Deck 13: Online Advertising

Question 1

From the perspective of an advertiser for a low involvement, packaged-goods product such as cereal, compare and contrast the strengths and weaknesses of the two forms of search engine advertising: keyword matching versus content-targeted advertising.

Answer 1

There are various strengths and weaknesses of both the techniques; keyword targeting and content targeting from the perspective of a low involvement packaged goods manufacturer. Keyword targeting means that if a user searches for a particular keyword in the search engines, various paid advertisements will be shown to him matching the typed keywords. The main benefit of using this technique is that these advertisements bring more traffic to the landing pages than content targeting advertisements. There are several demerits of using these advertisements such as high costs, and low involvement of the users and less chances of final sale.
Content-targeted advertising not only matches the searched keywords, but focuses mainly on the content of the web pages. Relevancy of the content is the key factor here. The more relevant content of a webpage is more are the chances of that particular page of being shown at the top. Content targeted advertising has various benefits like users are more likely to buy the product via these advertisements, these advertisements are low on cost than keyword targeting advertisements, and only interested users will click on the advertisements. On the downside, there are less chances of getting more clicks on advertisements.

Question 2

What, in your view, is the potential of using blogs as an advertising medium

Answer 2

A blog is an informational site or discussion page published on the World Wide Web. It consists of separate posts generally published in reverse chronological order. Blogs are not made for direct sales, but blogs can be helpful in many ways for generating sales and can be used as an effective advertising medium. Each blog is made with a primary focus and most blogs are used for providing valuable information to the consumers. Each blog has a certain set of readers who visit frequently or infrequently to that particular blog.
Advertising on blogs can be very effective because before advertising, marketers know what the blog is all about and what its readers like. For Example, if there is a blog for photography tips and photograph sharing, then it is obvious that its readers like photography and may be interested in buying cameras. A Camera manufacturing company can use this blog for advertising its products. There are more chances of consumer engagement for that company on this blog than some other random advertising medium.

Question 3

What, in your view, is the potential of using mobile devices as an advertising medium What else could be done with this option

Answer 3

Mobile Devices have a very high potential of advertising compared to most of the other advertising mediums. The biggest reason behind that is the number of mobile phone users. It is estimated that more than 50% internet users use their mobile phones to surf internet because mobile phones are easy to carry and convenient to use. That is why most of the companies that are indulged in any kind of direct or indirect online business have mobile apps supporting various platforms like android and windows.
Some companies are doing their whole business with mobile apps only. Mobile ads are also very cost effective when compared with other forms of advertisements such as TV and Radio. All these benefits and exponentially increasing usage of mobile phones indicate that mobile phones have a very high potential of being used as an advertising medium.
There are a number of other things that can be done with mobile phones.
• Mobile App Install Advertisements: Mobile phones can be used to display ads in the notification panel for installing various apps.
• Web Banner Ads: Ads can also be shown in the web page banners. When user click on that advertisement, this advertisement will take him to the advertisers` landing page.
• SMS ads: Various links can be shared with some messages in the form of an SMS.
• Video ads: When user is watching some video or telecast on the web by his mobile, short video ads can be displayed in between.
• Strategically linked ads: Two or more companies can form a strategic alliance or a contract between each other and then their mobile apps can be used as a medium to display ads for each other and other activities such as completing offers.

Question 4

As noted in the text, some observers have gone so far as to claim that traditional advertising is on its deathbed and will eventually be supplanted by online advertising. What are your views on this

Question 5

Based on your experiences, what do you believe are the key benefits and costs with online advertising Are these consistent with the text

Question 6

The text described the online user as being in a "leaning-forward" mind-set compared with, say, the TV viewer who is "leaning back." Explain what this means and why the distinction is advantageous or problematic for online advertisers.

Question 7

Describe your typical response behavior to online ads. That is, do you often click on banner ads What's your reaction to pop-ups, interstitials, superstitials, and online videos

Question 8

Can banner ads be effective if less than 0.3 percent of all people click through them

Question 9

Do you believe that online companies' use of cookies invades your privacy Would you favor legislation that prevents the use of this technology If such a law were passed, what would be the downside from the consumer's perspective

Question 10

Have you personally downloaded ad-blocking software onto your computer What are the implications of this practice if millions of consumers had ad-blocking software loaded on their computers and other digital devices

Question 11

The following set of questions was mentioned in the chapter in reference to the Nike logo on Kobe Bryant's basketball shoes or the University of Oregon football uniforms: Does it make you more likely to buy some of the company's products If so, would you admit it in a survey Would you admit it to yourself Would you even know it What implications do these questions (and their answers) hold for measuring Internet advertising effectiveness

Question 12

The Cookie Central website (www.cookiecentral.com) is dedicated to explaining exactly what cookies are and what they can do. Visit this site and present a discussion on how cookies can be and are used to compile lists for behavioral targeting purposes.

Question 13

What has been your personal experience with e-mail advertising Are you part of any opt-in lists whereby you receive regular (say weekly) e-mail messages What proportion of the e-mail messages do you receive on a daily basis that you would consider spam

Question 14

One virtue of e-mail advertising is that different messages for the same product or service can be mailed to various customer groups that differ with respect to pertinent buyographic, demographic, or other characteristics. This ability to "mass customize" messages should increase marcom effectiveness, yet a cynic might look at this practice as a bit deceptive-somehow saying different things about your product to different audiences seems misleading. What is your view on this

Question 15

E-mail advertising is claimed to be very effective for viral marketing purposes-that is, buzz generation. This is accomplished by requesting an e-mail recipient to forward the message to a friend. Present your views on the effectiveness of the e-mail viral marketing practice. In other words, explain what makes e-mail buzz generation effective or not.

Question 16

Behavioral targeting was characterized as search engine advertising on steroids. Explain what the practitioner who used this clever expression had in mind.