AOL's goal to improve their strategy by adding to their brand loyalty and increasing users requires them to adapt into a social network, while still keeping their features such as buddy chat, profiles, blogs and all the system offers.
The idea of a poster came to me, which I did a rough design of. It states the AOL ideas, I am your connection, I am your network, I am your communication; AOL: Communication for the future. This basically keeps the IAM reversed from AIM to keep that consistency. If the posters were distributed throughout schools and shown online as a static ad, that could help with brand awareness. Also, if you could mouse over the ad and be linked to the AOL system and buddy list, you could register right away and communicate with friends instantly.
The banner advertisements should keep AOL's same colors and consistency. The advertisement I created goes along with the same idea of the poster. Your wall, your blog, your network: all these statements focus on the consumer and show that people can use AIM for their needs.
Some ideas I have for the website itself are to include links to certain communication aspects. They could add more features to profiles such as comments, wall-to-wall posts. You could add a movie chat or other aspects of art throughout the site. Similar to social networks, by doing some of the features they provide without totally copying them, it could add to AOL's appeal, increase brand loyalty and drive new users. Advertisements on television, the Internet and the newspaper could also help AOL.
Online advertising is a relatively new field, so jobs are being created to adapt to original advertising specializations. It is very complex, but still maintains basic needs by any agency, which require a vast range of skills.
Career Overview website describes some of these jobs, but I have explained how they would shift to online advertising. They include:
Advertising Media Planners decide the distribution of online media content. They are responsible for making many choises affecting the delivery of the campaign message to the consumer or audience.
Media traffic personnel need to be well informed about the demographic segments of the audience that they reach. The media traffic personnel purchases space and time in certain areas across the Internet to reach their consumer. They also regulate traffic on the site itself.
Copywriters, illustrators, and creative individuals create the actual writing and illustrating of advertisements. They are responsible for drawing storyboards, writing copy, designing headlines and body copy, and sometimes taking part in the actual formation of advertisements.
Production Managers are in charge of the actual physical advertisements. Working in cooperation with exterior advertising producers, production managers guarantee that each advertisement is finished successfully.
Directors of Advertising and/or Public Relations are in charge of everything in advertising or public relations excluding sales. Directors manage the planning, production, creation, and budgeting of campaigns. The director of advertising and director of public relations are usually two different positions. The different kinds of work depends on the size of the company or organization a director works.
Public Relations Specialists manage an organization’s public relations. Specialists make sure programs are created to match public attitudes, ensuring an organization has public awareness. They try and shape public opinion and gain interest and action.
Search Engine Optimization requires a person who is innovative, well organized, understand design and marketing techniques.
Several skills are required for each of these jobs, such as understanding the advertising industry, organization, creativity, artistic ability, management skills, communication skills, social skills, forming analysis of techniques and formulating an analysis of your ideas and goals.
One of the most successful ad campaigns that I have seen is the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. Upon entering the site you will see the headline, “Real Women Have Real Curves”. Throughout the site, you can ‘click’ on different women to hear their stories about how the Dove Campaign has changed their lives. Some important aspects of the website include a forum for women to debate from all around the world. It holds beauty workshops for young girls and other women to learn about what they should value about being a woman. It shows photographs from sixty-seven different female photographers, has fundraisers to help in self-esteem in teenagers who are constantly bombarded with images of sex, slimness and a ‘perfect’ body. It shows diverse women of all ages, ethnicities, races, sizes, backgrounds, cultures and geographic areas. It's even used convergence to bring different media together and the campaign has been extremely successful around the world.
There are many companies throughout the world that are online advertising agencies, some of them include: Idearc Media’s Search Marketing Services, Z7media, A & M Media, Geary Interactive and Market Insight. To find a list of agencies or to find a job in online advertising, please visit this website.
Online video advertising is a fairly recent technological breakthrough that is prevalent and significant to advertisers, media companies and Internet users all at the same time.
The popularity of online videos has taken the Internet by storm. YouTube is a cultural phenomenon that allows users to gather, share and critique videos. YouTube is it's own community and many who go there find comfort, share knowledge both through entertainment purposes and by gathering information.
