April 8, 2004

Internet advertising spending, which declined in 2001 and 2002, rose 20 percent to $7.2 billion last year, according to data compiled by Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

Full-page ads in prestigious scientific publications weren't working for Expression Analysis, a Durham company that does genetic research.

So the 14-employee Duke University spin-off started marketing its services via targeted e-mail -- to people who have indicated they're willing to receive such messages.

The results were "tremendous" said Steven Casey, chief operating officer. He called the e-mail marketing campaign, created by VisionPoint Media of Raleigh, crucial to the company's revenue growth of more than 50 percent last year.

Marketing and advertising on the Internet, which skidded when the dot-com fantasy collided with reality, is on the upswing. And the old banner and pop-up ads are starting to be overshadowed by more creative efforts.

Forrester Research analyst Charlene Li projects that just over half of the money spent on Internet advertising this year will go to display ads. Nearly one-third will go to "search engine marketing," while the rest will go to e-mail promotions.

"People are getting away from just banner advertising on Web sites," said Jodi Sheldon, account planner at MRPP, a Cary agency that places ads for clients.

But display ads are expanding into Web spaces that provide a targeted audience, such as blogs and e-newsletters. A blog, or Web log, is a site devoted to a specific topic and typically the work of one person.

VisionPoint, which focuses on online marketing, says that business so far this year is up 66 percent compared with 2003. Diane Kuehn, founder and CEO of the five-person agency, says clients like being able to measure results, such as knowing the number of people who watch a video after receiving it.

For example, the economic development arm of the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce sent out 3,014 e-mail messages to life sciences executives in Sweden last summer. More than half -- 1,814 -- opened the e-mail and saw a video of Lars von Kantzow, former CEO of Swedish floormaker Pergo, giving a testimonial on the Raleigh area. Pergo's U.S. base is in Raleigh.

Web ads also are getting more creative because of the wider use of broadband, said Brad Brinegar, CEO of McKinney & Silver, the Triangle's largest ad agency.

Source: New Observer

        

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