Customized Multi-channel Marketing - hosted by L2Online Ads Gone Bad
Published by Ariel just before lunchtime on July 17th, 2006 in Alternative Marketing, Advertising.
I was reading through interesting-looking articles from my RSS feeds and the following line in one article caught my eye:
The many ads she saw during the test failed to engage her attention, regardless of how intrusive they were.
That word, "regardless," speaks volumes about the business of online advertising as it has been practiced for the last few years. Recent studies, like the one discussed in this interview with the article’s writer, lead me to hope that some of the most heinous practices will be reduced or abandoned.
When the web was new(er) and online ads were novel, you could catch some clicks with flashy banners and popups. Now, experience has jaded us and these intrusive tactics are a surefire way to turn off your prospects. For the short list of what not to do, head to the final page of "What Users Hate About Online Ads."
Now, I’ve been meaning to riff on this for a week or so but kept getting distracted. Thanks to Ms. Ochman for writing this today and pointing me to an interview with Fark.com’s Drew Curtis who discusses the online ads that do well at Fark and the ones that flop (about a third of the way through the interview).
In general, online ads that do well are ones that inspire trust. Branding, disclosure, informational content, and granting the user control of the media are all ways to build that trust.
the astounding part is that ad agencies are failing to evolve. PR firms at least talk about the need to change. Ad agencies just dig in and keep annoying us. It's sad, really, that they don't see the writing on the wall about their ultimate demise.
I don't think that there are enough customers asking the ad agencies to change yet. The deep pockets are still weighted on the side of "tried and true" even with the diminishing returns that "tried and true" is delivering.
Eventually (hopefully), there will be enough successful social media and new marketing experiments out there that the numbers and studies will convince the 800 lb gorillas to tell their agencies to catch up. Hard to believe but we are still in the early days of communicating this way and the tools and approaches are always evolving.
Heck, I was feeling all sad and glum about being late to the blogging party until Britt came back from the round table and revealed that even here in the valley, she was the only one in the room working for a company with a corporate blog.
It'll come. Slowly, but we'll keep working towards it with folks like you leading the way. (I am an unrepentant optimist.)