Re: UKNM: Brand-building banners

[Ray Taylor]

Sam Michel <

samchinwag [dot] com

>


> The premise of the article is that response rates i.e. click throughs for

> banner advertising are plummeting


Usual story, usual answer: they are when other people do it. For the

campaigns that eyeconomy manages, click rates are increasing and have been

over the last twelve months. Cost per response rates are plummeting.


> ..but so are direct marketing campaigns.


Probably for the same reason - the too many people think they know how to do

it and end up with badly managed campaigns, poor response rates etc.


> Their survey results point at banners being effective for brand building.


They can be very effective for brand building if designed that way. And even

if not, there is always some level of branding effect. Although banners

provide a very effective direct response mechanism (if handled by

professionals, rather than the hoards of amateurs currently involved) they

are equally useful for branding. However, if the main aim is to build brand,

creativity is even more important than direct response campaigns. And in

many cases this may mean abandoning banners and/or making better use of

other formats in combination.


Equally, integration with offline media is fundamentally important.


> Will the banner ad continue to live? I seem to remember a great deal of

> umbrage being taken at buying banners, and an equal amount of energy spent

> defending them. They're still around and judging by the number of new

sales

> houses, exchanges, marketplaces the market looks as lively as ever.


The market is still growing dramatically. Let's hope that some of the new

players will do a good job of it because from where I sit the good agencies,

sales houses, etc., are in the minority. I look forward to a good

old-fashioned blood bath next year.


But why do we keep going back to this tedious issue of attacking or

defending banners?


I'm not in the business of TV advertising, but I have never said that TV

advertising doesn't work. TV serves a purpose, DRTV a different one, radio,

posters, direct mail, etc are all valid routes to market. The key is not

what works best but who knows best how to make each work.


If you want a TV campaign, go to a TV agency. If you want an online campaign

go to an online agency.


Banners are only one format. Common formats make it easier to trade across

many platforms. But creative thinking, planning and management is the key to

a successful campaign, not rhetoric.


Ray Taylor



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