FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Peter Brown
Richter7 Public Relations
801.521.2903
pbrown@richter7.com

IS TRADITIONAL ADVERTISING DEAD?

SALT LAKE CITY, June 22, 2011 – With all the talk about the digital revolution replacing traditional advertising, one executive claims advertising on TV, radio, billboards and in newspapers is more significant than some might think.

“The Internet is indeed a very effective way to market, and we guide many of our clients through the Internet, but rarely is it 100% effective as a stand-alone marketing vehicle because it often does not provide all the touch points that lead a customer to convert,” said Peggy Lander, partner at Richter7.

The Internet currently has over 2 billion users. American men spend an average of 10.8 hours online weekly vs. 11.3 hours for women. Half of American kids ages six to 11, and 20 percent ages two to five, are using the Internet.

A report by the Interactive Advertising Bureau reveals online advertising revenues grew 15 percent in 2010. In the first quarter of 2011, ad revenues jumped 23 percent, setting a new record at $7.3 billion.

“These days, traditional media may not be the top winner in the eyes of online marketers,” said Lander. “But it is not the enemy to online media or vice-versa. It is its friend. Traditional and online media are close relatives which support one another.”

More than 73 percent of American adults read a newspaper at least once a week, either printed or online. In certain markets, it’s 90 percent. Of the daily newspaper readers, 69 percent trust articles are verified and exact, and 61 percent trust the advertisements.

“Those numbers might surprise people, but it shows most American adults still have their nose in the newspaper regularly,” said Lander. “Traditional media is not dead; they’re not as strong as they’ve once been, but they still occupy an important place in the media landscape.”

Companies today should consider testing and evaluating slight changes in mixes of media to see how those changes affect each other.

“Suppose a company is analyzing its year-to-date return on investment for next year’s marketing budget,” she said. “Statistics reveal 35 percent of customers were generated from traditional media: public relations, events, TV, print, radio and direct mail. But 65 percent of new customers were attributed to Internet marketing: display ads, video and social media.”

Marketers recommend evaluating how traditional media and Internet media affect and nurture one another with both immediate and longer term cost per acquisition.

“Finding the right blend of traditional and Internet media, resulting in the most cost-effective and successful ROI-driven campaigns, is the correct approach for today’s marketers,” said Lander. “Knowing customer acquisition campaigns require multiple touch points and measurement benchmarks over time helps marketers properly slice each media format and deliver the winning recipe for upcoming campaigns.”

Named Utah’s “Best of State” advertising agency eight times, Richter7 is nationally recognized for effective advertising, public relations and design for clients from Minneapolis to Hawaii.

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