From AdWeek:
A new survey of top marketers by Forbes.com confirms that the Web has far to go to prove itself as a vehicle for brand building. When asked what measures they used to gauge success, just 31 percent said brand building topped the list, and 14 percent said reach. Direct marketing metrics, on the other hand, scored highly. About 82 percent of those surveyed identified conversions as the leading gauge, 55 percent said registrations and 51 percent said clicks. "On the Web specifically, advertising has moved into more demand fulfillment as opposed to demand creation," said Jim Spanfeller, CEO of Forbes.com. "That's not really advertising. There's nothing wrong with it. Doing search marketing and point-of purchase displays all works, but it's not advertising. It's not about creating demand and improving brand metrics."
Note the key portion of the quotation: According to the opinions of the 119 senior marketers in the Forbes survey, the Web is great at fulfilling demand but not great at creating it.
Introducing consumers to something worth wanting is fundamentally different from giving it to them after they're already shopping for it. While we would be foolish to imagine that the Web is incapable of this power, it's clear that this group of marketers doesn't see it there today.
So where do you turn for "demand creation"? Where do you go to discover that new must-have? Where do you turn to find brands worth investing in, emotionally and financially?
Sometimes – when it's done well – you turn to radio.
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