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The advertising
industry is on
the verge of
being shattered
into a thousand
fragments due to
the knowledge explosion
and the proliferation
of new technologies.
There are no
more grand theories
that hold sway
over the entire
industry.
Michael Strangelove


Advertising is
one of the minor
arts, so don't
be intimidated
by it. Try
not to lose
your sense of
playfulness.
Keep it fun.
Robert Bly



Reality
is more
complex
than
it seems.
John Gall



The System
is its own
best
explanation.
John Gall



It's better to
do a few things
really well than
than to do
a lot of things
badly.
If you can't
make the necessary
commitments of
time and energy
to your
electronic
marketing
efforts
scale back
your plan.
John Sumser


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May 16, 1997

The L-Shaped Ad

In a move to go "beyond the banner," ZDNet is offering up a new, channel-based Web advertising strategy that includes ads that wrap around the entire length of the editorial content, giving advertisers the chance to sponsor targeted areas exclusively.

ZDNet calls it the "ad wrap" banner and said advertisers now have the option to develop ad banners that rotate throughout the site and in ZDNet's 10 content areas, or "narrowcast" their message by selecting specific ZDNet channels.

ZDNet channels include: News, Products, Whole Web Catalog, Software Library, ZDNet At Home, Mac, HealthyPC.Com, Community Center, Games and Computer Shopper NetBuyer. ZDNet advertisers can now also purchase space on ZDTV's The Site.com, an integrated Web site with interactive and multimedia elements designed to complement the television show "The Site" on MSNBC.

Package prices range from $35 to $80 CPM monthly or $27 to $54 CPM quarterly. ZDNet said creative sponsorship opportunities also include ZDNet Custom Microsites--minisites that let advertisers brand specific areas of the ZDNet Web site. Marketers can tailor a branded area to generate leads, gather critical market data or communicate a targeted message to key audiences. Pricing depends on scope. --John Blower

May 15, 1997

Timewasters

A recent, non-random, totally unscientific survey around the office revealed the following as being the "most-disliked" features of sites we have encountered (in order of unpopularity):

  • huge graphics to download
  • instructions to download a plug-in
  • best viewed with a specific browser
  • company slogan which doesn't tell you anything about the company's unique selling proposition
  • welcome statement or "come on in" and then you enter through a "door"

Large graphics were the biggest bugbear. And there's really no excuse for them.

Our respondents *never* downloaded plugins. The feeling was that if the site can't be viewed with the tools at hand, they tended to simply move on to the next site. The same feeling applied to the loading of audio/visual files.

"Best viewed with..." left our correspondents cold. Presumably, they were supposed to tool off to wherever, download a 4Mb file, install the designer's browser of choice, restart and then return to the site for optimum viewing pleasure. As if!

Irrelevant company slogans were seen as...irrelevant.

If we want more people to buy online, these time wasters simply must go.

Basic direct marketing principles apply -- get the visitor's attention in a hurry and show him/her the benefit of being at your site rather than your competitors'.

Each visitor is constantly thinking "what's in it for me" and doesn't give a hoot about company mission statements or other corporate drivel.

Unless, of course, that person has time to burn or is already extremely interested in your company (maybe one of your competitors?).

Feel free to add to the list... --John Blower

May 14, 1997

Sucky to Savvy

Jeffrey Glover has an amusing and engaging writing style.

At his site, he identifies the The Top Ten Ways To Tell If You Have A Sucky Home Page.

Of course, most of the (like *BLINK* and "Under Construction") are pretty self-evident if you've been surfing for any length of time (ie over three months).

Nonetheless, this is amusing and well-illustrated.

However, the real meat lies in the second - or "right" - part of the site. This is a series of imprecations as to how to turn your site from "Sucky" to "Savvy".

All good stuff. Glover has good credentials, and the language he uses avoids being a put-down.

We found the animated graphics a trifle annoying after a while, witty as they are. You may feel differently. --John Blower

May 13, 1997

Banner Placement

I suspect that my dislike of banner ads stems from their usual placement at the top of the page.

But is this the best place for them?

Apparently not. Researchers at the School of Business Administration at the University of Michigan, in cooperation with Athenia Associates, have found that ads next to the right scroll bar (in the lower right hand corner of the screen) outperformed top-of-the-page ads by a whopping 228%.

The study was carried out by grad students in a class entitled Marketing in Online Environments.

Other findings cast further doubt about the superiority of top-of-page placement. A standard 468 by 60 pixel banner one third down the page got 77% more click-throughs than the standard top of page placement.

Results of the study are available at: http://www.webreference.com/d ev/banners/.

