Banners with Meaning

When some people hear about Marketing with Meaning, the first thing they think of is “cause marketing.” Some others go straight to something like “branded services.” Yes… and so much more. Meaningful marketing is bigger than a single category; it actually can be any activity that your target consumer chooses to engage with - and anything that adds value to his or her life. Last week I tested the theory with examples of outdoor and print ads. Today I bring you the lowly banner ad.

Banner ads have been much derided since AT&T launched the first ever (above) banner on Hotwired in 1994. At first, we marketers hoped that millions of people would click our ads and come to our websites. Alas, that flood of traffic never came. Today, click-through rates are so low that most of us in the business won’t even report them. But companies such as Yahoo! defend the banner by claiming that they successfully place brands into consumers’ minds, and their tests with basic grocery products can show a 2x or higher ROI for banner buys. I’ve seen the data and do believe banners can perform better than TV, which is a pretty low bar. My problem is that most banners are so far away from truly delivering on the potential of digital marketing.

That’s why we continually push our clients do to more with the banner - to be more innovative and creative in a way such that the lowly banner ad adds value to people’s lives. For several years we have been working with companies such as PointRoll to create engagement opportunities with banners. We especially love expandable banners that allow consumers to choose to do more - without leaving their current site. Some of the things we’ve done in a banner, often firsts for our clients, include:

• View video
• Live chat
• Request a sample
• Enter a contest
• Play a game

Last week I saw an outstanding example on Salon.com for the band Cold Play. As you can see in the series of screen grabs below, the banner allows you to listen to a cut from Cold Play’s latest album, and see when and where they are in concert. I actually engaged in this ad first as a consumer, rather than a marketer. I’m a Cold Play fan and appreciated the chance to check concert info, as it’s something I would do anyway. My only disappointment: No dates in Cincinnati…

The beauty of these engaging, value-added banners is that they bring some real-time measurement back to the medium. We favor any measure of consumer engagement, and start with the percentage of viewers who elect to interact with the ad, and the time they spend on it. For this type of banner we typically see 10% or more of all viewers engaging with the ad, for in the neighborhood of 30 seconds each. This is pretty compelling data, and beyond engagement, one can measure whatever your banner aims to accomplish - sell something, generate sample requests, or even click back to your full website.

Overall, the example of banner ads shows that we marketers must start with a mind-set of “How can I add value to consumers’ lives?” Even the “lowly” banner ad can have a place in this brave new world.