Re: Sex

From: Ken Jenks <MindsEye_at_tale.com>
Date: Sun, 27 Jun 1999 13:36:47 -0500 (CDT)

RAMON RAY WROTE:
>Why is it that About.com's banner ads on OneList (and I
>guess other places) have "sex" scrolling more than any other
>word...? Anyone notice this? Is there a better way to sell
>than sex?

I've noticed that About.com's banners are different
depending on where they're displayed. Some sites, seeming to
cater to an older audience, seem to have "sex" scrolling
several times. Others, like the About.com banner ad I saw at
a site related to an on-line game often played by teenagers,
had other gaming-related topics in its little scrolling
"menu."

Those menus are deceptive in the same way the "warning/OK"
banner ads are deceptive -- you know, the banner ads which
look like a Windows alert dialog box. They mimic elements of
the GUI to draw your eye, but they don't function like
regular GUI elements. This may increase your click-through
rate, but I haven't seen any figures to demonstrate that it
helps your sales conversion rate.

I feel that there is a better way to sell than sex: honesty.
Let the user know what he's getting into and he'll be a
happier shopper. Sex may draw the eye (and the click), but
paying customers are looking for an honest business
relationship, not smut. (If they're looking for smut, they
won't come to my site anyway, or if they do, they won't stay
long.)

We're all conditioned by millions of years of evolution to
pay attention to sex cues, and advertisers know this and use
it effectively. But once you've drawn the user to the
product, when you try to shift your message from "SEX! HEY
YOU! THERE'S SEX HERE!" to "Pardon me, sir, but can I
interest you in a great deal on a (blank)," you're going to
lose the user's interest along with your own credibility.

-- Ken Jenks, Editor-in-chief, Mind's Eye Fiction
   http://tale.com/ Novels and short stories on-line
   MindsEye_at_tale.com

   Science fiction by David Brin, Michael A. Burstein, Tom Easton,
   Larry Niven, Spider Robinson, Fred Saberhagen,
   Robert Silverberg, Bud Sparhawk, Bud Webster, and many more.


MODERATORS NOTE:

Ken Jenks raises a valid point here. From the direct
marketers perspective, it may be counter productive to
advertise sex unless you happen to be selling sex. People
who do branding may have a different perspective.

In light of Ken's argument, I will attempt to preserve my
subscribers' interest along with my own credibility by
modifying the subject line of this thread. I am abandoning
"ONLINE-ADS>> Sex" for the more descriptive subject line
"ONLINE-ADS>> Does sex sell?" I think the key word in this
new subject line is "sell".

I hope Ramon Ray's subject line (ONLINE-ADS>> Sex) did not
mislead any of you into thinking that reading the post would
get you any. That's not our business model here at
Online-Ads.

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Received on Sun Jun 27 1999 - 16:48:23 CDT