Andrew B. King, Webmaster at Athenia Associates, attributes the higher click-through rate to the banners being located closer to what he calls the "click zone."

Robert Peyser, also of Athenia, said that user expectation may be an influencing factor in the increased clicks for the alternative banner locations.

These findings confirm my own experience. I find the ads at, for example, the Tim es of London site to be unobtrusive yet simultaneously intriguing, placed, as they are, next to the scroll bar.

I look forward to further studies to confirm these results. --John Blower

May 12, 1997

Banner Placement

I suspect that my dislike of banner ads stems from their usual placement at the top of the page.

But is this the best place for them?

Apparently not. Researchers at the School of Business Administration at the University of Michigan, in cooperation with Athenia Associates, have found that ads next to the right scroll bar (in the lower right hand corner of the screen) outperformed top-of-the-page ads by a whopping 228%.

The study was carried out by grad students in a class entitled Marketing in Online Environments.

Other findings cast further doubt about the superiority of top-of-page placement. A standard 468 by 60 pixel banner one third down the page got 77% more click-throughs than the standard top of page placement.

Results of the study are available at: http://www.webreference.com/d ev/banners/.

Andrew B. King, Webmaster at Athenia Associates, attributes the higher click-through rate to the banners being located closer to what he calls the "click zone."

Robert Peyser, also of Athenia, said that user expectation may be an influencing factor in the increased clicks for the alternative banner locations.

These findings confirm my own experience. I find the ads at, for example, the Tim es of London site to be unobtrusive yet simultaneously intriguing, placed, as they are, next to the scroll bar.

I look forward to further studies to confirm these results. --John Blower


Take a look at the Archives. We've indexed all the past issues with topic pointers.



Check out the Archives....100 Weeks of Back issues including:

Week Ending April 13, 1997
  • Layout
  • JavaDoubler
  • Integration
  • Website Pricing
  • Japan
Week Ending May 11, 1997
  • Net Cards
  • Lush
  • PR No Nos
  • Problem Solving
  • Bon Mots
Week Ending May 04, 1997
  • Spell It Rite
  • Semi Free
  • Da Basix
  • Hi Tech Targets
  • Parade-a-thon
Week Ending April 27, 1997
  • The Edge
  • PR Central
  • Buckets of Blood
  • More Speed
  • New Modems
Week Ending April 20, 1997
  • A Canary
  • Search Tech
  • Free Lunch
  • Jumpin Jehosophat
  • AT&T Survey
Week Ending April 06, 1997
  • Speed
  • JavaDoubler
  • Integration
  • Website Pricing
  • Japan
Week Ending March 30, 1997
  • Germany
  • Banner Ads
  • Reasons to Send PR
  • 20/20 Hindsight
  • UFO Cult: Bad Design
Week Ending March 23, 1997
  • The Other 51%
  • We Wuz Framed
  • Bandwidth
  • Bad Design
  • Sling Shot
Week Ending March 16, 1997
  • Look Ma, No CGI
  • Banner Ads Revisited
  • Submission Wizzard
  • Labels Up to Scratch?
  • WebTV
Week Ending March 09, 1997
  • Cheap PR
  • Hard Copies
  • Ad Innovations
  • Don't Do This
  • Design Targets
Week Ending March 02, 1997
  • SOHO, DIYPR
  • Web Balkanization
  • Mini Malls
  • Liars and Statistics
  • Multiple Search
Week Ending February 22, 1997
  • Direct Marketing World
  • Columbo, Not Just Yogurt
  • New HTTP Spec Speeds Net
  • All 4 One Search
Week Ending February 16, 1997
  • Finding Images
  • The Mining Co
  • Search Engine Stuff
  • Denounce
  • Weekend Reading
Week Ending February 09, 1997
  • Webmaster Secrets
  • New Search Engine Services
  • Learning From Others' Mistakes II
  • Learning From Others' Mistakes
  • Weekend Reading
Week Ending February 02, 1997
  • Purpose First
  • Ad Auction
  • 123 Domain Me
  • Publicity
  • Weekend Reading
Week Ending January 26, 1997
  • Drowning In Links
  • Ad Tutorial
  • Internet News
  • Cookies
  • Weekend Reading
Week Ending January 19, 1997
  • Finding Online Marketing Info
  • Microscope
  • Promotion Tools
  • Bad Form Email
  • Weekend Reading
Week Ending January 12, 1997
  • Ad Placement
  • Oooops
  • Odd Bedfellows
  • Advertising Advice
  • Weekend Reading
Complete Indexed Archives(19 months of marketing and design) Complete Indexed Archives(19 months of marketing and design)

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All material on this site is © 1995, 1996 by IBN (The Internet Business Network), Mill Valley, CA 94941