Death to the banner ad, long live brand stories
Adweek has an interesting article about sponsored blog posts and sites like Gawker and Digg “lending a hand with brands looking to fit into their environments without being relegated to the sidelines with run-of-the-mill banner ads”. I think this is a very smart proposition because it is one way for a brand to get access to a section of their audience that would be very difficult to reach otherwise. They mention the example of Federated Media crafting a sponsored blog post for Virgin America, in the design-conscious Apartment Therapy blog, that spoke of Virgin’s plush leather seats and soft lighting. The idea was to distinguish Virgin from low-cost competitors like Southwest Airlines.
Now obviously there could be issues if a post is not keeping with the general tone of a blog, but if the publisher does this on the brand’s behalf, it’s a win-win situation. Obviously there will be critics but hey, there isn’t such a thing as a free lunch. Running a website isn’t completely without its costs.
One thing I can tell you as a reader of multiple blogs is that I just gloss over banner ads. They’re almost invisible to me. This particular Apartment Therapy post isn’t the best example, but if a post was particularly witty and just happened to be sponsored, you’re not going to get me complaining at all. It’s all about engaging the reader. Banner ads are an example of one-way communication and are definitely not engaging. A blog post, on the other hand, can tell a whole story.
12 comments
I happily agree with you but with one caveat; to ensure that the target market read blogs or similar websites.
I totally agree with you about sponsored blog posts being effective ways of telling a brand story. However, I wouldn’t say banner ads aren’t engaging. It really depends on the ad. There are very striking ads that are really engaging. Take, the UNICEF ads by TGB – http://www.tbglondon.com/
http://www.tbglondon.com/
Hi Mike – couldn’t see an actual example of the ad, though I found multiple press releases, so I’m not sure how effective it is. I know there are SOME ads that are creative, and in the case of a nonprofit like UNICEF it is likely to evoke some emotion and hence possibly response, but it is unlikely even then that it will have a long-standing impact. Banner ads are one-offs, and in terms of truly engaging the reader, their reach is very limited.
Have a look at their folio and then click on UNICEF.
http://www.tbglondon.com/work/creative-portfolio/
http://www.tbglondon.com/work/creative-portfolio/
They have an MPU on there which I think is a good example of a pretty engaging banner ad. Essentially, their objective is to sign people up for direct debit. It was a massive success on that front. And you could say the same about chuggers on the street. People hate them but charities keep on using them because fundamentally, they get sign-ups and they work.
I’ve seen banner ads for cat food, laser eye surgery and mobile phones that, although they aren’t emotionally engaging, on a very marginal level they actually shift products. You might have 60m impressions with a conversion rate of 0.1% that translates into sales 4x what you spend on media. And although the number of people that actually look at or even click on the link is microscopic, it can be successful for the brand because there’s a return there. That kind of success shouldn’t really be ignored.
I think we have to be really careful not to make a case for the ‘end of display advertising’ because fundamentally, this stuff makes money and isn’t going to go away any time soon.
OK saw it, thanks.
I don’t deny that it is important to make money (and I like your example of the chuggers on the street) – but the question then is does creativity have a place in the whole ‘social’ makeup of things? Do you like being approached by the chuggers? I doubt it. Similarly I don’t like banner ads. I’m much more inclined to notice something that speaks TO me rather than AT me. And that’s a choice brands need to make – or perhaps a happy medium of sorts.
Thanks for your comment Nick – completely agree. Has to be relevant.
Yeah, I totally agree about the kind of approach you’re describing. Otherwise I wouldn’t be doing the work I’m doing right now ;-)
But as far as the choice you mentioned goes, I would be inclined to think that the ‘medium of sorts’ is where we’re going to find many brands choose. I believe that the healthiest and most pragmatic approaches online involve a good combination of paid and earned media. The earned stuff needs to be about innovation, utility, customer-service, conversations and downright awesome-ness, but it will always be underpinned by paid stuff to give the earned stuff really good kick-start.
Despite all the talk of the media revolution, I think many of the practices that exist in advertising and marketing are still very solid and useful for people working at the cutting edge. To borrow a pretty glib phrase, we don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
I’d disagree – banner ads CAN tell a story, if run on the same sites with multiple ‘episodes’ told over a series of banners – they’d be quite entertaining if they’d only be done well!
One of the biggest drivers for this post is the fact that I haven’t seen any banner stories, ever. If you could point me in the direction of one, I’d be very interested to take a look :) I don’t think a banner is the right platform for a story, in general, which is perhaps why none have been done?
Here’s a few that I think tell decent stories.
http://www.bannerblog.com.au/2009/08/johnsons_baby_50_years.php
http://www.bannerblog.com.au/2007/09/proanima_twirly.php
http://www.bannerblog.com.au/2007/09/animal_perigoso_dangerous_animal.php
http://www.bannerblog.com.au/2007/09/fantasy_interactive_job_interview.php
http://www.bannerblog.com.au/2009/08/johnsons_baby_50_years.php
http://www.bannerblog.com.au/2007/09/proanima_twirly.php
http://www.bannerblog.com.au/2007/09/animal_perigoso_dangerous_animal.php
http://www.bannerblog.com.au/2007/09/fantasy_interactive_job_interview.php
It is truth what ever you are saying with blog posting and I am agree with your writing.
I don’t know ANYONE who clicks ads willingly. What world are you guys living in?
Incidentally, I’m beginning to hope for more targeted ads, at least based on the key demographics of websites, because the last thing I need when I’m watching South Park or something is a women’s deodorant ad played repeatedly.