YouTube even has an informative piece on the future of online advertising. Not only entertainment, but news organizations and informational broadcasters use Internet video in conjunction with traditional forms of media to generate advertisers and gain viewership. CNN, for example, is a large news television station and conglomerate of generating news and informing the public. However, with it's website, it gathers viewers and with adding recent videos teamed with the stories it uses technological convergence to its advantage and gains more readers.
Advertisers can use this as a means to increase profit margin and to direct ads to a demographic audience and appeal to the mass audience of Internet viewers. Many websites have blogs, videos and user generated comments. I can log on to YouTube and write pretty much anything that I want about a video, just as on a blogpost you can write comments and people can comment on your comments. Is this a nuisance or a goldmine?
Like with any technological breakthrough, it has its advantages as a goldmine, but it also has its disadvantages of being a nuisance. Sometimes through news stories and entertainment, it can be a nuisance to read things that people have written with no means of subject matter or relevance. However, this provides an advantage, because people's voices can be heard, without restriction or limited speech. It gives the user the power, just as in citizen journalism. People can use their voices through this medium and obtain a sense of community and it provides feedback to advertisers, producers and web analysts who are trying to break down demographics and appeal to emotion needs of the consumer.
The advertiser conundrum is finding a way to generate clicks or views of online videos without causing intrusion and gaining profit. When I am on a website, and I click on a link and it directs me to a video that I didn't want to view, I get agitated and annoyed by the intrusion. I can see people's frustration when they are online as well.
To solve this problem, one way, I believe, is to include advertisements within the video in the mid roll ads or post-roll ads. Mid-roll ads can be an advantage because you gain customer awareness, post roll ads can be an advantage because you have the customer and they are still watching, however, people can easily close a window. Pre-roll ads are difficult as well, because they immediately intrude on the customer, just as mid-roll ads interrupt a viewing segment and break viewer's concentration and patience.
In general, I think there is one way to resolve the problem of intrusion and still be able to achieve the advertiser's profit margin and to appeal to certain demographic representations of society. Advertisers can do this using contextual targeting. Although some may see it as a form of privacy-intrusion, advertisers can use your information and contextual targeting methods to better serve the customer and make sure they appeal to their needs and values, just as behavioral targeting. There is no answer to finding the Holy Grail of Online Video Advertising, as discussed in the article.
Online video advertising is very new and still undetermined as far as the most beneficial and user-generated aspects of the adverting world. However, the basic knowledge of the advertising system, using creative techniques, contextual targeting, understanding where and when people view ads and inventing new methods to reach this media-savvy online audience still exists and is important to maintain and alter to reach the public.
Since my application for google adsense is still under review, I am going to talk about search engine optimization. According to the text, search engine optimization is about improving and gaining more volume of traffic to your site using natural ways.
Words and common word phrases can be used and "ranked" towards the top and used in search engines to help drive traffic to the site.
According to the notes, you need content: – That will use targeted keywords that people are likely to use while searching – That should be updated frequently – That has benefits oriented copy – Updated white paper collections – Downloadable works – And a spider friendly website
A spider is a robot/ bot that crawls through websites. It gathers information and helps in the optimization process.
Some other tips are to use as few words as you can and choose the right words to generate traffic. The more links that you have the better your site will look.
Meta tags, according to the notes, are information inserted into the "head" area of your web pages. The meta keywords tag allows you to provide additional text for crawler-based search engines to index along with your body copy.
Some other ways to improve and increase search optimization are to make sure you add misspelled words, commonly used phrases to improve traffic. Also, make sure that your site is professional and presentable to clients and possible employers. If I am in the business of making money or driving more traffic to my site, I would try to increase search optimization as much as possible and use word of mouth technique to generate interest among family and friends without having "click-fraud" be an issue. However, I would also use it as a resume or portfolio basis for professional aspects of online media of web analytics.
According to Wikipedia, web analytics is the study of website behavior. Any data that is collected is including in a web report, which shows clicks, views, number of unique visitors and how many times a person visits. Advertisers and web marketers use the material they receive to help determine behavior characteristics and to help generate click-throughs and benefit their advertising.
