Web ads hold cachet
The article fails to take into account the fact that today’s consumers are increasingly time poor and the media landscape is increasingly fragmented. Effective marketing is no longer a matter of simply splashing an advert on a highly-trafficked media outlet, whether it’s a well-trafficked portal, a high-circulation newspaper or popular TV programme. Savvy marketers understand this.
Last spring, Yahoo! and Basis Research conducted a study of 2,000 people in the UK and France examining how they remember things in their life and advertising. The research highlights that advertisers are missing out on sales opportunities because of their inability to maintain a meaningful, cohesive dialogue with consumers throughout the buying cycle. Sixty per cent of respondents claim they’ve wanted to see an ad again, either because it was funny, or they were in the middle of something, or the ad required joint decision making. However, while 77% of adults in the UK have tried to find an advertising message again, nearly six in ten were unsuccessful.
Yahoo! has begun testing more than a dozen new ad formats to address the opportunities identified in the study, and we’re encouraging our advertisers to do the same.
For example, in Spain we’re working with Pepsi on a new slide show format where, upon click, the consumer gets an uncluttered, branded experience – no noise, one message. The testing and consumer feedback lets us identify and refine what makes a good advertising experience for consumers while meeting advertisers’ needs.
Laura Chaibi, head of research and insights, Yahoo! Europe
