The Blog on Branding

Effective Web Advertising – Say Goodbye to Banners and Pop-ups

Though at this point traditional advertising is just as prevalent as ever, many companies are turning to the Web as a new advertising frontier, and the more creative ones are going beyond just plastering users’ screens with technicolor banner ads, the digital equivalent of the billboard. These companies have realized that people use the Internet for different purposes and in different ways than they use television, print or radio.

“There are more creative ways to advertise than banners!”

Johnny Bunko De-bunks Online Advertising

Johnny Bunko is a simple example. The product is a bit off-kilter to begin with (a manga career guide aimed at American office workers?), but it’s the advertising that really stands out. Rather than the usual bookstore press junket, a film-style animated trailer was created for “The Adventures of Johnny Bunko” and posted on the book’s website. The video was also sent to popular video sharing websites such as Youtube and Vimeo. The response was impressive. The book received praise from Time, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal and the popular blog BoingBoing. The book even appeared on Business Week’s bestseller list.

So what’s the big deal? Video advertisements are nothing new. But think of how many TV ads you have seen for books in the last year. Try the last ten years. You probably can’t come up with one. So when the trailer went up online, the sheer novelty of it drew widespread attention. Then the Web did what it does best – let users spread the word themselves – and Johnny Bunko’s creators found themselves with an abundance of free advertising.

“Instead of the typical press junket, try a film trailer to promote a book.”

Second Life Offers New Possibilities in Real Life

A stranger and more controversial form of advertising arose from the online game Second Life. In Second Life, players interact in a virtual world that mimics the real one, only with more freedom and…commodified genitals, apparently. But before you run screaming from the room, consider the advertising possibilities.

Second Life has a functioning economy and any player has the ability to create anything they want out of thin air. This gives savvy advertisers the potential to introduce real-life products into Second Life – something that companies like Reebok and American Apparel are already taking advantage of.

But like the article linked to earlier pointed out, Second Life is rarely used optimally by companies looking to build an online presence. A blog post by an avid Second Life player a few years back pointed out some of the ways that advertisers are missing the point. Not all companies will find it worth the time to learn the ins and outs of advertising in a virtual world, but if they do there is the potential to engage a nearly untouched market.


“Second Life lets advertisers introduce real-life products.”

Don’t Forget About Twitter – Who Could?

Of course, no article on shiny new Web trends would be complete without mentioning Twitter. Branding Brand’s own Lindsay Liu has already covered advertising on Twitter in-depth. However, there are a few more links that might be useful to anyone experimenting with Twitter as an advertising model. A reporter from the Inquisitr tried a small-scale test of Twitter’s advertising efficacy, with disappointing results. A blogger on Old Media New Tricks posted “The 5 rules of advertising on Twitter” to hopefully improve future efforts.

With so few companies taking full advantage of the Web’s unique capabilities, it’s hard to say what the future of Web advertising will look like; but it’s safe to say that it will have more to do with interaction and less to do with annoying pop-ups and retina-burning banners.

“It’s hard to say how successful Twitter advertising will be…”

Bryan Lawver Bryan will be having Second Life-inspired nightmares for the next few weeks. Want content written for your Brand that shows up #1 on Search Engines and brings you new customers? Contact us.