Stemato.com - Stephen Tompkins’ Blog

Dynamic logic recently released a study that says graphic ads integrated into the content of a campaign drive better brand awareness than so-called framing ads that are on the edge of pages. Interestingly, these ads to seem to stick in my mind more but not because they are driving brand awareness but because they are interrupting my experience. An interruption that ultimately undermine’s my confidence in the brand.

It sometimes feels as if we just took everything that did not work in television advertising and applied it to the web. Saying that it was ultimately better because we could slap fancy analytics on the backend and show ROI. The web is not TV. It has infinitely more opportunities for engaging users and requires a different mindset.  One recent advertisement that I particularly like is the one my company Microsoft did with Federated media called Exec Tweets. Basically,  they aggregated biz exec tweets into a Microsoft branded background. Useful, not interrupting and excellently done upholding the brand’s integrity.

I wonder why more companies are not exploring these type of branded experiences with their media. Perhaps its fear of challenging the status quo or maybe its just ignorance to these models. When will we learn by raising your hand the highest you are not always getting the teacher’s attention in a good way?

What would the internet look like without ads? No banners, no search and no rich media to interrupt your surfing experience just plain old experience. At first thought it sounds amazing but looking closer into at this proposition reveals some ugly truths.

1. Most people today go to the internet to research product information. Whether we admit it or not, many of the digital ads we see help us to determine the products we research later to buy. With better targeting think of the possibilities of products you never knew existed that could present themselves to you.
2. Online ads are much less intrusive than TV commercials. The so-called “banner blindness” factor has helped to make them just blend into a page seamlessly. In fact, I photoshopped all ads off a few page only to find there was no real difference in new content space available. In most cases, I felt more content would be even more distracting.
3. If the internet is about discovery then online ads have a spot at the table. What is more about discovery than advertisements? Product A is amazing but without promotion, where does it go?

Can anyone else think of other reasons I may have missed? I would love to hear ideas and feedback on the notion of an internet without ads. What is your scenario?

Most people are assuming that display ads will take a big hit next year with the economy slowing but few people are predicting it to totally have the bottom fall out. Until now. Recently Gawker chief Nick Denton posted a blog saying that online execs could see declines of 40% next year.

This seems a little ridiculous when you think about it. Here are my reasons why:

1. Economic slowdowns will force marketers to tighten budget and further prove ROI. Internet advertising is best suited for this.
2. Small to mid-size companies have yet to migrate to search and display in large numbers. Local targeting will improve this should send more companies online.
3. Newspaper and magazine money continues to move to the internet further helping it weather this crisis.

Certainly the three listed above will help to keep ads above the norm when it comes to growth into next year but only time will tell.

With all these words of war between Mac and PC, where do us Bi-users fit-in? I have Windows products that I love and Mac products that I love.

Microsoft’s (disclosure: my employeer) launch of the ”I’m a PC” ads stoked my fire for Bi-user unity. So all us Bi-C’s unite!