Washington, D.C. - Spectrum, a full service communications firm based in Washington, D.C., announced today landmark findings from a recent women's reproductive health campaign that reveal definitive proof that online advertising, when used as an exclusive communications vehicle, has the power to impact audience opinions and awareness levels.
"Online advertising has always been considered a supplement or component of a larger communications strategy," said Katherine Maynard, Chief Operating Officer of Spectrum. "The results of this campaign are groundbreaking for the online ad industry because we now have empirical evidence that this medium is as versatile and powerful as television, radio and print."
Spectrum partnered with Chong + Koster for this campaign and RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association to develop the program aimed at raising awareness of family building options, such as embryo donation. The campaign was funded with a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Initial testing and market research showed lackluster potential for reaching the target audience of women 25-55 through traditional public service announcements and earned media outreach.
The latest data from Forrester Research shows that 56 percent of adults online who are both consuming information as well as contributing updated content are female. Of this audience, 70 percent are over 30 years old, suggesting targeted online advertising as the most promising medium to reach the audience, deliver the message and impact awareness. Online advertising allows for geo-targeting by demographics and zip code and real-time scalability with regard to audience reach and project budget, two essential components of the campaign. Additionally, Spectrum conducted careful monitoring of the online conversation around infertility to understand the most effective way to reach and connect with the audience.
A baseline survey was taken before and after the online campaign and the results showed a significant increase in the awareness of embryo donation among the target demographics of women of childbearing age. Spectrum was able to effectively move the needle from little or no awareness of embryo donation as a family building option to an increase in awareness and positive feelings about the process. This was all done using solely online promotion.
"The targeting options of Internet ads combined with the specific focus of the campaign provided an ideal formula for this campaign," Maynard added. "The results demonstrate the potential of these methods in delivering strategic communications efforts and are significant for anyone involved in audience-specific messaging, regardless of budget or brand recognition because of the scaling options available."
Katherine Maynard is available to discuss the use and effectiveness of digital tools in strategic communications. To arrange an interview, contact Spectrum by phone at (202) 955-6222.
The RESOLVE campaign was made possible by grant number EAAPA081008-
