The VP, director of media convergence with over a decade of media planning experience, warns advertisers not to pigeonhole this industry into the traditional media box.

Jeff Minsky is vice president, director of media convergence at RappDigital, the interactive arm of direct marketing company Rapp Collins. Minsky has more than a decade of media planning, with expertise in print, television, radio, newspapers, and out-of-home media. Some of his interactive accounts include IBM, Kodak, Hyatt Hotels, and Southwestern Bell Communications. Minsky talked to iMedia Connection recently to give his views on the direction of the interactive marketing industry and suggestions for its improvement.

Meet Jeff at the iMedia Summit in New Mexico next week.

iMedia Connection: What's one of the most successful campaigns you've executed recently, and what made it successful?

Minsky: A Norelco promotion with CNN/Sports Illustrated that focused around the company's Advantage Shaver. The goal was not only brand awareness, but to see if we could prove contextual relevancy-creative that's more in-line with the page on which it's appearing. There's no disconnect between what the user's looking for in terms of editorial, and what they're seeing in terms of advertising. We took full ownership of the page, three ad units being counted as one impression. We were fortunate that Norelco is a fairly well known brand. But luxury shavers, in general, are a low involvement category with low click-throughs. We focused away from product advertising to lifestyle advertising to generate more interest, and without a doubt it worked.

iMedia Connection: What measurements did you use to deem it a success?

Minsky: We've got a brand tracking study in place, but no results yet. We also do back-end tracking, but we're not at that point on this particular campaign. On a click-through basis, the results were five-times greater than the results from the rest of the campaign.

iMedia Connection: What sort of new models can we expect in the future?

Minsky: A greater acceptance of back-end tracking, and sites realizing that back-end servers may tell them a lot about their Web sites, but not necessarily about their advertising. While we'll see a continuation of cost-per models, we'll also see a swing back into the branding model based not just on how many people clicked and purchased immediately, but on the longer-term effects on sales as well.

iMedia Connection: Why is it better for a traditional marketer to go with an interactive agency or direct marketing company than to advertise-direct with publishers OR take the entire workload in-house?

Minsky: Traditional marketers should definitely utilize their current agency for interactive. They should leverage all media. Why would they want to take it in-house? They would accomplish one-tenth of what an agency could accomplish. Agencies have the advantage of knowing the latest technology, of having the ability to not hyper-focus on one or two buys but at the bigger picture, of looking at the economy-of-scales, especially when it comes to traffic and reporting optimization. Also, we are the dispassionate party, the one who makes judgment on science and on intuition.

iMedia Connection: What remains the industry's biggest stumbling block?

Minsky: The perception that this is just another media tool. It's something completely different from anything that has ever existed, because of its interactivity and fragmentation. Therefore, clients tend to go back to what they know best. And they keep on forgetting that this is a one-to-one medium, not a network medium. I'm concerned about the industry moving toward GRP, precisely because of that. In the end, it may end up pigeonholing this industry back into the traditional media box.

iMedia Connection: Is there a sane way to do CPA so everyone wins?

Minsky: Sure, but the inherent problem with CPA is that it gives publishers every incentive to go to large-margin products and stay away from packaged goods or smaller products. There is a way, but only with certain products. If you do it, that means the advertiser has to realize it's not an advertising deal but a channel deal.

iMedia Connection: Is there enough branding research to satisfy clients? If not, what needs to be done?

Minsky: There's never enough research, but there is some good research. There have been enough studies to show that the Internet can brand. What I find disheartening is the news that bigger is better. We still have a good percent of 468, and you have people selling 120-90, and we know that they don't do anything.

iMedia Connection: What are your clients' reservations about spending more money for interactive media?

Minsky: When every dollar is being watched, and every dollar has to provide an ROI, it's not about what they don't what to spend on the Internet, it's about what they can't spend, period. Some of the reservations are based on mixed message from agencies. You also can't fall below the threshold of television advertising because your reach frequency will be ineffective.

iMedia Connection: How can agencies encourage their clients to keep up with the reported increase in consumer media consumption?

Minsky: Keep the clients educated. The biggest issue in terms of spending is on the arms of the syndicated research companies. They do not provide quintile analyses of interactive usage. Unfortunately, the studies don't break it out at this point. If we had this information to provide clients, I think that would go a long way.