Who needs ad formats that won't engage users?

8 February 2007

From Dean Donaldson, business development manager, Eyeblaster



I was surprised by the comments of some senior media figures in the front page article 'Digital agencies slam portals' inventory for limiting creativity (NMA 25.01.07).

Would it really make that much of a difference if publishers allowed sound on as default? The reality is that online, less then 5% turn sound on in a video ad. Users don't often have audio enabled on their PCs either, if they even have speakers.

Still, many brands assume that shoving their TV ad into a broadband friendly 300x250 makes great advertising sense. They are then equally concerned when users don't click through (or don't switch the sound on). Users are no longer going to click on the ad just because it has video in it. While ads with video have demonstrated a greater brand awareness uplift, the novelty of video for video's sake has long worn off.

Regardless of audio, a branding medium like TV can't hope to have the same impact online if it only thinks like TV. Online video also shouldn't be validated by pure response metrics when online, especially if it's simply the TV ad shoe-horned into an MPU or expandable banner.

Still, some sectors of the industry - as in the original NMA article - criticise the apparent restrictions in creativity. Of course, publishers should ensure that brands can express themselves as creatively as possible online. But the apparent restrictions they cite are the wrong way of looking at advertising standards and portals' own ad formats. The free-for-all of five years ago had to be reined in for many reasons, the main reason being that, like with user initiated sound, it conflicted with the user experience. Ad formats and standards don't hamper creativity, they hone it.

No-one knows the audience better than the sites themselves. Users have matured online and largely expect predictability around content. In fact, MSN has recently revamped its homepage formats so that they are more in line with those user expectations.

The creative knowledge, and the technology available to deploy that creative, is developing all the time. More creative agencies are getting to grips with the medium and are delivering highly engaging executions. We should be less fixated with how TV, cinema, or direct mail mediums work online and more concerned with how creative should be matched to succeed in a medium that has taught us so much about how to deliver impactful results.

The real beauty of online is that it's a fluid medium - continually changing over time to accommodate creativity, technology, and most important, user behaviour.