I have 6 years’ worth of experience managing, implementing, strategising and innovating in display, and never in its fledgling history has there been as much scrutiny aimed at deconstructing the value of the medium.

Yet, it is odd that now is the time of scrutiny – display ad spend grew 20% between 2009 and 2010 (IAB UK 28^th March), the industry is abuzz with talk of demand side platforms, real time bidding, ad exchanges, yield optimisers, retargeting and the like so why criticise a channel that has now found a way to drive value for its advertisers?

Why is display media under such scrutiny?
We now live in an age of austerity, every penny of marketing money spent must be accountable, this is where agencies such as iCrossing have stolen a march on the traditional media buying agencies. iCrossing live and breathe the results they drive for their clients and at the same time marketers want more return from their marketing budgets – a perfect fit!

The rise of PPC & SEO and the continued growth of affiliate marketing has seen the prominence of the “Last Click Wins” (LCW) model being adopted by marketers the world over. This has meant that Display has taken a back seat to these channels, as well as Mobile.  Display fell to the bottom of the pile because marketers are prioritising LCW channels and more innovative emerging platforms over the “old lady” of digital marketing.

Display’s role has always been push (and will always remain in part) whilst PPC, SEO & affiliates are pull. Marketers are scrutinising Display because it rarely delivers last click conversions, however display has never been about LCW, it’s always been about brand. With recent technology innovations in the market, display is now combining brand with direct – another perfect combination!

What tactics can we use to increase the efficiency of Display?
Display is fusing with search – it has become automated and data driven. Real Time Bidding (RTB) has helped fuel the display recovery. We’ve found at iCrossing that the advent of RTB is a key way to drive efficiency in media buying for our clients.

For direct response clients, gone are the days of buying media environments, we now buy audiences and data – we can target millions of users online and not waste a single impression. Automated buying of display inventories similar to the search auction model has been adopted by a new generation of digital marketers as this way of buying media has become second nature to those familiar with working with Google AdWords.

Search display retargeting has also helped to fuel the recent growth in display. Here we will retarget users that do not convert by clicking on a paid search ad and then deliver a display banner to those users specifically until they convert. This tactic has become an extension to and is a part off the majority of all of iCrossing’s PPC campaigns.

Creative Retargeting – companies such as Criteo and Struq are leading the charge allowing advertisers to retarget any non-converting traffic and then retargeting users with display ads based on specifically the products they have shown an interest in. For example, you could be on a fashion retailer’s website, check out a pair of sunglasses but not purchase. Creative retargeting will then deliver a display ad, specifically featuring the pair of sunglasses you just looked a within the display advert. This functionality can be further enhanced and also feature other sunglasses similar in style to what I just looked at – all with the aim of delivering a relevant in banner experience to the user.

Essentially both techniques ensure that display ads are only ever being targeted at users that have expressed intent and interest in a specific item, moving display from push to pull. However display doesn’t necessarily need to drive to the bottom of the purchase funnel.

A recent display campaign iCrossing ran for a travel client, wanted to find and reach audiences that were not familiar with their brand. Display is a perfect medium for this as we were being asked to push the message out to new online audiences. By leveraging RTB we were able to increase reach exponentially as we were targeting websites that the client had never appeared on before. The added bonus for the client was not only that they were able to reach new audiences; they were also able to drive revenue from these new audiences too. We also extended this campaign by adding Creative Retargeting, Video Advertising, and Social Targeting which drove incredible results with a fantastic ROI for the client.

Why marketers need a Display strategy as a part of their digital mix?
Marketers are stuck between a rock and a hard place – wanting to be both innovative and creative whilst driving results. RTB and creative retargeting are driving the display renaissance; they deliver innovation, dynamic creative, and drive results, making them essential for any client’s digital campaign.

The problem for marketers is not the willingness to run display campaigns, but the understanding of what value display adds to the mix. From my personal point of view, it is quite obvious it delivers brand awareness to specifically targeted audiences and when you combine that with the new innovative targeting options available online, display delivers targeted brand messages which help to convert the user from a prospect to a conversion. The other point is that PPC and Display are complimentary channels; we saw for one of our clients that there was a significant increase in brand search volume when we ran display and search simultaneously. Display therefore can have a positive effect on other digital channels in the digital marketing mix.

The prominence of attribution modelling has both helped and hindered display. Attribution modelling has been positive in that it allows advertisers a more holistic view of how the various channels work together to drive conversions, therefore it allows advertisers the opportunity to apportion credit to each of the channels in how they contributed to that final conversion. This means that display can be credited if users see the display banner early on in the purchase pathway and further into the purchase pathway – great! On the opposite side of the coin, attribution modelling can often be seen as complicated without a ‘one size fits’ all approach for companies wishing to implement. It is something that marketers must be aware of in the future as the area develops.

Will Attribution Modelling save display?
Display doesn’t need saving. Display is back, and the IAB figures outlined earlier in this piece prove that there is significant increased investment in the platform coming in from advertisers and agencies alike. Also every commercially viable website out there sells banner space, either directly or via a third party, meaning that there will always be display media opportunities out there to leverage. What will save display is on-going innovation. Display in 2011 – data driven, dynamic and scalable is a far different proposition from what display was in 2000 vs. what it was like in 1994. This constant evolution will ensure display is used for many years to come.

Attribution modelling will help fuel further insights into the value of display for marketers, which can only be a good thing. However, what we need are easily understandable, actionable insights into how the display channel works in relation to the others in the digital mix – this is where we need to focus in the future.

In summary
What role does display play in the digital marketing mix? Done correctly, through the right tactics, it drives both brand awareness and influences and helps to drive conversion. It has a positive effect on brand search volume and helps marketers deliver users an engaging online brand experience. Arguably none of the other digital channels can deliver what display delivers in this sense, making it the most highly unique within the mix.

RTB, search display retargeting and creative retargeting have reignited advertiser’s interest in display and are driving the current market renaissance. However until there is an easy to digest way of attributing the value across an advertiser’s multiple marketing touch points and marketers are prepared not to judge display solely on LCW then this will hamper the (re)adoption of display by the majority of direct response advertisers.

Does display media have a role to play in today’s digital media mix? Yes!