Re: Webmmercial

From: Chuck White <chuckwh_at_pacbell.net>
Date: Thu 19 Jul 2001 10:41:32 -0500

MAURICIO MACEDO <mauricio_at_smartmedia.com.br> WROTE:

> We'd like to have input of this great list, what do
> you all think about a new format like this, and what
> improvements you could suggest to this project? We'll
> have a beta program online by August, volunteers are
> welcome too!

If it just shows up without the user specifically
asking to see it, it will fail, and deservedly so. I'm
always amazed when people try to compare the web to
TV. There is absolutely no similarity between a TV set
and a computer. A computer challenges, a TV disrupts
thinking and makes people stupid. I hope your product
is envisioned as purely opt-in, and not like those
stupid x.10 pop-ups that are making the bad name of
online advertising even worse. Oh boy, am I gonna get
flamed for that one. "But that's branding," people
will yelp. "They've built a brand!!!" Yeah? So has
Hustler magazine. Bully for them.

A sponsorship might work. You could have a company's
logo on a web site that says this "site sponsored by",
then the company's logo. When a user clicks on the
logo, then they see the ad. But if you try to pop up
an ad every three minutes on MY computer, I will never
visit your site again. I'm sure most people feel the
same way, and I don't need a study to prove it.

Forget the TV analogy. Make sure the ad is interactive.
Make it informative, and give people a reason to view
it. Don't even think about doing a bunch of fade ins
and fade outs, those are already getting tiresome. Go
deep into the product, make it worthwhile to the
computer user (that's what she is, she's a computer
USER, not a TV VIEWER) to explore detailed specifics.
Otherwise, you are wasting your efforts, in my less
than humble opinion. And for goodness sake, please
don't force people to view it.

Chuck White
CEO
The Tumeric Partnership
http://www.tumeric.net
chuck_at_tumeric.net
________________________________________
Author, Mastering XML, Premium Edition
Sybex Books, May, 2001
http://www.javertising.com



Received on Thu Jul 19 2001 - 10:41:32 CDT