Ad agencies disagree over the best means of advertising on the Internet, Jacquie Golding- Duffy reports on the possibilities
Advertising agencies are being swept up by the “fourth media” — the Internet — but they disagree on whether it is more viable to handle it in-house or commission work to an outside agency.
While VWV Interactive, an independent agency responsible for audio-visual presentations, believe advertising agencies must use outside expertise, other agencies disagree with this, saying it is more cost-effective to keep the operation of advertising on the Internet in- house, thus holding on to the expertise and ensuring that the knowledge is retained by the company.
Jason Xenopoulos, who heads VWV’s Internet section, says he believes in using outside agencies. “The fact is that utilising new media types to communicate and advertise is a very different process to above the line advertising, and outside expertise on the use of the Internet for advertising is therefore necessary.”
Xenopoulos says the designing of the web site, the culture behind the Internet and the technology involved require a different mindset.
“The biggest danger facing ad agencies is that they may offer clients a second-rate service. They should be hiring or using people that are entrenched in the interactive market rather than filtering art and creative copy writers to do a task that is technically-based and highly skilled,” he said.
Hunt Lascaris TBWA disagrees with VWV Interactive. It believes inhouse advertising on the Internet is more viable. The new status of cyberspace as a creative medium was taken up by the agency when it launched its in-house operation, called “thesite”, two weeks ago. It is one of the first of local advertising agencies which is following international trends of housing interactive departments within a single agency.
Hunt Lascaris has opted to go in-house when most local agencies are hesitant. Although thesite is in-house in terms of falling under the banner of the entire Hunt Lascaris group, it operates as a specialised independent agency.
Thesite’s managing director James Hier says Internet advertising is a “limitless media” when compared to the constraints of print, radio and television advertising.
“In print one is defined to text and editorial space, in radio there are no visuals and colour to capture your audience’s attention and on television you get limited time of about 15 to 30 seconds which do not allow consumers to fully absorb the different aspects of a single product.”
Where in print one may see an advertisement for a car, on the Internet one can click on a computer key and access the interior of a car, the modifications of the car and even a full showcase of the models of that car.
According to Hier, the Internet is cheaper than other mediums, is not intrusive and allows the consumer to derive as little or as much information as required. “This means that the multi-media environment allows marketeers to produce advertising messages in various forms. You can receive as rich a form of advertising as you wish from a text to an actual visual demonstration of a product.
“In-house advertising is, therefore, more feasible, because as advertisers you have the expertise of dealing with clients. A computer boff may know the technical side of the Internet, but may be out of touch with market trends,” Hier said.
Hunt Lascaris deputy managing director Johnny Johnson says there are always projections on the impact of new technology over old. “When radio came along, people forecast the death of the newspaper, then when television appeared some said radio’s days were numbered.
“It was also argued that telephones would signal the death knell of the postal system, but all are going strong because they adapt to market forces and find new ways of consolidating their positions and the way people use them,” Johnson said.
He adds that advertising on the Internet will become sophisticated and advertising agencies merely had to take advantage of the Internet as another tool which can be used together with other media forms.
Lindsay Smithers-FCB media director Tony Banahan says it is more cost-effective to have the expertise inhouse, but to source the hardware of a special Internet service.
“We have the experts who design and create inhouse because they are in touch with the clients and have a grasp of the technology, but we use a site which is based elsewhere as its more cost-effective than establishing an entire operation,” Banahan said.
Ivor Jones, Roy media analyst Peter Armitage says advertising on the Internet is in the “embryonic stages” although there is tremendous long-term potential.
“There is a lot of experimenting by agencies attempting to reach their advertising objectives and the jury is out on whether or not in-house or commissioning an outside agency is more viable.” He says either way, Internet advertising is niche marketing at its best because it targets specific people.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) says it is discussing a form of regulation on the Internet and is working closely with an international umbrella body called the European Advertising Standards Alliance.
It was approached by an association called the Networking Association, which is in the process of canvassing the local electronic media industry in a bid to muster support for self-regulation on the Internet.
The objective of the association is to monitor the Internet for illegalities and provide the public with an organisation where they can lodge complaints pertaining to services on the Internet. As the advertising only exists in electronic form, there may be a need for records to be kept of all material emitted so any subsequent complaints could be investigated, the ASA said.
It added that many of the issues needed international consensus based on who will ultimately be held responsible for transgressions and what form regulation will take.