Digital ads 'no longer just an add-on feature'
PUBLISHERS and advertisers will no longer be able to offer digital advertising as simply a complementary provision to traditional media in the near future, says Nielsen (Thailand), whose online-ad-measurement system is up and ready.
“In previous times, both publishers and advertising planners have treated online space as a value-added service for their clients. We hope that our new tool will be able to measure the effectiveness of online advertising. The tool is called ‘digital advertising rating’,” Somwalee Limrachtamorn, country leader at Nielsen (Thailand), told a seminar last week.
The Nation understands that during this quarter, many publishers and advertisers will be busy with their advertisement planning for next year. Hence this is the right time for Nielsen, the country’s leading media research company, to introduce a new tool to help update the Bt130-billion industry on how to help its clients invest in ways that have a greater impact on end consumers.
With its new measurement tool, Nielsen claims that it is able to reduce duplication as well as fraudulent activities while improving advertising viewability and media accountability through digital media.
“At the present time, impressions such as numbers of likes, views or any other records via online media cannot be taken into account as organic performance for advertising,” Somwalee said.
“We need [to be able to measure] real penetration [rates]. How do we reduce the waste of our investment via online media?” she asked.
Suresh Ramalingam, managing director for Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar at Nielsen (Thailand), said: “Thailand has potential to grow in terms of digital media spending thanks to growing infrastructures like fourth-generation telecom service, the rise of smartphone penetration and the growth of e-commerce in the country.”
According to an estimate by the Digital Agency Association of Thailand, digital advertising this year will account for 6.4 per cent of the Bt153 billion in total spending.
A recent survey jointly conducted by two media research firms, TNS and J Walter Thompson, found that online consumers were becoming more active in terms of content creation and interaction, but the level of engagement did not seem to be benefiting brands.
In the study, the two firms surveyed online behaviour and attitudes of 5,600 people across the Asia-Pacific region to examine their level of interest and engagement with brands. “The study found over 90 per cent of respondents are online content consumers as well as interactors and creators, switching effortlessly from passive reading and watching to more active liking, sharing and commenting, to more proactive behaviours like creating and reviewing,” said Angela Morris, executive planning director at J Walter Thompson Australia. “Yet that level of engagement does not extend to brands.”
Somwalee said that through programmatic tools used by many advertising agencies in Thailand over the coming years in line with Nielsen’s new service, local advertisers and publishers would take this opportunity to use real-time data. With the real-time data, either they or their clients would be able to optimise their online campaigns on the go to boost their effectiveness.
