CUSTOMER CONVERSION JOURNEY SECTOR: TRAVEL

Contents Background and methodology What we measured – Brands and their activity Results – Web site visitors and behaviour Results – Affect on online activity Results – Latency of display advertising Summary

BACKGROUND AND METHODOLOGY

Background The IAB wanted to investigate → The role all forms of online media play in the customer conversion journey → How online media work most efficiently when integrated → The non-linear nature of the customer journey and the way that different formats interact with each other on the journey in the build up to conversion → The real impact of display advertising on site visits and user behaviour

Methodology Nielsen NetView panel monitors activity of 40,000 representative UK internet users at home and work Software installed on panelists' PCs records their online activity – each URL visited and search made is recorded The online activity of three brands – BMI, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and is tagged to allow identification of those that have been exposed to the activity – for example online display advertising The three brands are identified as Brands ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ in the research results – some details (e.g. sample size, visitor numbers) have been masked to preserve the anonymity of the brands The URLs within the sites of the three brands are categorised into one of three areas – ‘general visit’, ‘obtaining a quote’ or ‘making a purchase’ This enables us to answer two key questions → Which users were exposed to which elements of the online campaigns? → What activities users conducted during visits to the brands’ websites?

WHAT WE MEASURED – BRANDS AND THEIR ACTIVITY

What we measured – time periods, activity and sample size Brand A Brand B Brand C Period Activity One month Two months Display Sponsored Search Organic Search Referrals incl. Affiliates Display Sponsored Search Organic Search Referrals incl. Affiliates Display Sponsored Search Organic Search Referrals incl. Affiliates Sample Size 1, – 1,000 Source: Nielsen NetView

What we measured – levels of activity online and offline Brand A Brand B Brand C Display/ Paid Search Click Thrus Offline Activity Medium Small Large Small Medium Large Medium Small Source: Nielsen NetView & Nielsen NMR

RESULTS – WEB SITE VISITORS AND THEIR BEHAVIOUR

An average of one in four visitors at least obtained a quote Brand A Average of Brands A, B & C Quote - 25% Brand B Brand C Purchase - 3% Source: Nielsen NetView – Average of three brands Visit - 72%

Purchasers are more likely to have been exposed to activity Brand A Total Site Visitors Quote/Purchase Pages Visitors 69% 78% Exposed to activity Brand B Total Site Visitors Quote/Purchase Pages Visitors Exposed to activity Brand C Total Site Visitors Quote/Purchase Pages Visitors Exposed to activity 86% 69% 94% Exposed to activity 75% Exposed to activity Source: Nielsen NetView

DAY Direct EXPOSURE Display Direct Purchase Display Exp: x9 Direct Quote Display Exp: x4 Display Exp: x6 Display Exp: x3 Display Exp: x3 Direct Quote Direct Purchase Direct Quote Example user journey - one Visit Quote Purchase Visit Source: Nielsen NetView

Example user journey - two Brand related search x 2 Display Direct Visit DAY EXPOSURE SEARCH TERMS Sponsored Click Visit Display Quote Visit Quote Purchase Source: Nielsen NetView

Example user journey - three 1 22 DAY EXPOSURE SEARCH TERMS Display Exp: x4 Sponsored Click Destination related search 29 Organic Click Brand related search Visit Direct Purchase Visit Quote Purchase Source: Nielsen NetView

Display more likely to drive first steps Three Most Likely First Touch PointsThree Most Likely Last Touch Points WWWWWWWWWW Organic Click 1 st Sponsored Click 2 nd Display 3 rd Organic Click 1 st Sponsored Click 2 nd Referral 3 rd Source: Nielsen NetView – Average of three brands, excluding direct visits without any prior exposure to activity Brand A Brand B Brand C

Average customer conversion journey across all three brands 3.1 Display s +++= Quote/Purchase (over 7.8 days) Brand A, B and C average Source: Nielsen NetView, period from first event to first Quote / Purchase NB: excludes journey’s that began with an organic click through Organic Click Sponsored Click

RESULTS – THE IMPACT OF ONLINE ACTIVITY ON USERS

Exposure to different campaign elements – visitors Source: Nielsen NetView

Exposure to different campaign elements – purchasers Source: Nielsen NetView

Purchasers use search in conjunction with display Display Only 78% Also used Sponsored Search Brand A Display Only Also used Sponsored Search Brand B 84% Display Only Also used Sponsored Search Brand C 74% Also used Sponsored Search Brand A Display Only 71% Display Only Also used Sponsored Search Brand B 65% Also used Sponsored Search Brand C Display Only 65% Visitors Purchasers Source: Nielsen NetView Visitors Purchasers

Relationship between display exposures and number visits Number of Display Exposures Site Visits per Exposed Person Number of Site Visits Brand C Brand A Brand B Source: Nielsen NetView

RESULTS – THE LATENCY OF ONLINE DISPLAY ADVERTISING

Display advertising – how many people visit after exposure? of those exposed to the display campaign went on to visit Brand A’s site post exposure Brand A 6.7% of those exposed to the display campaign went on to visit Brand B’s site post exposure Brand B 6.6% of those exposed to the display campaign went on to visit Brand C’s site post exposure Brand C 3.4% Source: Nielsen NetView, Average Display CTR = 0.18%, Source AdTech 2009

Display advertising – how long does it take exposed people to visit? Brand A 40% Have not been exposed/ to conducted any other activity 12% Have not been exposed/ to conducted any other activity 46% Have not been exposed/ to conducted any other activity Brand C 5 SecondsLess than a weekSame session Brand B Less than a week Same session 5 Seconds Source: Nielsen NetView

SUMMARY

Summary £ Online activity is working - Individuals who make purchases on websites are more likely to have been exposed to online advertising The customer conversion journey is not a simple linear path – users come into contact with multiple campaign elements on multiple occasions – up to 9 display ads, 3 organic click thrus, 2 sponsored click thrus and 2 s over a period of up to 7 days to make their 1 st purchase Different online elements work together – they play different roles at different stages of the journey – it’s not only the last step or click in the journey that matters Source: Nielsen NetView

Summary Display advertising performs better than is widely perceived – display advertising has a positive latent effect – up to 46% of people that visit a web site a week after being exposed to a display advertisement have not been exposed to any other online elements www Click thru metrics may not be an adequate way of assessing the impact of display advertising – up to 6.7% of users exposed to display advertising will visit the advertisers website within one or two months – approximately 40 times the average click thru rate of 0.18%