Ann: Trading Update-PRT.AX, page-23

Thanks Autosime, I also read an article recently with a very similar view held by Kerry Stokes. He was stating that online adds just don't deliver.

I was talking with a mate of mine a couple of weeks ago, he works for one of the large tyre companies in Melbourne. He told me that they were given a presentation by Facebook about how they knew who was 'in the market' for tyres and how best to advertise to them. He told me that they pulled money out of TV advertising and increased their advertising spend on digital advertising. His opinion was that Facebook made a compelling argument but so far it isn't showing up on their bottom line.

I'm not sure about most other people that buy online but if I want to purchase something like tyres, I normally do it on the same day. Being bombarded by popups for weeks after, for a product I've already purchased and that I buy only once every couple of years, seems like a waste of advertising spend in my opinion.

A big part of advertising is also the 'emotional connection' an advert can make with the viewer as well as creating awareness around their brand. Facebook and Google may dominate when it comes to competing in the digital space but that connection and brand awareness is defiantly missing. The only one that seems to be moving in the right direction is YouTube with its TV like pre-roll advertisements. The problem with YouTube though is that they show very little of actual program content?

Maybe I'm doing something wrong but I find it hard to view anything substantial other than music videos. Yes it's interesting seeing what the local lads in the Eastern Block get up when boredom sets in on a Saturday night but even that gets a bit repetitive after a while.

Time will tell but I think the big companies are beginning to realise that a billboard or popup on someones computer screen are not going to bring the same results as TV advertising does. A pop up showing a range of tyres does little compared to an advertisement showing a car driving down a road in the pouring rain when a child, out of nowhere, suddenly runs out in front of them and they have to come to a screeching sudden halt followed by the slogan - 'If it only saves you once a year it's a Goodyear!'