The Rise of AggregatorsWhat are the implications?

Jamie RiddellDirector

Jamie.riddell@cheeze.com

Introduction: Cheeze particulars…

• Part of Digital Marketing Group plc

• Offices in London & Ipswich

• Turnover of £14 million in 2007

• 35 employees

• IPA, DMA & SEMPO Accredited

A brief history of online aggregators

• Moneysupermarket is one of the oldest aggregators online and launched “.com” in 1999

• Travelsupermarket was launched in 2004

• Increased presence, investment and development since 2006

• Heavy TV advertising pushing ‘convenience’, ‘speed’ and ‘one-stop-shop’

• Proprietary technology has advanced and XML schema’s are being rolled out across all sectors

Aggregator Traffic

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

Sep-07 Oct-07 Nov-07 Dec-07 Jan-08 Feb-08 Mar-08 Apr-08 May-08 Jun-08 Jul-08 Aug-08

Month

(00

0)

Un

iqu

e A

ud

ien

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ComparetheMarket.com Confused.com FT.com Gocompare.com MoneySupermarket.com Times Online

Why are they popular?

How can you feature?

Banners

Text Link

Sponsorship

Button

XML Feed Placements (Home, Motor)

Why do we use aggregators?

VolumeBrandMedia

MixAccount-ability

Control

Volume = mass market access

2,772,000 U/A

Source: Neilsen Netratings September 2008

726,000 U/A

978,000 U/A

312,000 U/A

Be ‘bigger’ than you are

Take advantage of their advertising

Gain access to ‘pre qualified’ audience

Benefit from repeat visitors

Cross sell!

Aggregators allow you to build your brand

Source: Neilsen Netratings September 2008

Take advantage of ‘walled garden’ product areas

Chose which products are shown

Chose where you are shown

Appear in their TV campaigns

‘Out-shout’ your competition

Begin a relationshipthrough CRM

Aggregators are accountable

Accountability

Reporting packages offered to suit budget & brief

Integrate aggregator tracking within your

current online campaigns

Better understand length and path of customer journey

Data supplied direct to you/your Call centre

Third party adserving accepted

Track through to purchaseTrack through to ROI

Data not opinion

Aggregators can form an integral part of your Media Mix

AggregatorDirect Online Marketing:

Search

Online BrandingDisplay Advertising

OfflineMarketing:

Affiliates

Search Engine Optimisation

‘Natural traffic’

Aggregators offer control over pricing

Chose the aggregator(s) you want to use Pricing models:

•CPA•CPC•Tenancy•CPM•Sponsorship

Negotiate six month/ 1 year deals

Implications

Positive Negative

There is a “partner benefit” from the mass brand awareness of aggregators

Sustain your Paid & Natural search

Are you paying for the same customer twice? (common theory) -Aggregator -Conversion through PPC

But, do the maths! Positive ROI

Implications

Positive Negative

Aggregator deals are negotiable

Fix your CPA deal and manage your PPC campaigns/costs

Your position on an aggregator site may not reflect what your feel is your brand position in the marketplace.

Implications

Positive Negative

Your presence on an aggregator site could help boost your brand credibility

Price competition means service & value offer play a small part in the decision making process.

What does this mean for insurers?

However:

• Risk of over-dependency

• Their contractual terms can be aggressive

• Their IT requirements can be expensive & demanding

• Aggregator sales team service levels are (generally) poor

Who can afford to miss out on 2.7m unique users?

Implications

• Benefits currently outweigh drawbacks

• Commercial and Personal products can all benefit from an aggregator presence

• We need to understand them to use them properly

• We need to be prepared for them to ‘disappear’, are you over-reliant on them for sales?

• They must be part of a mixed media schedule

The Future

• Online sales will continue to grow – whether direct or via paid advertising

• Aggregators spend a significant amount to attract their customers, & if this spend declines, will their traffic follow?

• Use their success to develop your own site – customers want an easy quote process & a good price !

Growth Service 5 Star Rating

New Aggregators?

Plateau for MSM?

Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers / Internet Advertising Bureau, The Advertising Association / WARC: WARC estimate for directories.

Online drives the whole market

-3.2%

4.0% 4.6%

9.9%

-0.3%

2.3% 2.8%

-6.5%

38%Year on year growth for 2007

Total advertising market growth = 4.3%

Any Questions?

www.cheeze.com