Advertising gurus meet to discuss the Web

NEWS Branding experts from the world's biggest corporate companies, including Levi Strauss and Coca Cola, will gather in Cincinnati next week to discuss the future of Internet advertising. Procter & Gamble (P&G) is hosting the forum in an attempt to move online advertising beyond the simple banner ad. The Future of Advertising Stakeholders Summit (Fast), which is already fully booked, boasts keynote speeches from @Home Network, America Online, Jupiter Communications and Time Warner. Denis Beausejour, vice president of advertising for P&G worldwide, will provide the keynote speech. "Online advertising will dwarf the power of traditional media to build relationships with consumers," said Beausejour in a recent speech. He cited narrow bandwidth and unreliable measurements of usage as barriers to progress. But he also blamed the mentality of marketers, who he said are not pushing the banner model forward. A spokeswoman for P&G said: "Banner ads can work, but tend not to be interactive enough. We aim to introduce a model based on richness and rewards, where consumers are compelled by interactivity. Our Always and Scope campaigns offer personalised product recommendations and entertainment services as rewards," she said. Beausejour cited pop-up windows offering drag and drop puzzles and virtual kissograms as examples of Procter & Gamble's proposed "click within" approach. "When ads behave like hyperlinks, they send people away," said the spokeswoman. "It's more effective to keep people on site." The Fast Summit will be held on August 20 and 21.