There are many advantages and disadvantages of web analytics and page tracking. Some advantages include that information is easily accessible, the data is raw and can be determined, it helps determine what people visit the site and can be used to help determine better advertising. Some disadvantages include, we don't know how long a person is on there, or even if they successfully view the page. The results do not explain the why (psychographics) to why someone views. Demographic data can be analyzed and may not explain the why. Also, there is a personal privacy issue, certain people may click on something in a fraudulent way. We are not sure who is clicking.
It is strange to me to look at my blog and see how many people have clicked, even though there aren't that many. They may not know they are being trafficked. However, I don't know who is looking at my site. It's strange when I am on Facebook and they have reports to show who viewed your site and for how long. The Interent is such a controversial topic because people can use the Internet and have anonymity, which in itself can be a hot topic. People can look up anything on the Internet from any source, but when something is measured in numbers and "hits", it gets a little shaky.
The "Click Fraud" article shows the disadvantages and complications of online advertising and click throughs. We learned in class that one of the best ways to have a successful advertising campaign is to get people to click, otherwise the ad is dead. This may not be the case all the time. The article explains how fraudulent behavior can wreck a campaign and cost a lot of money. The article shows how people can corrupt the business by clicking and seeming to generate high interest, but when really they are causing a threat to the advertising industry.
The advertising industry is having a threat right now due to these fraudulent "clickers". Many advertisers are forced to put out many different advertisements, which may cause those who would click, not to, because they feel overwhelmed by the campaign itself. Many feel bombarded by advertisements.
Advertisers can use the information in the reports, however. They can determine which ads are successful by the number of page hits, frequency, reach, unique number of visitors and understanding demographics (which may not be accurate also, because we can't see behind the computer screen). Advertisers must understand this also, and not solely determine their advertisements on numbers alone.
People may click on something a lot and many different people may click. However, we must also remember that an advertising technique must be creative, appeal to the audience and generate attention, interest, desire and action. Using this information from the report is beneficial, but advertisers need to understand that it may be detrimental to their advertising campaign if it is solely based on web trafficking alone.
Before doing this assignment, I had heard of the YouTube Britney Rant, but I hadn't watched it. After watching it, I realized that there were two minutes and eleven seconds of my life I would never get back! But, by watching it, I have added to the craze! By adding pageviews and it is saved on my list of search history. How embarrasing.
About a year or so ago, YouTube really meant nothing to me. I had heard of its craze and how so many students were on it constantly. I took a chance one day and found that you can find vast amounts of information, whether it is geared towards entertainment, history, television shows and clips that you never thought you would see again. The video information and technology that has come together to produce YouTube is fascinating. I found clips from favorite tv shows from Fraggle Rock, Salute Your Shorts and Hey Dude. Also, you can use it towards education as well. :)
2nd life, however, I think is sort of a waste of time and technology. Last semester, someone came to my online journalism class to promote 2nd life. We all had to register and create our own characters. While the idea of gathering a vast amount of information from diverse groups of people is something that I agree with; 2nd life, to me, seemed a very creepy atmosphere where nothing was really going on. It seems important to me still, to develop REAL conversations, with REAL people. With people who like video games, maybe that is good for them, but it seems you should spend more time socially connecting with REAL people. As said in the article, not much really goes on in 2nd life. You spend a lot of time searching for nothing. If the technology were better developed, it might be different. Advertisers and developers tried to connect with a technology-driven generation and society and tried to portray that through a virtual world. The concept was creative and different, however, its reach has yet to be seen.
Chanel, however, had some really great ideas. An advertising promotion with a company like Chanel geared at so many different groups of people was creative, unique and has a strong lasting power.
What can advertisers and media creators do to keep up with this developing technology? That is a good question. Much of what is delivered on the Internet is largely unpredictable. Who knew Myspace or Facebook would generate such high volumes and a diverse group of people coming together? Myspace and Facebook are extremely popular because they are social networks that many people can connect with. There are people who I never thought I would see again that I can find on the Internet. Advertisers placing messages on those sites to appeal to such different demographics of people have very good strategies and reach frequency when delivering messages.
