A McDonald’s/IAB cross media optimization study (xmos) has shown that branding metrics increase when online’s share of the budget is increased, reinforcing the results of the earlier MSN and Unilever study.
The IAB Cross Media Optimization Study examined online media’s place in the overall marketing mix for McDonald’s Grilled Chicken Flatbread Sandwich. The campaign for the sandwich was targeted at U.S. adults 18 to 49, with the goals of increasing awareness as to the product’s attributes and to drive purchase intent.
The XMOS research of Internet users measured the impact of the campaign quantifying the effect of online advertising relative to offline, analyzing the efficiencies to determine if online could improve the brand metrics and if it could do so more efficiently and thereby recommend a more efficient media mix.
In determining the product image for McDonald’s Grilled Chicken Flatbread Sandwich in four attributes -- New, Exciting, Different and Combination of great flavors -- in all four cases responses for “describes completely” and “describes somewhat”, online advertising in combination with offline significantly increased the product image over offline only. These four attributes were most greatly impacted by online advertising among the key youth segment (15 –24), and when combined with TV and Radio advertising, boosts the positive perception by an impressive nine points.
“In this study for McDonald’s Grilled Chicken Flatbread Sandwich, online advertising very clearly improves the branding metrics. What we have found is that McDonald’s TV and radio advertising works well; the branding lift over pre-campaign levels is 187%. But if online plays a larger role in the mix, and the percentage of online advertising is increased to 13% of the same budget, the projected lift would be 232%. That’s a big contribution from online advertising,” says marketing measurement expert Rex Briggs of Marketing Evolution, who, together with Dynamic Logic, executed the study, with Forrester Research developing the implications from the data that was developed.
“The results are better when online plays a larger role in the mix because offline media reaches a point of diminishing returns,” continues Briggs. “Buying more TV and more radio ceases to add as much value as adding in online so that consumers see the McDonald’s brand in a new environment that reinforces the core advertising message. Additionally, offline media misses or under-delivers to a segment of consumers who are more prone to be reached online. Television doesn’t reach or only lightly covers 27% of the 18 – 49 target market with online access. Seventy-six percent of these consumers used the Internet one or more hours yesterday, so using the Internet to reach these somewhat elusive consumers provides better coverage of the overall target audience.”
Says IAB President & CEO, Greg Stuart: “There is no more important research project for the IAB and the industry at large than the Cross Media Optimization Study. Certainly, with different goals and marketers representing differing categories, the results will vary, perhaps significantly, but what we are seeing in this the third, and most comprehensive study to date, is that the online medium’s percentage of marketing budgets must be increased in order to maximize results for marketers.”
The methodology for the research has been endorsed by the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF), and received the prestigious John & Mary Goodman Award nomination for “Best International Research” from the global research authority, ESOMAR.