Swedish Businesses Following Consumers Online

A survey from eMarketer reveals some interesting data on the Swedish online advertising market. Swedish advertisers are moving full force into online advertising in Europe’s most wired country. But there is fairly widespread dissatisfaction with online advertising among Swedish Internet users.

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?1003483

This item has both good and bad news for Sweden’s directory industry, which has already gone multi-platform. In 2004, market leader Eniro generated almost 33 percent of its revenues in Sweden from online and voice services (including DA).

One possible inference from the apparent disconnect between advertisers and consumers is that advertisers are ahead of consumers in terms of adopting online advertising. Another is that online advertising has done a better job of alienating than persuading consumers.

However, when 72 percent of Swedish advertisers (a number derived from a sample of just 89) say they use online advertising, it can’t just be based on following the fad. Swedish consumers are online and advertisers know they need to be there. The key perhaps is to be there when consumers look for them, rather than trying to force themselves into the consumer’s field of vision. This speaks to the power of online directional media.