You need to "Think" about banner ads

In the online space a strong creative idea can be greatly impacted by poor consideration of the website, technographics, and the online behaviour of the visitor.

My example is this banner ad for Toyota (also seen above) as created by Saatchi & Saatchi Toronto.

As you will see it does have some element of cool and yes it will cause the pattern interruption that most online advertisers are looking for but in my mind it fails because the ad does not work within the site, nor does it consider the user behaviour or their needs.

This is a 100% brand centric experience (if you can call it that) and not a consumer centric experience.

So lets breakdown the mistakes.

1. Consider screen resolutions and the visible area: I have viewed the exact page on Canada.com on my 13" MacBook and 15" MacBook Pro using Safari & Firefox (first screen shot). The viewable area of this page cuts off the screen directly underneath the bigbox. Great! you think. Not at all. The value of the page is hidden and with the animation of this banner heading in the reverse direction that users move within a website they are ensuring that fewer people have an opportunity to see the ad.

2. Consider the user: Why would anyone go to Canada.com? They are their to view news, information and learn. They have arrived with curiosity or a specific need, problem or goal. This is not a site where users will spend much time on level 2 landing page. They are trying to get the level 3 where the find the actual stories. All of this information is quite a ways down the page. With a scroll of 90 pixels our user will loose any opportunity to view the actual ad. It takes about 10 seconds to get the digging man into the leaderboard. Trust me the user has long ago left the page or scrolled down to see the content.
3. Consider the functionality of the page: I never have and never will allow any piece of online advertising I touch to interfere with the navigation. This ad I imagine would render the navigation useless as it moves through that section of the site - not something that in my opinion positively impact the users experience or perception of the brand.

So basically we have a "cool idea" that through it's execution has ensured that as few people as possible actually have a chance to see it, is created in a way that negatively impacts user experience and renders the navigation useless. In the end I give it a 7 for the idea. 3 for the execution

Comfort

Really like this idea...that is all.

Found via adgoodness.

The Spectrum of UXD

I like it. Spent a good 20 minutes looking at this tonight. That is all I have to say about that.

Great Storytelling

Look - All I want is a sweet story from a brand that actually is creative vs. boring and useless. If you aren't creating content that people wouldn't want to watch outside the walls of your marketing meeting room, start over.

What is this strange content I'm talking about? Start here. Short, amateur films. Raw, great stuff.

Facts About Projection from Studiocanoe on Vimeo.

As you start to evaluate your next campaign, I hope you think about what the story behind it is. What are you actually trying to get people to think and do? I love digital and I love all the channels that we can us to engage people with. But sometimes, all we want is a little escape. And a little (fun) story from a brand.

MTV Networks: Slurpee spot for 7/11

Ad agencies aren't yet shaking in their boots but media groups such as MTV have been able to showcase that they can deliver quality creative while cutting out agencies and media groups.

Slurpee from Johan Polhem on Vimeo.

Found on The Curious Brain