79 percent of media decision makers surveyed plan on investing more in online marketing in 2009 compared to 2008. This is one of the results of a broadly-based survey conducted by Planetactive/Neo@Ogilvy Düsseldorf in 14 European countries. In cooperation with the market research company SKOPOS, based in Hürth, the German branch of Ogilvy’s worldwide digital and direct media network surveyed 873 media planners on the status quo of their investments, future budget planning and their attitudes towards online marketing.
The survey was conducted at the end of 2008/start of 2009 in Great Britain, Turkey, Sweden, Portugal, Poland, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Spain, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and Austria.
The Digital Marketing Compass 06, as the study is called, shows that online media are firmly established in Europe and are already used as frequently as traditional media. The trend towards greater marketing efficiency by increased use of digital instruments is proving to be relatively crisis-proof.
Europe’s cultural, economic and political diversity is also reflected in the results of the study. When it comes to planning and implementing online marketing, each country has its own unique characteristics.
“Online marketing, in particular online media, is becoming increasingly international. Yet there are still only a few multi-country studies that show the specific characteristics of national markets”, explains Stefan Längin, Managing Director Germany and the EMEA hub at Planetactive/Neo@Ogilvy, explaining the background to the study. “With international customers like SAP, Cisco, IBM, American Express or British Airways - for which we have just planned a campaign for 38 European and African countries in Düsseldorf - we were able to rely on authentic data from the individual regions. The Digital Marketing Compass 06 allows us to show the differing extent to which online media is used in Europe and which strategies are used particularly frequently.”
In contrast to many other studies about online media, not only “big spenders” were surveyed but also decision makers in small and medium-sized companies, who often conduct their media planning in-house. The Digital Marketing Compass 06 can therefore provide representative results on the use of online media and the attitudes of decision makers in Europe.
Summary of Digital Marketing Compass 06
1. Online media is already being used as often in Europe as traditional media. The majority of advertisers in Europe (77 percent) think that online media are flexible and feel that target groups can be easily reached online (64 percent). 43 percent of those surveyed think that online media deliver better results than offline media. For many decision makers, online marketing is also suitable for branding campaigns. Better target group access, increased coverage, speed and flexibility are online media’s greatest strengths according to those surveyed.
2. Even in these times of crisis, the budget allocation changed only slightly compared to 2008. The share of the online marketing budget for Europe as a whole increased from 22 percent to 24 percent in 2009. However, there are huge regional and industry differences when it comes to online marketing’s share of the entire budget. Overall, 79 percent of those surveyed plan on investing more in the Internet in 2009 than they did in 2008.
Media budgets are usually distributed between online and offline in an annual strategy and often depend on current market activities or the successes of the previous year. The breakdown of online campaigns into branding and performance/transaction campaigns is generally not going to change in 2009. The share of branding campaigns is 38 percent, while the share of transaction campaigns amounts to 41 percent.
3. The diverse possibilities offered by digital marketing are generally well-known and are utilised accordingly. In 2008, the frequency of usage for e-mail marketing was extraordinarily high at 32 percent. The corresponding figure for “Display” and “Search” combined is just 26 percent. E-mail marketing is the big winner for 2009 as well. All other channels remain at roughly the same level recorded in the previous year, although “Display” has declined a little. The frequency of usage for social media increased from 6 percent in 2008 to 7 percent in 2009.
It seems that companies have found their ideal marketing mix or they do not want to risk experimenting in times of crisis.
4. Overall, a clear trend towards quality and professionalism is evident. Three-quarters of those surveyed consider the positioning of campaigns to be important. 60 percent of people surveyed agree with the statement that “brand impact” is just as important as the measurable quantitative success of a campaign. The instruments of the digital marketing mix, such as SEO and SEM, are increasingly being implemented by specialist agencies.
5. Overall, the majority of people surveyed (75 percent) believe there will be a significant change in the communication mix, determined by fundamental alterations in media consumption. The various digital marketing media will continue to increase strongly to very strongly in importance. Mobile marketing, e-mail marketing with the company’s own address pool as well as search-related marketing (SEO and SEM) are gaining in significance.
60 percent of those surveyed had invested more or considerably more in online marketing in 2008. For 2009, they anticipate less investment activity. However, the majority still think that their companies will invest more or considerably more in the Internet in 2009.
6. There are significant differences between countries as far as digital marketing is concerned.
Display advertising or web services are used more often in Germany and Switzerland than in other countries, while e-mail marketing is of lesser importance compared to other European countries. In contrast, countries such as Turkey, Italy, Belgium or Sweden use e-mail marketing (in particular with external addresses) more frequently than other countries.
Growth is occurring at different levels in the countries surveyed. While the share of online media in the media budget will increase in Belgium for instance from 14 percent to 16 percent in 2009, its share in the UK will increase from 27 percent to 30 percent.
7. Some results show notable differences between companies that plan their own media marketing and have budgets of less than a million Euro and companies that employ agencies. The former invest a greater share of their overall budget in online marketing (2008: 24 percent versus 18 percent) and invest a larger percentage of their budget in e-mail marketing - especially with their own addresses – or web services. The use of comparatively low-priced social media is also more pronounced in companies that plan their own media marketing. Companies that employ agencies use display advertising more frequently. Companies that plan their own media marketing attach just as much importance to “brand impact” as they do to quantitatively measurable campaign success. For companies that employ agencies, clicks and ROI have top priority.