Online Ad Results: NIVEA FOR MEN Tests Smaller Niche Demographic Sites vs Sports Sites.(online advertising campaigns of Beiersdorf AG)

CHALLENGE: How can you make a significant impact on a huge consumer marketplace with an extremely limited online ad budget?

Ever since Beiersdorf AG launched the NIVEA FOR MEN skincare line in the US six years ago, ad dollars have been focused mainly on traditional offline media. However, with all the stats coming out about the male 18-34 demographic spending increased time online, the brand couldn't ignore the Web any longer.

So in January 2004 they launched a limited test campaign.

The media buying team chose to run with a major sports news site because let's face it, sports sites have high concentrations of young adult male visitors. (Game sites do as well, but the team figured anyone who's engrossed in an interactive game probably isn't going to click on a skincare ad.)

Despite limited visibility (it's expensive to buy enough banners on a really heavy traffic site to get the four-eight view-per-individual frequency you need for maximum campaign impact), the campaign did ok, with purchase intent rising by 15% among exposed visitors.

However, the ROI wasn't high enough to invest more. And, overall, only 26.3% of visitors who'd seen the ads (versus 22.8% who hadn't) intended to buy NIVEA FOR MEN. Fact is, most American men are still soap-and-water-only guys.

It's hard to justify rolling out a campaign on a high-priced site where only about a quarter of the traffic is remotely interested in buying your product.