TruEffect Blog

Targeted ads to counter the recession?

Recessions sure aren’t what they used to be. Not only do prices go up, as consumers’ resources dwindle, but now, according to this article in the San Jose Mercury News “No Economic Slowdown on the Internet,” consumer spending is still strong – on the internet. Ed Garrubbo, chairman of the Electronic Retailing Association, says online sales have jumped 17 percent in the first quarter of this year! So where are our recession laden consumers, burdened by near $4.00/gal. gas prices, getting all this online spending cash? Perhaps online gambling, but that’s a story for another day.

Robert Atkinson, president of the tech think tank Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, not only predicts continued growth for online commerce but also says that personalized online ads are the “economic rocket fuel” stoking the fires of this growth. The interesting thing is that he goes on to warn that efforts of Congress and the FTC to protect consumer privacy could have the unintended consequence of throwing water on the flames.

Hmmm. My privacy or the US economy? Regardless of which camp you reside in regarding online targeting and consumer privacy, there’s little doubt that improved technologies for targeting and optimization provide better ROI for advertisers, increase revenues,  and, yes, perhaps even provide a more personalized and meaningful consumer experience. OK, I admit it.  I really would like to know when that bed I’ve been eying at Overstock goes on sale. And if that news came in the form of a banner ad on my Yahoo! Home page that said “Hey Layne, your platform bed is on sale!”, I might even be OK with that. But that’s just me.

-- Layne Salter

Ain't it the truth?

Points to Steve Hall of AdRANTS for pointing out the obvious in his post Media Optimization has Trumped Creative Optimization.  For 10 years online ad serving has provided the technology to truly get the most bang for your media buck by testing and optimizing multiple creative units within your banner campaigns. This technology has gone from being misunderstood and underutilized in the late 90’s, to virtually disappearing during the dot com bust, to enjoying mild utilization by the smartest advertisers, to once again falling into disuse.  Steve sites creative production cost as the possible culprit, but can that really compare to all those wasted media dollars?

Media giants and networks have created their own proprietary technology to automatically optimize your media and creative so you don’t have to worry about it. But where does this leave the advertiser? Steve’s right that direct marketers won’t sleep until they find the right message and creative to bring about the desired response. And let’s face it, the internet IS a direct marketing medium.

Current technology is ready to dynamically generate a customized message within Flash to the person it knows is helming the computer keyboard. But will advertisers be fully prepared to take advantage of this advanced technology if they’re not even currently doing creative optimization? Is testing and analysis doomed to go the way of the Sony Betamax video standard, defeated by runaway market conditions that don’t necessarily have the customers’ best interest at heart?

- Layne Salter