Read why Visa's director of advertising says online marketing is an essential part of the company's marketing mix.

Visa entered the online advertising game back in 1995, focusing primarily on e-commerce. The Internet was important to Visa because cash wasn't an option on the Internet. Digitally, the brand translates well into cyberspace and the company's e-commerce initiatives proved successful based on its leading marketing share online. Recently the company has begun focusing more of its efforts on supporting the brand online. Whereas before Visa might have wanted someone to click on a banner and use its payment card to purchase a product or service online, today the company also wants to utilize the Internet as simply another advertising medium to help enhance its brand. To learn more about Visa's online branding efforts, iMedia Connection interviewed Jon Raj, the company's director of advertising.

Meet Jon Raj in Amelia Island, Florida next week at the iMedia Brand Summit.

iMedia Connection: How does Visa currently view online marketing?

Raj: It's an essential part of our marketing mix as Visa's marketing philosophy is centered around integration. Our commitment to use integrated campaigns, advertising, event marketing, promotions, direct mail, PR and online advertising to generate awareness is because it creates relevance to our consumers. Specifically online, there is no escaping the tumultuous beginnings of the Internet, but let's keep in mind it is also responsible for allowing people to feel more connected and it has enabled them to shop anytime from any wired device. E-commerce is critical for a brand like Visa. Since cash is not an option on the Internet, "plastic" is the way to pay. Subsequently, the attributes of the brand translate well online.

iMedia Connection: Which specifically are your company's online marketing plans for this year?

Raj: We have several online advertising campaigns throughout the year. As we plan each year we determine what is the best medium to support the product/brand and in many cases online is a part of that mix. Each online campaign has a unique objective with a metric for evaluating the success. Where in the past we concentrated more on e-commerce and direct response we are now also focusing on brand building campaigns. Within these brand campaigns we often try to push the envelope and experiment with different forms of technology, creative and media. Most recently for our new Verified by Visa campaign we used Eyeblaster, Flash and PointRoll to demonstrate the value of this new product. These technologies enabled us to vividly explain in a limited space how VBV opens up a new world for consumers who were previously hesitant to use their payment cards online. The more info we can get to consumers without having to have them leave their destination site the more successful we are. Our objective isn't to disrupt a user's experience but rather to enhance it. We are confident that along with our television and print executions we will be successful in raising awareness of this new product.

iMedia Connection: What about Visa's Olympics campaign?

Raj: Visa supports its sponsorships of the Olympic games through many mediums including online. This year online, we focused primarily on branding efforts as we highlighted our sponsorship of the Games. We feel our sponsorships connect with the passions of fans. We wanted to be able to have large ad units (skyscrapers, etc.) that were rich-media enabled us to really showcase the excitement of the Olympic Games and Visa's involvement. It was not about getting the most numbers of impressions, but rather about getting our message out there in a way that really has an impact.

iMedia Connection: How did online advertising contribute to your company's overall sales goals last year?

Raj: Traditionally, we conduct a tracking study that allows us to monitor how well our advertising is performing, and online is a part of that study. But since the medium is still in its infancy we are still in the early stages of introducing different metrics to measure our success.

iMedia Connection: How does Visa go about measuring brand awareness?

Raj: It really depends on what our objectives are. We have done ad recall testing, pre-/ post-surveys, as well as test/control research to see if we've moved the needle. What we're finding is that we're increasing preference for our brand by advertising online. We've found that supporting many of our sponsorships (including the Olympics, NFL and NASCAR) online has been quite successful due to the fact that many of the passionate fans of these sports are on the Internet and see the Internet as an important part of their lives.

iMedia Connection: Does Visa typically make a concerted effort to build cross-media campaigns?

Raj: Absolutely. In fact, we've revved it up since last year. I work really closely with my traditional counterparts.

iMedia Connection: Have you increased the percent of marketing dollars that gets spent online?

Raj: We don't discuss our ad spending but I can say that Visa values online advertising and our budgets reflect that commitment.

iMedia Connection: How can online marketing mature to overcome reluctance?

Raj: I don't think its' about what online marketing needs to do, as much as its about how people in all the industry view online marketing. Even in the "good old days", online advertising was the ugly stepchild to traditional forms. I believe that came from a lack of understanding about what the medium could do. We're constantly learning what the medium can do. I believe in the early going we did ourselves a disservice. Many viewed online advertising as simply a direct-response vehicle overlooking the incredible branding possibilities. It seemed that if we weren't measuring a click-through rate then we weren't doing our jobs. (I still hear stories from my contemporaries how even though a campaign doesn't have a direct-response component people "just" want to see the click-through rate!) It will mature when people understand its uniqueness and embrace it. There are some traditional marketers who are sitting on the sidelines waiting for it all to be figured out. Visa on the other hand (along with our truly top-notched online advertising agency, AKQA) is writing the playbook and testing different strategies. And that's the way we're going to be successful. It's challenging, but frankly it's also quite inspiring.

iMedia Connection: How can marketers keep up with the reported increase in consumer online media consumption?

Raj: I'm weary of taking a statistic and simply using it to my advantage. I don't think by consumers spending 10 percent of their time online, that I can walk into my boss's office and ask for 10 percent of the marketing budget. Not yet at least.

iMedia Connection: What does online marketing need to do to get to the same level as television?

Raj: I am hesitant to compare TV with online simply because they both serve important purposes but I believe do so in very different ways. And online still is very much a work in progress. I really think that is the crux. Some are uncomfortable with not knowing where the industry is going but I on the other hand am very excited by it.