Mele’s Musings

Maybe the Ad Does Matter?

Two articles came out late this past week that got me to thinking.  One from Media Week covers a study that shows that small ads outperform big ads - which seems counter-intuitive to me.  The second from  MediaPost covers a  conversation with Google’s Chief Economist which talks about how ad position does (or does not) affect conversion rate.

In a nutshell, here is what the two reports say.

First, on small ads: The new report claims that smaller display ads, which appear within a Web page’s content are often more impactful than larger, more intrusive ads that surround content . . .

Second on position:  . . . marketers may see a correlation between auction position and conversion rates.

On the surface, the two reports seem to imply that we can game the system - focus on smaller ads and place them within a publisher’s content, and pay for a higher position to get better conversion.  Game over.  Case closed.  Over and out.

But not so fast.  Both articles end with startling news: what actually might matter is the quality of the ad!!  Gasp.

From the article on small ads: Regardless, the researcher found that creative quality and level of sophistication are also key.  And from Google: An ad that had a 1.0% conversion rate in the best position would have about a 0.95% conversion rate in the worst position, on average, Varian writes.

So, wait a minute.  The ad actually matters!

Link for ad above

I think we can safely assume a few things from these articles.  First, an ad’s position is not meaningless by any stretch, but paying a premium for placement is not an automatic recipe for success.  Second, in order to be effective, ads actually have to have something meaningful to say.

I don’t think anyone will find it astounding to discover that advertising works when the media and the ad itself work in tandem.  Good ads in bad places are just as likely to fail as bad ads in great places.  This is especially true in the digital space where we have so much more control over where and how an ad runs.

So, there is no easy way around it.  We have to do both well - media and creative -to be successful.  I know that sounds terribly obvious, but we so often forget it, particularly when we are looking at our campaign data and wondering why our campaign might not be working as well as we had hoped.

It’s a good reminder - to dig deeply into the factors and variables that drive (or don’t drive performance)

And, one last thing: I wanted to share a new “blog” of mine.  I just started it, and we’ll see if it has legs, but it’s based on my observations on agency life, with a specific twist.  Seen through the eyes of the anti-hero Reeder (based very much on my colleague Mike Reeder), it deals with how we handle with the sometimes hilarious, sometimes exhilirating, and sometimes ego-pummelling daily happenings of our work lives.  It’s called Reeder Vs. the World.  You’ll have to tell me what you think.

Tweet This Post  Buzz This Post  Delicious This Post  Digg This Post  Reddit This Post  Stumble This Post