad itself.”
So where are we as an industry in terms of incorporating a working day-parting methodology into our toolboxes (knowing full well that we still haven’t figured out yet how to count an impression!)?
"I'd say we're in very early stages of understanding the value of online day-parting,” voices Hewitt, former Global VP, Interactive Marketing for Philips Electronics. “The potential for day-parting is there. In reality, it requires intensive ad server management. Most ad departments I know of are too stretched to handle the discipline of precise optimization of day-parts. The metrics can also be fuzzy except in e-commerce applications.”
So is day-parting a reality today? “Yes and no,” fences Weaver. “It can certainly be done but not enough publishers have made it a technical priority. Then again, not enough advertisers have stepped up saying they need it and would be willing to pay a premium.”
“Impressions should be bought, sold and valued based on audience relevancy, and given the right circumstances, an at-work impression is worth significantly more", argues McClernon.
So buyers take note. The facilitation of widespread Immediacy targeting will come at a price. However, it would seem that the value associated with being the last word en route to the all-important purchase may very well be worth the premium.
