There’s no secret that different types of websites attract different levels and types of advertisers – but the variance is rarely elaborated upon. For instance, Facebook’s top 100 advertisers spend $49,045,000 per month, while the top 100 advertisers of IMDB ($7,217,400), CNET ($3,094,000), and NYTimes($7,128,500) combined spend about 1/3 ($17,740,000) that of Facebook. This of course addresses the levels of ad revenue by popular sites, and is just one of the findings from the most recent Nielsen AdRelevance report. Of special note are AT&T’s spending trends, and the rate at which this brand has invested online, especially in the four sites included in the study.
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Not every company has a multimillion dollar advertising budget to work with. And increasingly, even those that do are turning to more creative means of reaching their audiences. Many consumers have become averse to slick commercials and polished sales pitches over the years, causing savvy marketers to adapt with offbeat, attention-grabbing marketing campaigns. Following are 18 of the most memorable guerrilla marketing campaigns and what made them so effective.
Cingular’s “Dropped Calls” Billboard
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Few things irritate cell phone users as much as their calls being dropped mid-conversation. But rather than take to the airwaves, Cingular tackled the problem in true guerrilla spirit, and addressing this widely-felt problem in bold, dramatic, in-your-face billboard This ad, which portrayed a call being “dropped” onto the ground below, instantly arrested the attention of passers by and those far off who cannot help squinting to see what “that crazy looking billboard” was all about.
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The intended purpose of advertising is to reach out to and create customers. Companies spend millions to produce ads aimed at besting their competitors, capturing market share, and communicating a message. Every so often, however, there are ads so bad they turn people off from a brand, even to the point of potential customers going out of their way to not buy the advertised product or service. Below are some of the most noteworthy examples of poorly executed and horribly Photoshopped ads, which should act as a ‘what not to do’ guide for potential advertisers:
Race-Changing
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This specific ad became famous when Microsoft executives decided the Polish market was not ready for a black male to be prominently featured in one of its ads. When they swapped the man from the original ad’s head (above) for that of a white male (below), the angle was off, and, the hands were not adjusted to reflect the change. To top it off, it looks like the subject of the change is using a MacBook with the logo removed. This ad has been widely distributed online as a an example of what not to do with ads in Photoshop, and it’s safe to assume a lot of people got fired for this.
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It’s no secret the recent economic crisis has forced many businesses to rethink their marketing and advertising expenditures. While, not long ago, many were once satisfied with ad reach and exposure, ad executives and business owners have become increasingly concerned with ad efficiency and ways to increase ROI. If you currently spend money advertising online, or are interested in advertising online you should do your research; there many potential pitfalls, and no shortage of ways by which money is spent with little to no conversion impact. For businesses large and small, the following constant the ten most commonly made mistakes in online advertising — and should be avoided at all cost:
Turning Potential Shoppers Away
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While high-conversion traffic should be a primary goal of advertisers, discouraging all types of traffic is never a good idea. One way advertisers can seriously curtail multiple flows of traffic is by turning potential shoppers off from their brand. Aesthetically unappealing, offensive, or altogether annoying (ie., pop-ups, or forced advertisements) can turn customers off.
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