Unilever Maximizes Brand Awareness
Best Media Mix Has Online in the Lead

TORONTO, ON, May 26, 2005 - The Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada (IAB), today announced results of its fifth Canadian Media Optimization (CMOST) study completed with Unilever Canada and Unilever's agency PHD Canada. The study, which utilized a media mix of magazine, outdoor, television and online advertising to market a new line of skincare products for women, demonstrated both a media-multiplying effect as well as the crucial role that online advertising can play in maximizing key brand metrics.

"Unilever has effectively used cross-media advertising campaigns to reach consumer markets in the past. The results of this CMOST study not only supports that multi-media marketing approach, but also gives us deeper insight into exactly how the various mediums can work together in a synergistic manner," said Carla Malin, Dove Brand Manager for Unilever Canada. The campaign, designed to launch Dove's Sensitive Essentials skincare line, was targeted to 18-49 year-old, English-speaking women, with sensitive skin.

In addition to key brand metrics such as awareness, favourability and intent to purchase, the study used econometric - or "what if" - modelling to measure the ROI and percent impact of various media and spending options in maximizing brand awareness.

Key findings include:

• The addition of online and/or outdoor advertising to a combination of television and print advertising lifted aided advertising awareness by over 33 percent.
• The combination of television, print and online was especially effective in increasing brand attribute scores against this very specific female target group versus television alone.
• Online advertising out performed television in terms of raising purchase intent for the products, however, the combination of television, print and online maximized purchase intent an astounding 47 percent higher than what was achieved by using television alone.
• The study revealed television's enhanced ability to reach the 35-49 year-old segment of the female target group, while online did a more efficient job of reaching the 18-34 year-old cohort.
• ROI analysis also demonstrated that within the same over all budget, aided brand awareness would have been best achieved, by reducing television and outdoor channel spends and instead, increasing dollars allocated to print and online. In fact, according to the modelling, aided awareness would have been best maximized by funneling a full 40 percent of the budget into online.

"This first-ever, CMOST-based ROI modelling for a Canadian packaged-goods advertiser of this size and importance represents a major step forward in helping the entire Canadian marketing and advertising industry understand the impact that optimizing the media mix can have," said Paula Gignac, IAB Executive Director. "And the fact that aided brand awareness was maximized by a scenario involving 40 percent of the total ad spend going into the online channel, represents what can only be described as a watershed moment in interactive advertising in particular."

IAB's Canadian Media Optimization (CMOST) research is a unique program in Canada and is managed by BrandSpark International on behalf of the IAB.

For more information, or to determine if your company might qualify to participate in future CMOST research contact either:

President, IAB Canada

Brent Bernie
President comScore Media Metrix comScore Canada Inc.

Robert Levy
Brandspark International

The Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada is the national voice of the Canadian Interactive marketing and advertising industry, and is a not-for-profit association representing a membership composed of publishers, agencies, advertisers and interactive service associates.

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