Release the Ads

Sample of a Canadian Tire banner ad which allows in banner browsing.

I’m a big proponent of shifting the concept of the sole purpose of an online banner ad to drive traffic back to it’s mothership – a website.

Attached to the right is an example of an ad that lives on it’s own (not the greatest in design) but I really like the execution. You can navigate through the ad viewing a basic buyers guide, seeing a few products and an the ability to sign-up for their flyer – all from the comfort of your webpage.

All while being branded.  The ads are non-threatening, passive and allow me to interact without disrupting my “mission” – whatever the purpose was of me to be on the same page as the ad was displayed.

We need to work to shift from the concept of ads being nothing more than providing support to a website, rather being an extended arm of it.  These interactive ads can help widen the net of a campaign.

THE BOTTOM LINE

- Ads need to maintain the trust of the user for them to catch on – no fake arrows or tabs that don’t function the way you’d expect.

- Keep the message short.

- You don’t always need to drive traffic back to your website as to repeat a message that can be equally relayed in the ad.

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