Digital Branding Overtaking Direct Marketing in 2012

Internet advertising has become the fastest growing area of ad spend for both on and offline companies. While the largest percentage of online advertising has traditionally been in the realm of direct response, digital branding is poised to overtake that vertical in 2012, according to a State of the Industry Survey. In fact, the survey reveals that brand advertising will represent nearly 60 percent of digital ad spend by mid to large sized companies in the coming year, as 60% of marketers expect to divert funds from direct response to digital branding initiatives.
 
64% of marketers not only plan to increase their online brand advertising budgets in 2012, but 22 percent say they will increase spending by more than 20 percent. The top three verticals of spend include mobile, where 69% of marketers have indicated an intent to expand; social, attracting 63% of marketers; and video advertising, which is expected to increase by 59% of marketers surveyed.
 
"Digital branding is the NOW of online advertising," says Byron Wycoff, a digital media and marketing business expert specializing in positioning brands for rapid growth. "We are seeing more and more clients backing away from direct response and turning to social media for brand recognition."
 
Byron Wycoff runs the team of media experts, creatives, tech heads and analysts who make up the Media Brand project - a company dedicated to evolving with the digital landscape. "We focus on current trends and technologies to capture new opportunities as they emerge," says Wycoff, adding, "We love what we do - and we do it well!"
 
The main obstacle digital brand marketers confront daily is lack of access to quality metrics. nearly 7 out of 10 marketers surveyed say they would spend more of their advertising budget on online brand advertising if they only had improved clarity around the actual return on investment for digital branding.
 
Unfortunately, those same marketers' confidence in the companies they hire is low. Only 6 percent of brands and 16 percent of agencies surveyed said they "strongly believe" digital branding companies' claims that they can reach the desired audience.
 
"You have to show results," says Wycoff. "Understanding each individual client's needs and expectations is key." For many brands, increased sales is proof enough that digital branding works. For those with less specific goals, such as interaction at the social level, complicated metrics must be broken down into clearly designated achievements.
 
Reports should consist of real-time data compared to market and client specific benchmarks, with focus on just a few metrics at a time to prevent data "overload". Third party brand ad effectiveness studies can be used to verify the audience reach as well as campaign impact, to encourage emerging brands to take direct ownership of their branding investment and continue to allocate funds to digital media.
 
Contact:
Byron Wycoff
Media Brand Project
Los Angeles, CA 90064
858.366.4396