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Macromedia designers and developers play
an important role in online advertising.
Many of you were there from the beginning
when you had to create a separate Macromedia
Flash ad for each of the sites your client
advertised on—there was no way to track
click-through rates from different sites
from one Macromedia Flash file. We've come
a long way since those days. The Macromedia
community has been instrumental in innovating
and driving standards for online advertising—a
nascent industry that has only just begun
to mature, with online advertising still
taking only single-digit percentages of
marketing budgets.
In January 2001 Macromedia formed the Macromedia
Flash Advertising Alliance (MFAA). The
MFAA was founded with the goal of providing
solutions to address the growing complexity
surrounding the deployment of the emerging
"rich media ad"—specifically,
to move the industry forward with the creation
of standards such as a process for tracking
Macromedia Flash ad banners.
Since then, the industry has overwhelmingly
adopted Macromedia Flash as the de facto
choice for rich media ads. Macromedia Flash
ads are proven to be more effective—both
with improved click-through rates and high
brand recognition. However, the complexity
surrounding online advertising still exists.
Anyone who has created an online campaign
will tell you that as ads get more complex,
so do the tracking and implementation challenges
involved in deploying ads across multiple
sites with multiple ad servers and technology
vendors.
The Rich Media
Advertising Development Center provides
technical and marketing resources for anyone
who is involved in creating or delivering
ads online.
But Wait, I Don't Like Online Ads!
While all this seems like good news for
people involved in creating ads, it's apparent
that everyone is tired of online advertising.
The onslaught of banners, "pop-ups"
(or "pop-unders"), and huge ads
that disrupt your browsing experience or
cover the content you are trying to read
has never seemed more widespread. The problem
is that, as an advertising medium, the Internet—unlike
other advertising media, such as TV, radio,
or print—is still "finding itself."
The audience takes it for granted that these
other advertising media, which have been
around for 50 years or more, have had rigid
standards in place for many years that determine
such factors as time interval, size, shape,
etc. A commercial TV viewer knows to expect
a 30-second commercial in between their
favorite shows.
We don't have such predefined expectations
with the web. First there was the banner,
which people have found a way to accept,
if not ignore. But no one expects to see
a huge car screeching across the screen
while reading his or her daily news site.
Nor does anyone expect to see 8–10
pop-up ads appear on a screen and linger
even after closing the browser window.
The good news is that the advertising industry
is aware of the overwhelming consumer disdain
and they are discussing the issues. You
can see the trend at such sites as iVillage
and Ask
Jeeves, which recently banned pop-up
ads because of negative customer feedback.
The industry is struggling to unify itself,
find a secure place in the overall media
mix, and agree on standards that will strike
a balance, providing a great user experience
that makes viewers happy and allowing Internet
sites to function profitably—and,
most importantly, remain free.
Ads Don't Have to Annoy Us
Considering all the messages we see every
day, we sometimes fail to notice the talented
designers who create amazing Internet advertisements
that deliver memorable experiences rather
than annoy us. Now that Macromedia Flash
is almost universally accepted for advertising,
designers are joining forces with some of
the top creative brass of leading advertising
agencies to push the envelope of innovation
and ideas. I have no doubt that we will
see the equivalent of Super Bowl–quality
ad experiences online in the near future.
Especially when ads start embracing Macromedia
Flash-based video (a sight not too far off
with Macromedia
Flash Player 6 distribution currently
reaching 72 percent of the online population).
We are already beginning to see examples
of this. For instance, Ogilvy in New York
delivered a memorable ad experience with
their sophisticated IBM
Fusion campaign using pop-up windows
that incorporate video, case studies, and
content through which customers can navigate.
TEQUILA\, the interactive marketing division
of TBWA/Chiat/Day, has shown leadership
and innovation with their long-standing
Absolut
Vodka campaign. In the online version,
TEQUILA\
takes the clean clever design you see in
print and translates that to the Internet
by adding interactivity that draws you
in. The ad campaign inspires customers
to experience
and interact with the Absolut bottle and,
consequently, their brand. (It even provides
recipes for swanky cocktails.) This type
of Internet ad is indicative of a trend
toward delivering complete Internet brand
experiences that aren't possible with
traditional
media.
To showcase great ads like the ones described
above, Macromedia is introducing a Featured
Rich Media Ad spotlight to showcase
agencies that are delivering innovative
campaigns with Macromedia Flash technology.
Our first ad of the week showcases one
of
the Absolut ads from TEQUILA\, called
"Absolut Lemondrop." Check
out the Absolut Lemondrop experience
for yourself and learn more about this innovative
campaign.
Also, be sure to check back for more featured
rich media ads and send us your own examples.
I welcome your feedback and ideas for future
stories, articles, tutorials, and ad examples,
so let me know at smattis@macromedia.com. |
