CPG Brand Sales Jump 9 Percent with Online Ads
August 24, 2009 - A new series of studies reveals that Internet advertisements can be as effective as television advertisements for building retail sales of consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands. Over the course of 12 weeks, online ad campaigns -- with an average reach of 40 percent of their target segment -- successfully grew sales of the advertised brands by an average of 9 percent, according to the studies conducted by comScore Inc. in partnership with dunnhumbyUSA. This compares to an average lift of 8 percent for TV advertising as measured by Information Resources Inc. (IRI).
"The study results represent very encouraging news for CPG marketers online and offline because the data confirms the ability of online marketing to drive results offline at the shelf level," says Bill Pearce, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Del Monte Foods. "These are precisely the types of persuasive studies we are looking for at Del Monte as digital plays an increasing role in our marketing strategy."
The research was conducted by examining the retail purchasing behavior of 2 million Internet users who gave comScore explicit permission to monitor their online behavior. The studies focused on the 200,000 comScore and dunnhumbyUSA panelists who were members of supermarket loyalty programs and whose retail buying behavior was measured through point-of-sale UPC scanners when the panelists presented their membership cards at the checkout lanes of participating supermarket stores.
By comparing the retail purchasing of panelists who were exposed to online advertising campaigns for a variety of CPG brands with the purchase behavior of groups of "control" panelists who were not exposed to such campaigns, comScore was able to isolate the impact of the advertising campaigns in lifting retail sales of the advertised brands.
Advertising campaigns for brands in a wide variety of CPG product categories, including cereal, cookie mixes, pizza, juice drinks, snack bars, pasta, tea, deodorants and toothpaste, were examined. The advertising campaigns featured display ads, including both static banner ads as well as rich media. Over the course of a three-month period, comScore observed that these types of ad campaigns were able to lift sales of the advertised brands in retail supermarkets by an average of 9 percent. Approximately 80 percent of the online ad campaigns analyzed resulted in statistically significant sales increases for the advertised brands.
Professor Yoram (Jerry) Wind, the lauder professor of Marketing and director of the SEI Center for Advanced Studies in Management at the Wharton Business School says: "These are most valuable results with significant implications for every CPG advertiser and a great example of the value and power of experimentation."
"The study results represent very encouraging news for CPG marketers online and offline because the data confirms the ability of online marketing to drive results offline at the shelf level," says Bill Pearce, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Del Monte Foods. "These are precisely the types of persuasive studies we are looking for at Del Monte as digital plays an increasing role in our marketing strategy."
The research was conducted by examining the retail purchasing behavior of 2 million Internet users who gave comScore explicit permission to monitor their online behavior. The studies focused on the 200,000 comScore and dunnhumbyUSA panelists who were members of supermarket loyalty programs and whose retail buying behavior was measured through point-of-sale UPC scanners when the panelists presented their membership cards at the checkout lanes of participating supermarket stores.
By comparing the retail purchasing of panelists who were exposed to online advertising campaigns for a variety of CPG brands with the purchase behavior of groups of "control" panelists who were not exposed to such campaigns, comScore was able to isolate the impact of the advertising campaigns in lifting retail sales of the advertised brands.
Advertising campaigns for brands in a wide variety of CPG product categories, including cereal, cookie mixes, pizza, juice drinks, snack bars, pasta, tea, deodorants and toothpaste, were examined. The advertising campaigns featured display ads, including both static banner ads as well as rich media. Over the course of a three-month period, comScore observed that these types of ad campaigns were able to lift sales of the advertised brands in retail supermarkets by an average of 9 percent. Approximately 80 percent of the online ad campaigns analyzed resulted in statistically significant sales increases for the advertised brands.
Professor Yoram (Jerry) Wind, the lauder professor of Marketing and director of the SEI Center for Advanced Studies in Management at the Wharton Business School says: "These are most valuable results with significant implications for every CPG advertiser and a great example of the value and power of experimentation."