Online Advertising Seminar: Authors' Responses Part 2

From: donna stryk <donna.stryk_at_tenagra.com>
Date: Tue 16 Nov 1999 16:56:28 -0600

ADVERTISING ON THE
INTERNET, 2ND EDITION
Online Advertising Seminar
with Robbin Zeff
and Brad Aronson


MONDAY, 11/15/99,
"EFFECTIVE AD MODELS/DESIGNS":
------------------------------

[Joel, from the Business Know-How Forum, AOL:] Are
"free" banner ads worth the price?
*****
Joel, I've found that on the web, if something looks
too good to be true, then it probably is. There are
many opportunities for "free" ads on the net. These
opportunities do display your ad for free, but the
placement is untargeted and unfocused. If you're
looking for generic branding opportunities, then it's
worthwhile to place you ad anywhere and everywhere.
Probably the safest way to look at free ad space is
that it's a supplemental outreach opportunity, not the
primary focus on your ad campaign.



[Kelly Green, from the Business Know-How Forum, AOL:]
People are so constantly complaining about e-mail ads
and banners...how would you make one that is
unobtrusive, yet gets someone's attention? The two
needs seem to be in conflict!
*****
We've seen that relevance is the key to good response.
If your ad is placed in a location where it is very
relevant to the consumer, it won't be considered
obtrusive. And response will be high, in this case,
regardless of whether or not the ad is noticeable.



[Kelly Green, from the Business Know-How Forum, AOL:]
Is it possible to appeal to several distinct groups of
people by having links to sites that are in the
separate interests? On our site, there is *some*
overlap, yet there are groups that may actually be put
off by advertising geared toward the other group. I
don't see the problem in deciding where to link, nor in
convincing the site to link to us -- I see the problem
in constructing a site that will appeal to a diverse
group. What do you think?
*****
I think the solution would be to have advertisers run
in sections that are specific to one of the particular
interest groups. If you don't already have content
areas for specific interest groups, you may want to
consider creating those areas.



[Ginzle, from the Business Know-How Forum, AOL:] Are
free classified ads any good? Or would it be a better
investment of time and money to advertise in paid ads,
etc.?
*****
Ginzle, you get what you pay for on the Net. Free
classified ad space is great to supplement your
targeted paid campaigns, but it's not a replacement.
Definitely place the free classified, but do it in
conjunction with a well-thought-out campaign that
reaches your target marketing effectively and
efficiently.



[Anonymous, from the Online Advertising Discussion
List:] What kind of advertiser do you think would be
the most interested in a headhunter/job search-engine
Web site?
*****
The most interested would be companies that have
positions across the country (or world) that they need
to fill. Also, any advertiser that offers a service or
product for people who are moving (or looking to move)
to a new job.



[Joe Germscheid, from the Online Advertising Discussion
List:] My question relates to hiring online media
planners/buyers: what type of career experience or work
background has yielded the most qualified online media
people for an interactive agency media position?
*****
Here's our criteria:

 -Senior level buyers/planners: have extensive
traditional experience or traditional and interactive
experience. -Assistant buyers/planners: entry-level
position for someone interested in media or for someone
who has limited media experience.

================================================
This seminar will continue throughout the week.
Tuesday's topic was Effective Ad Models. The answers
to those questions will be posted tomorrow. Tomorrow's
topic is "Pricing Online Advertising." Please, submit
questions on this topic to seminars_at_tenagra.com today.
Thursday's topic follows.
================================================

ISSUES IN AD MANAGEMENT & MEASUREMENT

Rather than extend the never-ending debate over what
counts as a visit, impression, pageview, etc., the
excerpt, below, focuses on the need to implement ad
management software. There are many important issues in
ad measurement and management the authors hope to
discuss during the seminar, such as caching, proxy
servers, auditing, log analysis, in- house vs.
third-party ad serving, etc. For now, a brief anecdote
about the need for good software:

"Ad Management for Publishers"

When we were researching the first edition of
"Advertising on the Internet," we were told a story by
a major web publisher that demonstrates the importance
of ad management tools. It turns out that in this
publisher's early days they managed their ads by making
a yellow Post-it note for each ad that was supposed to
run, and placing the note on a big whiteboard that
served as the schedule for ad flights (placement and
length of run for each ad). This worked fine until they
started running dozens of ads, each for different
numbers of impressions and lengths of time.

One day they found a Post-it on the floor behind a
chair and discovered that it represented an ad that was
supposed to have run weeks before for one of their
major sponsors. Now they were going to have to confess
that the ad never ran. They couldn't fake it because
every ad run had a report showing its activity, and
this one obviously didn't. That's all it took for this
site to take down the whiteboard and develop an ad
server/management tool to automate and organize the
process so that no ads could get lost because a yellow
sticky fell on the ground.

When you line up all the products an services on the
market for ad management, it's clear that the movement
is to have products from one company that can meet the
needs of publishers and advertisers alike. Having one
company with products that can wear both hats
eliminates compatibility and comparability issues. One
company moving in this direction is AdForce
<http://www.adforce.com>.



Received on Tue Nov 16 1999 - 16:56:28 CST