Full Motion Video Ads Annoy Fewer Than Expected – So Expect Plenty

Overhype

from the never-going-to-stop dept

Here’s the perfect example of how the bad marketer thinks. If you come up with an advertising technique that annoys fewer people than expected, it’s considered a success. That’s right, the bad marketers are now judging the success of advertising programs on how many people it annoys. Back in January, I trashed the idea of Unicast’s 30-second TV commercials online, pointing out that the internet is not a broadcast medium, and people generally don’t want to be interrupted and surprised by a 30 second ad while they’re in search of something. Well, the initial tests have concluded, and the marketers are positively thrilled that only 28% of people found them annoying. Of course, that’s a fairly simplistic way of looking at it. First, the study was conducted by advertisers, so there’s a certain amount of bias built into it. They also don’t say how the viewer satisfaction was rated. Second, only 30% actually watched the ads most of the way through (not even all of the way), suggesting that 70% shut it down completely. So, while 28% may have found them annoying, clearly another 42% weren’t thrilled with the idea either. Even more importantly, I’m sure some of the initial interest in the ads are due to the fact that it’s a novel idea, to see such ads online. Plus, all of the advertisers are big name brands that are used to creating fairly entertaining ads. Fast forward a few years based on these results when every time you close a webpage you’re forced to watch a poorly produced 30 second ad for some product you don’t want, and see how many people think it’s annoying then. Unfortunately, the lazy marketer sees “less than expected were annoyed” and starts planning a big campaign of these ads to make sure that the annoyance level increases to a percentage they’re more comfortable with.