I’ve said it many times before, I love behavioral targeting both as a media planner and as a consumer. Anything to show me less irrelevant ads and waste my time. You can track me, I’ll fill out a survey, infect my computer with your cookies (as long as you’re a reputable company). BT for a media planner is fabulous, the ability to push display only to those relevant segments who have demonstrated their interest of intent.
Last week the IAB announced the creation of a new logo (see below) to tell users they are seeing the ad because of behavioral targeting. As an act of self regulation and transparency the logo was decided on to avoid government interference on BT practices. For more information read this.
A warning label on behavioral targeting ads is totally and completely unnecessary. All media is purchased based on the consumers’ media habits, demographics, psychographics, previous purchases and other piles of research and life style stats. We place no warning labels on TV spots, informing the carefully selected audience that they are seeing the ad because they fite percisely into our media plan.
As a media planner, I should hope that all ads would have this little logo on it – all the ads placed are done sone because of meticulous research and well thought out budget allocations based on the target demographic and client goals.
These are totally cheesy but I’m loving the current Progresso soup tv spots. This is my favorite.
You can check out the others here, here, and here.
Love the traditional media aspect but I really wish there was some sort of digital or offline integration. There is potential….somewhere in there. What could you see being done with these soup cans?
Media planning seems kind of boring to most outsiders. When I tell people I’m in advertising EVERYONE assumes I’m a graphic designer…they always get all the glory.
Its the ad you remember not necessarily in what spot break or on what channel. But, if we had not created the perfect mix of reach and frequency, if media planners didn’t know your media habits and you preferred media consumption times; if I had not plugged the creative in front of your eyes just so, then you would never see that spot that made you laugh or run out and buy the product. According to this ad in Redscout’s ‘Spur’ series we are the smart ones.
Yes its one word, ok. And its my new plan in life. I want a hamster farm. To raise little hamster who roll arond on the piano, who can chew pencils who can ride around in little Kia’s and who can star in ads for the Minnesota State Lottery.
Yes thats 3:33 of hamster spots. They made seven spots. SEVEN. What do you think the hamster day rate is for being on set? Do I get a cut if they come from my HamsterFarm (see all one word)?
I’m not entirely sure this makes me want to run out a buy a lotto ticket so much as I want to go buy hamsters, but maybe I’d buy a hamster and then buy it a lotto ticket, so I guess ultimately they’ve convinced me to buy into the lotto.
Ok Pandora. I like you; I think you like me. I don’ t mind your ads, heck as a media buyer I respect the integration and ability to target that you offer. I like you so much in fact I have two accounts and not just because I want 80 free hours of streaming music a month (40 per account) but because I have a work appropriate account and a personal one.
But, Pandora, we need to talk. I don’t know what you’re trying to say about me with your recent ads. Does my love of Dragonettes ‘I get around’ and my thumbs uping of Uh Huh Her’s ‘Explode’ imply that I’m a little bit of a whore? Do you think my recent addition of 50 Cent’s “Have a Baby By Me” is a sign that I desperately need birth control? Is that why 90% of the display ads I saw today were for NuvaRing?
I don’t know if the ads were due to behaviroal targeting (I was actively shopping for high heels and looking up bars in SF) or if Pandora was profiling my song choices (check out the above mentioned here, here and here).
One more thing, and this ones for the NuvaRing people, I really don’t want to check out how easy your product is to use. I was terrified there was going to be some sort of how to video. One of the easiest ways to reduced CTR and decrease engagement – using the word vaginal in your copy and vaguely imply that by clicking the user will see a how to insert video.
(Aren’t you so glad I brought this blog out of retirement?)
My 2010 resolution was to ressurrect this blog from its near death. I had a couple of really rough months at my previous agency and my blog contributions started to dribble…then completely stopped as I was actively searching for new agencies.
Now I’m officially living in San Francisco and have started to dig into my role at my new Digital shop; I do not have any more excuses.
I can’t post daily as I did when this blog first started but I think I can pull off a few times a week.
After many months of contemplation, I decided to leave my current agency for an all digital shop. I’m in the process of finishing up my last week of work, start training for the new job next week and move up to San Francisco the week after that.
So, the blogging will resume once I’m settled. But you can always catch me on twitter or if you really like me you can friend me on facebook.
Your ads are creeping me out! Who cares if this image is real or fake or how many people can’t pass the illusion test. You have put an image to my head that I will never be able to unsee.
Totally Disturbed,
Erin
Maybe if advertisers created better, more interesting and less incredibly disturbing ads users would not be so against display ads on their favorite sites.
There is a great article on TechCrunch “Let’s Kill The CPM” that is a great argument to end the use of CPM (cost per thousand) as a metric to buy, sell and evaluate display ads. Shelby Bonnie makes some excellent points as to why the CPM is stunting the growth of online advertising and ultimately annoying the hell out of users. Using CPM instead of engagement, CPA (cost per acquisition) or CTR is driving publishers to fill as much of their sites with ads which only increase users to tune out the ads.
Unfortunately CPM is going to be a hard stat to shake from a media buyers mind and impossible to remove from the publishers sales lingo. To me CPM is the same thing as traditional media’s ratings. It is a value placed on the popularity of the site/show, without considering the target audience or their ultimate actions; but target audience is everything.
Are people clicking? Does anyone notice the ad? Of those 1000 people per $30, how many are ins the market to even buy our product? And of those who is actually going to take action?
Few sites (and absolutely no traditional) take it beyond the number of eyeballs an ad reaches and determine cost based on engagement, acquisition or another viable statistic. Some might argue it is unfair that a publisher have to rely on how the capabilities of the advertiser, however I think it would push publishers to select the right advertisers and deliver them to a viable target audience. Right now, publishers are willing to let just about anyone advertise, take a look at CNN or Facebook if you don’t believe me. Spammy, bad ads which just drive down a users willingness to click on ads. Clean up the ad space and users will actually find display ads a source of information on products.
We have the technology, we have the data, we just need to push to make the ad system better, more effective and a hell of a lot less annoying.
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