Newcomer shakes up online advertising market

"We are selling an audience, not a website," says Anthony Broadhurst, managing director of Fuel Ad Network. "Traditionally advertisers have placed ads on a particular website and these ads have been served to any person who happens to click on the page. With Fuel's network, advertisers can choose who they speak to and when, only serving ads to actual customers who fall into the specific target market."

After launching in South Africa a mere 12 weeks ago, Fuel Ad Network has already signed 16 clients including premier brand names such as Tiger Wheel and Tyre, Dating Buzz and Peach Mobile. Broadhurst believes that this success is a direct result of the high return on marketing investment delivered by its level of targeting.

"Advertisers are gradually realising that there is a more efficient way of spending money online and are now adopting this model. More importantly, our clients are already seeing the real benefits of this form of marketing," he says.

People use online marketing because it is an effective and measurable form of advertising but there is a need for a more efficient way of spending online budgets. "The advantage of a network is that you can target key audiences across a range of websites rather than being tied to a limited number of big brand publishers. While the brand synergies inherent in placing online advertising on a specific website may deliver to particular brand building aims, it is only by talking to the right audience that a true conversion of a target market is achieved," says Broadhurst.

The network purchasing model, although new to South Africa, has enjoyed international success. Broadhurst says, "Fuel Ad Network's business model has been tried and tested across the world with 80 percent of all online advertising in Europe being purchased through networks because they offer the best value to both advertisers and online publishers."

Broadhurst believes that now is the perfect time for companies to get involved in all aspects of online marketing, as the market is poised for growth. Online media usage saw a year-on-year increase of 48% in 2005. "The numbers suggest that growth is inevitable, but this can only happen if advertisers start seeing a better return on their advertising spend. Effective audience targeting is key to this," says Broadhurst.

Internet research company World Wide Worx expects 2008 to be the year of critical mass on the Internet for South Africa. "This will be the year that the number of Internet users with more than five years experience online will pass the 3-million mark," says Arthur Goldstuck, managing director of World Wide Worx.

Goldstuck calls this rise the "Experience Curve" and says, "In the next two years, both the pervasiveness of the Internet and the intensity with which it is used will finally make e-commerce a viable business sector in the country. That in turn will trigger uses and benefits from the Internet that we cannot imagine today."

"It is clear that the South African¹s online consumers are only going to be more active and companies wishing to capitalise on this captive market need to start understanding how to efficiently target and convert these customers," concludes Broadhurst.

About Fuel Ad Network
Fuel Ad Network is South Africa¹s first independent online advertising network, providing targeted advertising solutions to a number of South Africa¹s top brands. It enables advertisers to select and target specific audiences and offers publishers the opportunity to maximise their revenue.

Fuel Ad Network was opened in South Africa by one of the UK¹s largest independent online marketing companies; Deal Group Media Plc. Deal Group Media was founded in 1999 and listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2003.