NONE: ONLINE-ADS>> Mention of Discussion List in Today's San Francisco
ONLINE-ADS>> Mention of Discussion List in Today's San Francisco
Mark Barbanell (markbar_at_aloha.net)
Tue, 1 Oct 1996 08:29:06 -1000 (HST)
I read with interest the article in the online version of the SF Chronicle
today that Roy mentioned.I have some comments.Here are some quotes and my
observations....
*******************
`You can almost see the increased desperation for clicks with much more
promotional messages and much more
exhortative language,'' said Jay Thomas, senior manager of new media for
Levi Strauss & Co.
Desperation equals lost sales due to subconscious recognition of this by
the consumer which translates to wariness.You have to cultivate trust.
*****************
But Web consumers are becoming more wary of such lures. And some say it's
high time for companies to realize that
not everybody wants to visit the newest chewing gum Web site, whether or
not they get free gum.
This is where all you guys have used the old ways and tried to apply them
to the new medium.Advertisers wants it to look ,feel ,smell, and taste like
an ad because they want to make sure it is perceived as such by the
browsing public..I believe you have to be more informative in your approach
and lull the viewer into trusting you and hint at the pitch.Not be
blatent.It is time for some new thinking here.I see the basic problem on
all sides as a lack of trust.Trust that an ad will sell and trust that an
advertiser is getting "value".These criteria are based on old ways of
looking at advertising.Tangeable ways of monitering and charging and
assessing successful ads.You have to give them information and trust in the
intelligence of the public to see you have provided the mold and then give
them something to hold onto in thier minds that will bring them back.
********************
But some question whether such placements compromise the integrity of the
site. ``A lot of Web sites out there don't
realize the importance of separating church and state,'' said Neil Monnens,
founder of Web- Rep, a San Francisco
firm that sells ads on Web sites.
He said consumers will rebel against sites that push products rather than
provide information.
Here is the crux of the problem.Advertisers are not taking this basic
principle into consideration.It's like if you have a site that is indexed
so well it comes up everywhere does that lead to some sort of backlash?I
believe there is a fine line and that if you have a site that has a bunch
of banners and little free useful information to the browser then the site
is perceived as bogus or a trick of sorts......People don't want to think
they've been had.They want to feel helped and looked out for not taken
advantage of.It didn't take me long to figure out if I gave more than I
solicited my site was more productive.It just took a while to learn to
trust the fact that people want information and the freedom to leave and
return to a site without a heavy sales pitch.In fact I believe no actual
pitch is the way to go.The problem again is that you advertisers are just
that.Advertisers and that is your job.Well we're not far past the time when
the internet was for information not advertisers.The species has yet to
evolve and you are all pushing to figure out how to sell sell sell.How
about just giving something tangeable away without the pitch?Like
Netscape.....Sponsorship is a way for one but it too is old style.On my
page I have information and a pitch but I also have a whole page of useful
links to all kinds of sites that are informative for a person interested in
what I have to offer.This gives the impression of giving and trust.They
could easily go to one of those other sites and never return but I trusted
in the fact that if I gave them that opportunity they would view it as a
gesture of generosity and come to trust me .Without a heavy pitch or
enticements........But advertisers seem not to be able to delve into
intangeable areas yet or trust in more than numbers and quick results.
********************
At this point, most Web advertising is still simple banners that provide a
link to an advertiser's Web site. Some work
better than others. InvestorsEdge, a financial Web site, doubled its
click-through rate from 3 percent to 7 percent by
adding questions to its banners such as ``How did Charlie get all those
Angels anyway?''
Users who clicked on the banner landed on the InvestorsEdge site, where
there was no answer to the question.
``In a way, you're sort of tricking people to explore,'' said Robert Lamb,
vice president of business development for
the site.
Now how do you think this works on people?Don't you think tricking people
would instill doubt and misstrust?I wouln't buy from a site like that.It's
a matter of principal.
**************
Often, Web surfers click off as soon as they realize they've landed on an
ad. But some Web sites still count their brief visit as a click- through.
This is where I have to chuckle.When I raz everyone on this list for
tossing around all the statistics this is what I'm getting at.It's
impossible to measure any of this in an accurate way.Not many surfers want
to be inundated with ads period.It's all smoke and mirrors.Would you trust
someone who tricks you into going to a url or would you trust someone who
obviopusly had the consumers well being at heart and had made lots of
internet connections and friends in the form of cooperative links and who
shared information instead of enticing someone to go somewhere they didn't
want to go in the first place?My problem has been people thinking "how can
this guy not be hard selling me and giving such a good deal?There has to be
something wrong here...That attitude is caused by the content and style of
advertising they are used to seeing.It's hard for them to believe that
someone isn't hard selling and they think theres something wrong.
I'm not a professional you all know that.I just read all the posts and
articles like this one(Chronicle article) and know I'm on the right track
and that track is not the tradiditional one.Hey,if I were you i'd be
snickering at me too but that's the adventage someone like myself has.I
don't have any advertising baggage to weigh me down.What I do have is a
creative mind and alot of common sense.
If you read through this ,thanks......If you didn't ,well you don't have
an open mind anyhow so it wasn't directed at you anyway..........
One more thing....I have a friend who is developing what I believe to be
the next step.I've heard some people coming close to the concept.I've been
sworn to secrecy so I can't mention it yet.I'll give you a hint
though......You won't be using your browser to have access to it and you'll
be able to reach your market before then get on the internet and it will be
on the computer screen.......Think about it for awhile.....On the otherhand
,well,I could be another clown over over here in La La land with delusions
of grandeur.You gotta ask yourselves though.......Could he be onto
something?
Mark Barbanell
River Estate Guest House
Kauai,Hawaii
markbar_at_aloha.net
http://www.eskimo.com/~pageless/mb/riverestate
