“Digital is unlike any other medium and should not be viewed using traditional benchmarks.”

This statement from McCann COO Joe Burton encapsulates the reason that the new 4A’s Marketers Guide series publication, "Understanding the Economics of Digital Compared to Traditional Advertising and Media Services,” is a must read for our industry.

Agency and marketer communities will benefit from having a better understanding of the economics of digital services (compared with traditional advertising and media services). Burton’s book examines the Web 2.0 landscape, explains the cost and services differences between traditional and digital spaces, debunks common myths and provides insights to help ease the migration to digital for both advertisers and agencies.

The 4A’s is pleased to announce that “A Marketer’s Guide to Understanding the Economics of Digital Compared to Traditional Advertising and Media Services” by Joe Burton is now available. 

In this book, Mr. Burton explains that effective commission rates or reach and frequency targets used to measure traditional mediums have no correlation to Digital. The inputs and outputs are not comparable, and the high-volume, low-dollar, high-complexity nature of Digital programs makes it the most labor-intensive medium in the advertising industry. Burton explores the key drivers that contribute to the (seemingly) higher costs of Digital advertising and media agency services when compared to traditional marketing services, and he stipulates that “these issues require resources and drive a cost of providing basic Digital services that is directionally double that of traditional ‘full-service’ agency fees, when expressed per dollar of media spend.”

Dave Beals of Jones Lundin Beals lends his perspective on why you should read "A Marketer’s Guide to Understanding the Economics of Digital Compared to Traditional Advertising and Media Services": “This publication is excellent in terms of clearly laying out what drives digital services costs, and the clear differences between digital and traditional execution. And hey, the glossary alone would justify the cost of the book!”

The 4A’s would like to thank Joe Burton, Michael Farmer, Bob Quinn and the faculty of industry experts that contributed to this outstanding document.