'Net Features : banner ads

Dissecting Display Advertising's Rebound

Mike Phillips — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 19:30:00 GMT

Display advertising is making a comeback. Across the board, display ad spending is up and across all mediums, too -- banner ads, rich media and video, included. But what's leading this resurgence, and how can advertisers take advantage of it? For answers, we spoke with Iggy Fanlo, CEO of adBrite in this week's edition of Website Magazine Radio.

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Three Brilliant and Inspiring Animated Advertisements

Mike Phillips — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 18:51:00 GMT

Traditional banner ads have a long history. They experienced a heyday before the dot-com bust, saw a revival with Google AdSense, then saw click-through rates drop steeply as consumers succumbed to "banner blindness."

Yet, banner-style ads are still alive and well. Some are even thriving. Navigate to a few major media sites these days (and even smaller websites) and you will see a growing trend of animated ads; those that go beyond a three-frame rotation by featuring scrolling text, animated images and even interactivity. It seems these ads are on the upswing and to some, for good reason.

The arguments for animated advertisiments usually center around engagement. These ads tend to draw the user's eye toward the ad, encouraging deep branding, or engagement via a click. Working against these ads is the fact that they typically take longer to load than a traditional static ad and can draw the user away from the content -- a plus for the advertiser but often a negative for the publisher.

That said, it's hard to ignore a good online ad when you see one ... at least, hard for me to ignore. The three ads below are creatively animated, compelling and do a great job of not only conveying a message but branding a company on its strengths and consumer needs. Let's have a look.

Mrs. Dash

This ad is both animated and interactive. It features a series of panels that the user can scroll through, each resulting in a new image of a dish prepared with Mrs. Dash seasoning. Click "Print Recipe" at the bottom of each image and a new tab opens in the browser with a print-ready page featuring full instructions on preparation and even full nutritional data.

Why it's brilliant: The ad is interactive and voluntary to the user, making it an experience more than just an ad. It offers value to the user as well. Instead of simply promoting a product, it introduces utility by offering several recipes. What's more, the recipes move the ad beyond the Web -- when printed, the ad moves into the home and the kitchen for further offline branding.

Klondike

What would you do for a Klondike bar? Maybe click an ad? This ad starts with the classic Klondike bar that then spilts into four pieces. Next, the pieces turn and split several times over, revealing all the varieties Klondike has to offer before ending with the classic Klondike bear and photos of a few of the new Klondike varieties.

Why it's brilliant: Klondike is known for one thing and that's the classic ice cream bar. In the ad, the bar is deconstructed -- a clear message that there's more behind Klondike than what you are accustomed to seeing. The splitting and spinning of images into new flavors gives the impression of a multitude of varieties of Klondike bars. What are they? You have to click to find out. One thing remains constant with this animated ad and that's the call-to-action at the bottom, "Click to Explore the Universe of Flavors." It's a clear, prominent message, something always desirable in an online ad.

DexKnows.com

This ad uses simple line drawings (animated, of course) to showcase a few common uses for the DexKnows product in an entertaining way. In the example here, a slice of pizza is drawn, then completed with the rest of the pie and the words "finding local restaurants." The next panel sketches a faucet and the next a stethoscope connected to a beating heart for finding local plumbers and doctors, respectively.

Why it's brilliant: The drawings are completed before the accompanying text, leaving the user to anticipate, then discover what the next drawing (and the product's utility) will be. It's very simple but entertaining and effective. The ad focuses on DexKnows' core offering -- local search -- reinforced four times during the short span of the ad. At the end of the animation all three drawings are present at the top, perhaps encouraging another spin of the ad to watch the items being drawn again.

Adgregate, UBL Provide SMBs with E-Commerce

MaureenA — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 09:00:00 GMT

Adgregate Markets and UniversalBusinessListing.org announced a partnership which will provide small business owners the opportunity to provide e-commerce solutions on their websites. Adgregate Markets is known for allowing Web professionals easier transformation of banner ads into ShopAds – widgets that assist consumers with purchasing products on websites.

This announcement provides UBL clients with an additional feature beyond SEO and online management which UBL already offers. UBL assists businesses with getting listed in online directories.

"Local businesses tend to underestimate the value of online marketing and ecommerce because of its cost and complexity," UBL President, Chris Travers said in the release. "UBL and Adgregate are changing that mindset altogether with Adgregate's turnkey, simple-to-use ShopAds platform. We're closing the technology gap between small and large businesses."

Does easy integration of e-commerce widgets encourage your involvement in the e-commerce industry?

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Uncovering Consumers' Real Online Ad Preferences

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:05:00 GMT

iPerceptions announced the results of a study that reveals insights into which types of online ads are popular with consumers. The analytics company collected user-generated feedback from 14,000+ visitors on consumer advertising preferences and their likelihood to click different types of ads appearing on leading media sites during the month of August 2008. The study found that (and budget-strapped marketers, this is where you will want to pay attention) consumers are most likely to click on simple text ads (25% of respondents). Display ads follow in popularity, with 20% of respondents likely to click on right banners and 12% likely to click on top banners.

Most noteworthy in my opinion however is that despite the overwhelming buzz, video ads are not very popular among most consumers; in fact, only 11% of consumers said they were likely to click on video ads. And 25 to 34 year-olds show no special affinity for video, being just as likely to click on video ads as text, right and top banners. The only consumers who seem to be engaged by video ads are young people under the age of 25, a group that accounts for nearly one-third of the video-ad viewing audience.

"Retail groups are predicting the toughest holiday season since 1991, so marketers need to make sure every dollar spent on advertising delivers an end result," said Jonathan Levitt, vice president of marketing at iPerceptions. "Our research shows that inexpensive banner and text ads are still preferred among web consumers. By having a direct dialog with consumers, we are able to know - with certainty - what consumers want and expect from their online experience."

The iPerceptions study also unearthed some important data about how income level and frequency of visits impact consumer ad preferences. As advertisers plan key media buys to boost sales during the upcoming holiday season, they would do well to plan marketing messages and targeting tactics around the study's finding that the likelihood that a person will click on an ad goes down as their income rises. On average, 40% of consumers likely to click on any ad make less than $50K a year - and only 15% make over $150K. The income gap is most pronounced with video ads, with 49% of consumers likely to click on video ads making less than $50K a year - and only 13% making over $150K. Web marketers and publishers should also note that clicks come from loyal audiences. Across the board, 65% of consumers likely to click on online ads are weekly or daily browsers, and only 15% are first-time visitors and 6% are sporadic visitors.