A roundtable discussion at the iMedia Brand Summit Monday uncovered challenges marketers face in developing and measuring online branding campaigns.

As more dollars move into interactive marketing budgets, new ways to brand are gaining strength. Full-page takeovers, video, immersed experiences, partnership sponsorships, viral campaigns and now even search are driving brand metrics through the roof. But as was uncovered during a roundtable discussion, many marketers still don't have branding as a marketing goal when it comes to their online efforts.

When asked by moderator Pam Stein, CEO of Charlotte's Web Marketing, what the three biggest challenges are regarding branding online, the two brands at the table -- a financial services company and a greeting card firm -- said the issue is that they are judged and provided budget based on acquisition alone, and therefore don't have the motivation or tools to implement and measure branding efforts.

When Stein asked them how they have tried changing higher-ups' minds on the subject, one suggested you try growth in other areas, and make enough money to test things.

The major barrier to buy-in from the top is they can't see a direct correlation between online branding efforts and in-store sales.

Stein asked for possible solutions to this problem.

Andrew Wesley, director of business development for Blackfoot Inc., pointed out that traditional large branders have relied on statisticians and modeling for years while engaging in TV advertising. He said online people need to take that knowledge and apply it to the online world. But agencies are dropping the ball in doing this, he said, and are doing their clients an injustice.

Brent Herd with Advertising.com said some clients are having success with ACNielsen's Homescan panel product, which can track offline sales with an online campaign using barcode technology and registration data.

Others at the table agreed that this is a step in the right direction, and makes the most sense for CPGs, but it is still panel based, providing challenges of not true offline conversions.

Blackfoot's Wesley shared how his company has helped client British Airways segment customers into those who saw online ads that were branding focused, those who saw only direct response ads and those who saw both, and then measured conversion rates and other factors. Those who saw both converted three or four times more than those who saw one or the other. The metrics are helping the company determine optimal frequency of each type of ad for optimal response.

Moving beyond online's direct affect on conversions, Stein asked the question, how can online branding complement offline efforts?

People mentioned the P&G partnership with "Survivor," Mitsubishi's "SeeWhatHappens" campaign and the Jerry Seinfeld American Express commercials as examples of how interesting integrated concepts can be, and how adding online components makes them trackable.

Stein asked for other good examples in which a company has strengthened a brand through online media.
 
The table agreed the entertainment industry has traditionally done the best job with this with its trailers, screen takeovers and rich media ads that "come out of the screen," ala "The Incredible Hulk" ad several years ago.

Someone mentioned that Blockbuster, with a crumbling business, is currently saving itself through online media by being "everywhere online."

And of course, Apple was cited as the brand that "knocks it out of the park every time." The reason: basic, attractive color schemes, collateral everyone recognizes and smart repurposing of assets.

Stein's final question was how do you define/measure success online?

In unison, the table said a Dynamic Logic study.

But Wesley added this insight: "You have to look at it all together," he said. "If you look at silos, you're missing the boat. If you're not looking at your data integrated, you might be making bad decisions."

Dawn Anfuso is senior editor, iMedia Connection. Read full bio.

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