How NOT to Save Online Advertising

Putting aside for the moment the fact that I actually believe we shouldn’t try to save advertising, here’s a great way NOT to save advertising (if you’re into that sort of thing.)

It probably won’t work after today, but go to this link and this link, and I suspect many others around the web.  If you can’t find it, it looks like this:

When you go to the page for the first time, you begin to read whatever you’re there for (which in my case was the description of some watch on Uncrate.)  After a few seconds, in other words, once you’ve read a line or two, this ridiculous ad pushes the whole page down about 400 pixels, which means you’re no longer reading about some unconventional watch that you’d consider buying.

Instead, you’re thinking about how annoying Nokia is for doing this to you.  And Uncrate, to be fair.  It takes two to tango, and Uncrate is the one whose business is built entirely on selling ad space, so let’s not pick on the advertiser solely.

It reminds me of the Gaping Void cartoon that I linked a few months back:

And sure enough, this ad makes me want to punch Nokia in the face.  But I’ll refrain if the CEO drops by my office today.

The point is that slash-and-burn tactics like this may have the momentary effect of (slightly) goosing results, but they degrade the medium for everyone, for good.  It’s just as I said the other day, if this works a little, we’ll see 100 or 1000 times more of it, the effect will wear off and the user and the advertiser ultimately suffer.

Sellers of advertising, hear my words: help your advertisers create value by introducing them to customers in a way that involves getting the customer’s legitimate interest and buy-in.  I can’t tell you exactly how to do that.  That’s your job.

But as the CEO of an e-commerce company in growth mode, I’m always looking for ways to grow and I’ve got a stack of money to spend to do it.   Currently, very, very few outlets with traditional or even semi-traditional advertising are getting any of the stack because they lack the imagination to connect me to their audiences effectively.

But that’s just me.  If you think shoving your product under the unwilling noses of potential customers (but probably just strangers who will hate you a little more for annoying them), by all means, get out your checkbook.

Just do me a favor and tell me in a few months, honestly, how the ROI on the campaign was.  Not the campaign “seemed” to work or that you raised awareness, but that it worked in terms of creating customer preference and action.

Because if advertising isn’t doing that, it’s pretty much just bad content.