Digital Advertising is Being Clobbered by Traditional Media

TV and Print Advertising Triumph Over Online as Being More Entertaining and Relevant to Consumers, While Online ads are "Annoying" and "Ill-constructed"

LONDON, August 19, 2010 - Against all odds, traditional advertising is perceived by consumers as
more informative, entertaining and necessary than online advertising. Of more
than 1,200 people surveyed for digital marketing show ad:tech London by Zussi
Research, 69 per cent believed traditional advertising was relevant to them,
compared with 45 per cent for online. For the TV generation of those aged
between 25-34-years old the gap widens further: 81 per cent (traditional)
versus 53 per cent (online).

Worse still for digital marketers, annoyance around advertising on the
web is twice as high online as offline. Comments made were that digital
advertising is "ill-structured", "mainly irrelevant" and represents a bigger,
unwanted distraction for the consumer, rather than a subtle influence.

Typical comments included: "Traditional advertising is less in your face
- online seems to use all kinds of annoying tricks to make you view them, eg
popups and blank screen links you click by accident. It's an immediate
turn-off."

Why is this happening?

ad:tech conference and marketing director, Christophe Asselin, says that
customers aren't responding positively the way that the industry believes.
"While we are witnessing some amazing online campaigns out there, this
research simply shows that the overall advertising and marketing community
isn't hitting the mark with online users.

"Customers are becoming more and more savvy to online marketing tactics
and are less forgiving toward sloppy and clumsy practices mainly adapted from
the old mass media communication model. Just because online is cheaper and
quicker to implement, doesn't mean you can afford to throw away its huge
potential," added Asselin.

"There are many opportunities for digital advertising to be far more
engaging, relevant and pertinent than traditional media. Education and
greater skills are desperately needed to unleash the full power of digital if
we want leave up to our users' expectations," Asselin says.

ad:tech speaker and BBC head of technology for marketing, communications
and audiences, Mark Kelleher, says: "Given the changing behaviour of the
public with the advent of multimedia, online promotions could hold huge
potential value but many organisations aren't unleashing this potential
effectively."

So how companies can get it right?

In parallel to the consumer study, ad:tech London also surveyed brand
advertisers and marketers who attended the show in 2009. 633 surveys were
completed; 14 per cent of the total audience figure.

One interesting aspect was how unconfident respondents were. When asked
to describe a topic to a colleague many said they were "aware but not
confident" of the subject. Surprisingly, these included social marketing,
mobile marketing and search engine marketing. Only 23 per cent would regard
themselves as digital marketing experts.

Regardless of this low-confidence level, 71 per cent of respondents said
that their company handles its digital campaigns in-house. "While online
marketing budgets are increasing, companies need to make sure the same
investment is done to train and educate their staff," says Asselin. "The
industry is still very young, newcomers are numerous and best practise isn't
being shared. ad:tech London is a crucial platform to unite advertisers,
media owners and agencies to harness the power of digital and deliver real
marketing ROI."

Notes to Editors:

ad:tech London 2010 is taking place at Olympia National, London, 21-22
September 2010.

About ad:tech

ad:tech London, part of the Daily Mail Group and, in its sixth year, is
firmly established as the premier UK Exhibition and Conference exclusively
dedicated to the online advertising and marketing industry.

ad:tech provides a meeting point for 8,000 marketers and advertisers . It
comprises of a paid-for conference, free exhibition and free educational
seminars.

ad:tech aims to address the dynamic digital marketplace and the issues
facing advertising and marketing functions as they look to stand out from the
crowd and discover the next generation of opportunities.

This year, brands, agencies, publishers and solution providers include:
Google, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Coca Cola, LVMH, DELL, BT, Moshi
Monsters, WPP, Microsoft, AKQA, Lush, BBC, 20th Century Fox, King of Shaves,
Phone Valley, Mail Online, the Mirror, Neo@Ogilvy and MindShare.

The show originates from the USA, where for 15 years it has been
showcasing. Underpinned by the support of industry leaders, key associations,
governmental organisations and academic experts, ad:tech London's reach
extends to every marketing decision maker throughout Europe.

ad:tech conferences currently take place in New York, San Francisco,
London, Sydney, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo and Beijing. ad:tech will continue
to expand globally in order to provide online marketing communities with
great opportunities to network, share best practices and ideas everywhere in
the world.

About dmg :: events

dmg :: events is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Daily Mail and General
Trust plc (DMGT, www.dmgt.co.uk), one of the largest media companies in the
United Kingdom. dmg :: events was founded in 1989 and in 20 years has managed
Exhibitions, Conferences and online platforms for many industries in 25
countries. dmg :: events produces more than 300 market-leading trade
exhibitions, consumer shows and fairs each year and publishes 45 related
magazines, newspapers, directories and market reports. dmg :: events employs
more than 700 people and maintains a worldwide presence through more than 30
offices in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, the United
Arab Emirates, India, China and Australia. dmg :: events is a wholly-owned
subsidiary of the Daily Mail and General Trust plc (DMGT), one of the largest
and most successful media companies in the UK. For more information on dmg
events please visit www.dmgevents.com.

For further information, please contact: Catherine Thurtle , ad:tech, t. +44(0)20-3180-6594, catherinethurtle at dmgevents.com Or Christophe Asselin, ad:tech, t. +44(0)20-3180-6678, christopheasselin at dmgevents.com