Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

How Can Online Advertising Improve?

Posted by Anonymous on 3/7/2013 at 10:40 PM ET 250 Points
We're trying out a new concept for our start-up and part of our mission is to improve advertising from a user experience perspective. At the same time we would like to offer a unique opportunity to advertisers, based on figuring out what in their opinion online/mobile/social advertising lacks nowadays. I've been following this forum for a while and thought you could provide some good insight into what could be done? All ideas will be helpful, please let your imagination run wild ;)
Also, if you could put some value on your ideas (e.g. I would pay 20% more if online/mobile ads could...) that would be great.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Moriarty on 3/8/2013 at 2:30 AM Accepted
    If the advertisements I see online - or on social media - are anything to go by there is one thing that is missing. Imagination. They all say the same thing and sell things in the same way they did back in the 1970s.

    This isn't something that is going to be easy to sell though. Most people want something new in the shape it was before - I saw it all the time with the guys from the plastics industry who wanted us to design something new. The designs you see in the market place today will have been on the drawing boards twenty years ago, only the bosses wanted something that looked the same. Out of twelve drawings you could guarantee two things - the two that the designers liked and disliked. The ones they disliked were the ones that looked too like the old design.

    And it's these ones that the bosses would choose.

    So the real problem isn't advertising, and it isn't what the customers want of advertising - it's the bosses and decision makers who get in between and stop it from happening.

    I'm sorry if this isn't the answer you wanted.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 3/8/2013 at 9:18 AM Accepted
    I would pay 20% more if I could be guaranteed to earn 50% more (for example).
    Ultimately - this is what sells - results.
  • Posted on 3/8/2013 at 3:22 PM Accepted
    Great advertising starts with great products. Advertising lousy products is a waste of money.

    So when you ask about improving the advertising experience, my response is that you first need to have a great product that delivers an important benefit. Once you have that, you simply need to lay out the benefit promise and explain the reason-why. The ADVERTISING doesn't need to be remarkable if the product isn't. And if the product IS, then you simply need to explain why and what it does that makes it unique.

    The "advertising experience" is not what people buy. They might notice it, but it's the SUBJECT of the advertising that ultimately generates a sale (and revenue for the advertiser). Great advertising communicates a legitimate, meaningful and important benefit -- or an emotional end-benefit. That's where I'd focus my energies, once you have a great product.

  • Posted on 3/8/2013 at 3:29 PM Moderator
    I would pay 1000% more if online/mobile ads could generate a positive ROI quickly. (You can make that 5000% or more, as long as the ROI is there.)

    It's not about how much you'd pay. It's about how much profit you generate.
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 3/8/2013 at 5:50 PM Accepted
    To improve advertising from the user point of view, stop advertising. Instead, engage in meaningful conversations that align with people's compulsions. It's less about what mobile lacks and more about what people are looking for.
  • Posted on 3/8/2013 at 6:12 PM Author
    Thanks everyone. I guess what I was trying to figure out is what kinds of ads you feel would give you a better ROI. Is there something specific you could think of relating to the way the ad is delivered? for example things like: undivided user attention, an opportunity to actually demo your product or provide a product trial, the fact that the user himself chooses to spend time watching the ad... I don't really have the perspective of a marketing pro, so just trying to understand what's considered relevant when choosing advertising space and what features that maybe aren't out there could be created to be able to give better ROI to advertisers.
    Sorry if I wasn't too clear in my initial question.
  • Posted on 3/8/2013 at 8:32 PM Moderator
    It depends on the industry and category, and the target audience, among other things. What's right for advertising a new car is probably not going to be right for advertising a shampoo. There is no generic answer, even if you limit the discussion to B2B or B2C.

    Some products need visual explanation; others don't. Some products are already familiar to the target audience; others are totally new. Some are services, some are sold in bricks-and-mortar stores, some are strictly online. There are retailers and distributors and manufacturers. You get the idea.

    There is no one-size-fits-all answer. Media selection is different for different target audiences. People who read People magazine are probably not the ones who read Field & Stream. People who watch daytime soap operas probably don't subscribe to National Geographic.

    The list of possible media combinations is almost endless. And advertising that works well in one medium may not work so well in another.
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