Study to Examine How Microsites Engage Customers

In a press release out today on Businesswire, Keynote Competitive Research announced that is has commenced a study that will run through November 15, 2007 on how well promotional/interactive advertising engages consumers. Many large consumer product companies have launched tangential microsites that provide branded entertainment focused around a single product.

A good example of this is Unilever’s I Can’t Believe It Is Not Butter’s Mediterranean Island Paradise . This is an interactive companion site to the butter substitute’s main website, which promotes the new Mediterranean blend of the product. To drive traffic to the site, Unilever launched a sweepstakes to win a Mediterranean trip. On the island, there are interactive puzzles and a “Fabio fone” which allows users to interact with the product’s long time spokesman, Fabio. Unilever also has a microsite for the spray version of the product called “Sprays in the City.”

The results of the study will be published in early December. Aggregated measurements to be captured include:

Number of interactions with each site

Number of hovers on the site

How long consumers spent exploring the site

How satisfied were consumers with their experience

Did consumers know how to interact

Were consumers frustrated

Brand impact and brand perception metrics