However, the Internet has a lot of content that is just for fun and should not be taken seriously. Some content generated is very fluffy and is generally for entertainment. Like much of the news, it is for publicity, entertainment and lifestyles of the rich and the famous. There are lots of sites to generate certain demographics and psychographics.
For example, IMDB gives a place for moviegoers to go and obtain a wealth of information about films, production, directing and producing. Certain websites, like the history channel offshoot give information about the past and links to references and resources that you can use in research papers or to learn about yourself. Many sites have online training seminars to learn about virtually anything.
What are advertisers to do then with such a wealth of information? I think it all boils down to maintaining the advertising sense of sending a message, gathering attention, desire and action from the consumer (AIDA). Using the basic fundamentals of advertising, you can incorporate this into online content and strategies for promotions. One main element is convergence. Many media strategies can be converged into online, billboard, and television strategies. Using banner headlines, creative ideas, commercials on the net will reach large groups of people at certain dayparts. Although much of it is unpredictable in the business, advertisers must learn to take the basics and turn them into marketing strategies by understanding the certain groups that are on the Internet and using that in their strategy. It's taking the basics and tranferring it to online reach, just another form of technology that has been developed; just as radio and television changed the medium, so has and will continue with the Internet.
A web banner or banner ad is a form of advertising on the web that is intended to attract traffic to the website by linking them to a website of an advertiser. Many banner ads just have one static image. However, commonly, the advertisement is usually an image created from JPG files, GIF files and are usually created by Flash media. These are rich media banner ads.
It is similar to an advertisement in a newspaper, in that it is targeted at someone for trafficking purposes and to make money. However, with the technological aspect, you can ad graphics, make movable images, and also generate interest by content.
When the visitor clicks on the banner advertisement, they are directed to the site of an advertiser. Sometimes banners appear at the top of your screen, across the front top of the website. Sometimes they appear on the sides of the site, as skyscrapers (long vertical banners). There are various shapes, determined by pixels, width and dimensions. There are many different types of banner ads, but they are different in shape, size, color and content.
Every time I surf the web, I see banner advertisements. Sometimes, I don't usually pay attention to the ads themselves, unless it is something interesting to me. One time, I saw an ad for earning 40% off on my next Barnes and Noble purchase. So, I clicked on it, it directed me to the website and had me answer a few questions about my shopping habits at Barnes and Noble. It then generated a printable coupon. It was fast, efficient and not time consuming.
It depends on the person whether or not the advertisement is effective. I don't really like flashy banner ads that hurt your eyes or have a long process to get to the point of what they are trying to sell. There are several characteristics that determine what makes banner advertisements effective.
Positioning them at the top or sides of the website, so they are visible to consumer
Use simple, easy to understand messages
Use animated or moving images, not static, but don't get too flashy and bombard the customer
Make the customer click is extremely important, spark some curiosity
Keep the banner size smaller, and make sure it is easy to download from multiple computers
Banners that I am likely to click are those that spark my curiosity. I don't like flashy ones, but I like creative sayings, creative use of color and ones that are obviously not going to be ridiculous or far-fetched. I really enjoyed the Volkswagen Pill Beetle Banner creative.
The article that discusses banner blindness is very interesting and honest about portraying users. Most people do not look at anything that looks like an advertisement. I would probably not look at an advertisement if I wasn't curious by taking classes that I've taken or trying to get a certain discount or free sample.
It's interesting that three elements drive banner advertisements: text, faces and body parts. The text makes sense because there is no clutter, faces because of emotional connection and body parts which drive at sexual desires or physical attraction. The article is successful in its approach at targeting certain demographics.
People generally look at sites the same way. The article shows that most people don't like unethical advertising, they enjoy "get to the point" advertisements. A user generally wants to save time, look out for their best interests. Banner advertisements that are generally unobtrusive, kept at certain placement levels and generate the highest click-through rates will be usually be successful in gaining consumer interest.
