Ad formats across the Marketing Spectrum
This week's post will focus on the different forms of online advertising and these ads' compliance with IAB Guidelines. When I looked at my three companies, I noticed that Nike and lululemon did not have advertisements on their webpages. My thinking is that since they are well established retail stores with large market shares, they do not want to promote other products and do not feel the need to use acquisition strategies. Under Armour does have a pop-up that will be discussed later. To make this post a bit more informative, I decided to also look at Reebok's online advertising efforts. In addition to analyzing online advertisements, I will be looking at how these companies' mobile sites differ from their online advertising on computer screens. At the end, I will make a suggestion for one company regarding an online advertising strategy that reinforces their brand.
IAB Guidelines and Importance
http://blog.mgid.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/IAB-Logo.jpg
When online advertising first began, many consumers found them bothersome and distracting. Not much has changed regarding their annoyance, but ads have improved. To help curb the annoyance of pop-ups and ads on websites, the IAB was formed in 1996. IAB stands for the Interactive Advertising Bureau, and they are responsible for 86% of online advertising in the United States. They promote the value of the interactive advertising industry while also setting the standards and guidelines others can strive to follow.
As the Internet matures, so must the strategies and advertisements that marketers use. We are seeing a switch from Flash advertisements due to the dwindling Flash audience and fewer mobile devices playing Flash content. An important medium to look at is the emergence of HTML5. This is the new platform for creative advertising that marketers need to take advantage of. HTLM5 can do everything that you would want to do for an online ad without needing plugins or additional software. It's "actually three kinds of code: HTML to provide structure, Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to take care of presentation, and JavaScript to make things happen (Marshall)! The latest IAB Guidelines promote the use of HTML5 ads.
The following image shows the 5 main ad formats that IAB is pushing currently:
http://www.iab.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Mobile-Rising-Stars-Final-2-24-12IAB22512F_mobile.pdf
Ad Formats in Action
As stated before, Nike and lululemon lacked advertisements on their home pages. However, Under Armour had a pop-up ad that encouraged users to sign up for email notifications and promotions. It seems as though Under Armour is using their homepage as a quick spot to push their email promotions. A quick click of the "x" in the upper right corner closes the ad, and you can resume browsing. This type of ad falls under the "pushdown" category of the "Rising Star" ads, meaning that it is compliant with IAB guidelines that characterize this type of ad as pushing down site content so the ad remains center.
Since my other companies did not have advertisements, I decided to look at Reebok. They are in the same industry as Nike and Under Armour, so I thought it would be a reasonable company to use in this post. Similar to Under Armour, Reebok also promotes signing up to receive email notifications when visiting their home page. Again this form of advertising is compliant with IAB guidelines.
I thought it was interesting that both of these companies utilized these types of ads on their homepage. I think it may have to do with the established brand awareness/recognition that Nike and lululemon have created. Two top-dog companies do not need to bother their customers with pop-ups asking to sign up to their email list. While Under Armour is a world-wide known brand, they are still working to catch up to Nike's status. Reebok is also fighting to increase their market share, so it makes sense that both of these companies are striving to acquire customers.
Mobile vs. Computer Display
Nike's mobile display was incredibly similar to their online display. As on their landing page on computer display, Nike emphasizes their customizing option and gives quick access to NikeID.
lululemon had an for their mobile app at the top of their mobile website, boxed in blue. This form of advertising follows IAB Guidelines for Mobile Rising Stars and is classified as the adhesion banner, with a simple "x" closing the banner and allowing the consumer to continue browsing. lululemon also makes it easy to start shopping by highlighting their free shipping option, highlighted by the red box.
Under Armour, like Nike did not have any advertisements. However, they do have a quick link to their shopping cart and search bar tool to increase easy browsing and purchasing.
Reebok had an interesting notification flashed across the bottom of the screen. It was a scrolling message informing me that by clicking on this site, I would automatically be allowing cookies to start tracking my browsing. It was very quick, and at the end said I would only see this notice once. When I refreshed to try and get a screenshot of the banner, it did not come up again, but the blue box at the bottom is where the notification ran. I've never seen this happen, at least never noticed, on another site. The fact that Reebok is using cookies shows that they are working to expand their knowledge of their target audience.
Reebok had an interesting notification flashed across the bottom of the screen. It was a scrolling message informing me that by clicking on this site, I would automatically be allowing cookies to start tracking my browsing. It was very quick, and at the end said I would only see this notice once. When I refreshed to try and get a screenshot of the banner, it did not come up again, but the blue box at the bottom is where the notification ran. I've never seen this happen, at least never noticed, on another site. The fact that Reebok is using cookies shows that they are working to expand their knowledge of their target audience.
Online Advertising Strategy for lululemon
lululemon is an incredibly well established brand considering it was founded in 1998. In just under 20 years they have become a world-wide, highly desirable brand. I think that an online advertising strategy could be extremely beneficial for them. By incorporating videos, rich media content, interactive/immersive ads, and social media, lululemon could create a more personable brand.
Personally, I love it when a company's social media accounts have personality and interact with the customers. I think that could be an area where lulu could focus on improving. I also believe that creating videos that embody their brand, which focuses on healthy, happy living while wearing comfortable, practical clothing. Improving customer experience online is another important aspect of an online advertising strategy. By creating an easy to use site with features such as cascading style sheets, large fonts, and easily accessible search and home buttons, customers will enjoy shopping online more.
Work Cited:
*Note: all images without URLs were screenshots from my computer and iPhone.
"2015 ADVERTISING CREATIVE GUIDELINES FOR DISPLAY & MOBILE – UPDATED FOR HTML5." IAB Display Advertising Guidelines. Interactive Advertising Bureau, n.d. Web.
Marshall, Gary. "HTML5: What Is It?" TechRadar. N.p., 3 Dec. 2013. Web.
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