Online Advertising Observation

Okay, so I've been avoiding this for a while as I don't want to be posting about social media all the time on my blog, but the truth is, I live, eat and breathe this stuff working these past 3 years for a (then start-up) company as it helped define how we speak about this space and the opportunities that it provides. So, I have decided to share a few of my thoughts/observations every now and then - since I certainly have seen enough things work and not work. I don't consider myself an expert by any means - but some of these things are just common sense.

So today's observation is explained below...

When it comes to the display banner - this medium is certainly not dead - it just has a lot more potential than how people are using it today, especially in social media. Brand presence is key, so the placement itself is valuable, ensuring you vet that placement as a valuable resource to an audience. The key is to make the ad useful to the audience as well. People reading blogs are looking for information and are experts at consuming content. Give them more content to consume! But tie it back to your brand.

A start in the right direction I think is this approach by PopURL and Intel. See the ad at the top of this TechCrunch post below:



This ad takes you to the location below - a new branded location where readers can consume more and more information - a natural behavior since that is what they are doing online to begin with. Meanwhile, the location is branded, the reader notices how well Intel and PopURL presents information, enjoys the sleek design of the site and now associate quality with the brand. Pretty simple.