Despite burning millions of pounds on high-profile ad campaigns, dot.com brands are failing to connect with customers, according to a new report from consultant Interbrand.

Interbrand says that while online brands such as Amazon, Lastminute and Tesco Direct have succeeded in creating basic awareness, they are not striking the emotional bond with customers that is enjoyed by their offline counterparts.

The report comes at a time when there is intense shareholder scrutiny on dot.com marketing strategies due to plummeting share prices.

This week online auction brand QXL decided to scrap major ad campaigns in favour of a more sales-driven approach.

The report criticises online brands for continuing to focus on the "functional" aspects of their business such as price or speed of delivery, which offer only short-term competitive advantage, rather than building the essential element of brand "trust".

It says that even the best-known online brands lag a long way behind traditional brands in terms of the perceived authority and the relevance to consumers' lives that drive purchasing decisions.

Jez Frampton, managing director of Interbrand's interactive arm, said: "Creating pure brand awareness in the early stages is okay, but many dot.coms are now beyond that and need to make unique service promises."

Interbrand says Tesco's online delivery service, TescoDirect, had attained less than 50% of the customer commitment enjoyed by its supermarket brand.

"Traditional companies are not thinking hard enough about how to put their traditional businesses online," said Mr Frampton, "There needs to be greater understanding of the softer side of why customer might be buying from them."