Coca-Cola discovers the true impact of advertising: internet as effective as TV?
Integrated, cross-media advertising campaigns are the leaders of modern marketing, and cross-media campaigns have an undisputed effect on perception, new research has confirmed.
The synergetic effect on buying behaviour has been analysed by Google, Coca-Cola and research group GfK, with the results highlighting that cross-media campaigns have a greater effect than single-media campaigns, and internet use has a direct impact on purchasing decisions.
The starting point of the survey was the Coca-Cola Christmas campaign, which featured in November and December last year on TV, cinema and radio spots, billboards, print ads, internet banners, video ads and Google space. The new GfK Web Efficiency Panel examined the reception of these adverts and the actual purchasing behaviour of consumers. The full internet usage of 15,000 people, all purchases of daily essentials and the use of traditional media like TV, radio and print in these households were integrated and collated in one source and analysed.
Cross-media significantly increases effect on sales
The results of the survey clearly demonstrate that the interplay of the various media significantly strengthens the effects of a campaign. For the Christmas campaign, the interplay of TV advertising and the YouTube video ads proved to be the most effective on sales, with consumers, who saw the advert on TV and on YouTube within a week, demonstrating a 97 per cent higher purchase rate.
In the individual analysis, the video ads on YouTube were shown to be as effective for sales as traditional TV spots. A further effect of internet advertising is that it generates the exclusive reach which is not possible through TV advertising. Focusing on the target age group of 14 to 39, the effects of individual media channels proved to be even greater.
Coca-Cola Germany said the results indicated that online marketing can play an efficient role in the media mix, with the survey one of the first to show how the individual media categories interlock and affect short term sales.
