Advertising Fails to Find a Media Mix

CHICAGO, April 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital and traditional advertising are failing to complement one another effectively, according to part two of the STRATA quarterly survey of major advertising agencies. STRATA, a leading media buying and selling software provider, found that although digital is playing a larger role, the category still faces substantial obstacles in aligning cohesively with campaign goals.  Despite some years of experience with digital, clients still do not fully comprehend the value of this form of media.

As indicated in part one of STRATA's quarterly survey released earlier this week, all forms of media made a solid comeback during the first quarter, which represented a positive return for advertising.  However, the digital category while strong overall, did stumble.  Survey respondents indicated that digital's two leading obstacles are a lack of advertiser demand and channel effectiveness.  Channel effectiveness appears to be blocked largely due to insufficient digital measurement (51%), followed by merging digital and traditional advertising in the managerial process.

The STRATA survey highlighted the fact that agencies are still in desperate need of tools to effectively measure digital advertising.  More than half (51%) noted that current digital measurement platforms fall short of meeting campaign needs, with 59% illustrating that their clients didn't even truly understand the value of digital advertising. Furthering the argument that digital struggled this quarter, 93% of respondents noted that clients are not actively requesting new advertising venues such as the iAd, Google TV and Apple TV.

"Advertising is back on track, but merging digital and traditional media is still a major issue," said John Shelton, STRATA CEO/President. "Agencies are being actively challenged by clients to provide true ROI figures, but they don't have the tools to fully report digital and traditional advertising results together.  Agencies are also struggling with selling certain digital advertising to clients, as most are currently unimpressed with the reach of such new avenues as location based advertising, iAd and Google TV."

STRATA recently launched a new digital measurement tool called AMBIT in response to these growing trends and ROI demands. The platform provides agencies with the ability to measure the impact of all of their advertising buys and provide a true comparison of digital versus traditional ad purchases. AMBIT provides an unlimited number of metrics that can identify such specific campaign parameters as online registrations, retail foot traffic and sales lift.

STRATA will be showcasing its AMBIT tool during the annual ANA Advertising Financial Management Conference on May 1 at table #2.

ABOUT STRATA

STRATA is the nation's leading provider of media buying and selling software.  The custom solutions supplied by STRATA empower clients to sell and efficiently purchase all media types including cable, broadcast, newspaper, radio, outdoor and digital advertising mediums.  On average, over $50 Billion in advertising dollars flow through STRATA systems per year.

The whole-scale changes that are occurring in this fragmented media landscape require a customizable and convergent solution. STRATA provides the technology to enable organizations to lead rather than react.  By transforming the way advertisements are placed and tracked, STRATA adds efficiency and precision across traditional and emerging platforms. 

Headquartered in Chicago, STRATA has been supplying solutions to the media buying and selling industry since 1983.  STRATA is owned by Comcast Cable http://www.comcast.com/.  For more information, visit www.gotostrata.com or call (800) 9 STRATA

For more information: www.gotostrata.com, http://www.facebook.com/STRATA and on Twitter - @gotostrata

SOURCE STRATA