Opinion: Perspective - Internet advertising must beware of cheap image.

The digital flags are out. In America, Reckitt-Benckiser has hacked dollars 20 million from its TV advertising budget to invest in a new online video ad strategy.

It's big news over there. From 1 April (and no, this wasn't one of those awfully boring April Fool stories conceived by brands that have no discernible humour the other 364 days of the year), Reckitt is ploughing 5 per cent of its pounds 475 million advertising budget into video ad networks.

The man in charge, Marc Fonzetti, says: 'We've seen a fundamental shift in consumer consumption and media habits migrating over to digital video.' And although he says YouTube has been the catalyst, Reckitt is really mostly interested in professional content.

As you can imagine, the Reckitt news has been greeted by people who like to proclaim the death of traditional media as a sign of the imminent death of traditional media. It's a sign, they say, of a fundamental shift in media dynamics: the death of mass media as we create our own digital media diets tailored to our own interests and consumed to our own schedule.

Hmm. Well, there's no doubt that a wind is blowing that way, but let's not get over-excited. Reckitt's decision to raise its online spend is surely as much a cost-cutting strategy as it is a thoughtful response to the new media philosophy.

Reckitt's digital media agency, Media Contacts, admits as much. CPM is the driving factor, they say; the strategy is about delivering impressions more efficiently than television: cheaper and more targeted.

This economic preoccupation is nothing to be ashamed of, of course Quite the opposite, now more than ever, but only as long as effectiveness is not compromised. For its part, Reckitt is certainly making sure that it measures the effect rigorously, combining TV GRPs with the web and layering in interactive measures such as links to microsites and online coupons. Results from this tracking will then be laid over data from Nielsen's Homescan shopping panel to make sure the campaign is as ...