SpectatorBytes

I recently came across an article in Ad Age that urged us to think differently and consider a scenario in which the Web is not a medium suited for advertising (Think Different: Maybe the Web’s Not a Place to Stick Your Ads). While the argument is well constructed, I believe the author may reach a premature conclusion, probably because his argument is primarily based on evidence available to date.

Today, direct marketers (also known as direct response advertisers) account for the majority of online advertising spending. Most brand ad spending on the Web appears to remain experimental in nature or seeks to deliver direct marketing results (i.e., generating registrations, engaging with a corporate site, etc). This direct marketing dominance has created an environment in which the focus of ad solutions centers on generating responses from audience rather than creatively engaging audiences with brands. Current Ad display formats (e.g., banners) have been primarily designed a s direct marketing tools.

While I appreciate the value of direct marketing, one needs to recognize that consumers over time tend to develop a fatigue with this type of advertising. This is a bit what seems to be happening on the Web right now. Consumers may be turning a blind eye to online direct marketing efforts. Think Junk mail is only junk when I am not interested in the products that I am being offered.

However, this phenomenon does not mean that the Web is not a medium where advertising is welcome. The success of Google ads is evidence of the power of online ads when these are relevant and unobtrusive to the product experience. While consumers are increasingly more discerning about advertising messages and experiences, this does not mean that consumers do not like to be marketed. Consumers like brands and have demonstrated a willingness to build a relationship with those brands (HotorNot’s Hotlists provide a good example). The Web provides an ideal medium for brand advertisers to bond with their core customer base. We just need to provide brand marketers with better solutions.

Brand advertising still needs to come to the Web (see my previous post Brand Revenues: What will it take to move brand advertisers online?). New ad formats and solutions are needed to scale online brand spending. These new solutions will probably have to satisfy the following tenants to succeed:
- Help brands engage (create links) with their customers; Leverage applications and content to do so
- Productize offerings to scale – enable campaign uniqueness through templatized customization
- Focus on delivering relevance; obsessed over it – use performance metrics and consumer data (as long as permission is granted) to do that
- Put users in control; enable them to easily access as well as dispose of brand advertisements

The Internet has become such a big part of the lives of consumers that brand advertisers cannot afford to stay on the sidelines. As a result, we are about to enter an age of innovation in advertising formats. Brand advertisers have begun to demand for new ways to participate on the Web and this would lead to new startups focused on delivering new formats that effectively serve the needs of brand advertisers, and deliver on the unique value of the Web as a marketing channel.

Ultimately, in a couple of years, the online advertising experience can be expected to be more enjoyable (less direct marketing ads) and more productive (think fashion magazines).