Reading Materials 3

The materials that I've gone through so far kept on emphasising the importance of hedonic pleasure and interactivity in internet advertising. I wonder what does that mean.

The first two reports below addressed the fun and interactive factor by discussing about digital display formats and concluded that rich media with video is generally the most effective in terms of achieving advertising goals.

Sawyer (1994) also mentioned the importance of fun via "make them laugh" in his guideline for print advertising. Most of the principles are applicable to both media especially "you're not selling the product, you're selling the benefits" where the people's needs and preference are the highest priority of all. However, "if you have a good story to tell, tell it: don't be afraid of long copy" is something questionable in this information era. People tend to ignore wordy advertisements in newspapers unless the headline is attractive enough to make them continue reading, or, it is extremely long till it looks like an article rather than an advertisement. What is more when it comes to internet advertising? Nonetheless, this is still a useful guideline to assess the effectiveness of advertisements and will be used to analyse newspaper and internet advertisements in my future post. 

Guidelines for effective internet advertising
MediaMind. (2012) '7 Best Practices for Building A Smart Ad'. Best of Digital Report: Rich Media & Video. Malaysian Digital Association (MDA). pp. 9-15. [Online] Available at: http://www.digital.org.my/pdf/MDA_Digital_Booklet_First_Edition_Q3.pdf [Accessed: 13 December 2013].
- proposed a guideline for internet advertising:
  ~ use video which initiates automatically and matches with the site content
  ~ use richer, more visible ad formats/ synched ads
  ~ integrate exchanges into media buy


DoubleClick and Dynamic Logic. (2012) 'Better Brand Engagement with Display Formats'. Best of Digital Report: Rich Media & Video. Malaysian Digital Association (MDA). pp. 16-21. [Online] Available at: http://www.digital.org.my/pdf/MDA_Digital_Booklet_First_Edition_Q3.pdf [Accessed: 13 December 2013].
- concluded that:
  ~ greater frequencies improve aided brand awareness for all formats
  ~ rich media with video is the most effective format for building online ad awareness
  ~ greater frequencies improve online ad awareness for all formats
  ~ simple flash performs worst at affecting brand favourability and purchase intent
  ~ greater frequencies improve brand favourability for all formats
  ~ greater frequencies in rich media format improves purchase intent the most

- provided a guide on display formats by industries and goals

Guidelines for print advertising

Sawyer, P.W. (1994) 'Ten Principles of Effective Print Advertising'. In: Managing and Mastering Change: The Dynamics of Market, Advertising and Public Opinion. Toronto: Roper Starch. pp 67-91. [Online] Available at: http://www.positiveresponse.com/Starch10Principles.pdf [Accessed: 10 December 2013].

- a guideline for print advertising in 1994:

  ~ keep it simple

  ~ grab them by the eye

  ~ put on a show (being engaging)

  ~ make them laugh

  ~ appeal to appetites (the importance of consumer insights)

  ~ understand the value of good flow: if you lead them, their eyes will follow

  ~ when possible, heighten the contrast (either in content or form: consideration of design elements like colour, composition......)

  ~ don't leave them asking, "what the hell is that?": avoid ambiguity

  ~ if you have a good story to tell, tell it: don't be afraid of long copy

  ~ you're not selling the product, you're selling the benefits

** how many are still applicable in 2014? Are people still interested in reading long copies? If long copies are necessary, how can we make people read those copies? 

** is it suitable for internet advertising?