Question of the Week: Does Mobile Advertising Work Better Than Desktop Advertising?

Yep.

And here's why.

Decision-Making Is A Built-In Element of Being Mobile 

When we’re mobile, we have to decide where we’re going, how we’re getting there, whether to run the yellow light to get there faster, what we’re going to buy when we get there, etc. 

There’s no other medium that has us so steeped in choices that require immediate action. Meanwhile, desktop decision-making is often resting on a search bar. Or downright sleeping.

Consider this.

Mobile Advertising Is of Higher Quality

It has to be. Because mobile users will not tolerate advertising blocking any content on their screens that could

be vital to their enlightenment or current social plans. 

Mobile advertising has to be more about quality than volume. It has to be engaging without being needy. Less is more, and all that good stuff. 

Otherwise, it’s going to serve only to irritate users and will soon be blocked with true Gary "The Glove" Payton mastery.

Mobile Advertising Is More Cost Effective

It’s true. 

Back in 2012, venture capitalist, former Wall Street analyst and internet maven Mary Meeker researched the numbers and came up with this: 

The effective cost per thousand impressions (CPM) for desktop web ads is about $3.50, while the CPM for mobile ads is just $0.75.

Another mobile ad platform broke down the numbers even further for mobile ads by device. They found that the iPhone has the highest average CPM for mobile ads of any smartphone. Not shocking. But at $2.85, it still falls short of that CPM for web ads on a desktop. 

On a completely unrelated note, print ads can command rates of as much as $100 per thousand impressions. Yeah. Ouch.

Mobile Advertising Is Just More Relevant

We’re gonna go out on a limb and assume you don’t take your desktop computer with you wherever you go. (But if you do, no judgment.) So location specific targeting is not an option with desktop advertising. 

Obviously, the more accurately you can target your advertising and the more engaging the experience, the more effective the advertising will be. 

For example, imagine this:

You’re in Paducah, Kentucky. Why? Let’s just say because the National Quilt Museum is there and you’re really into national quilts.

Anyhow, it’s late afternoon and you’re walking up Jefferson Street after a long stroll on the Riverwalk. You decide to look for a place to grab some chow. 

You search your phone for “restaurant" and you immediately see an ad for Paducah’s hottest happy hour spot, which happens to be two blocks away on the left and has a very hip patio. Based on where you are, the time of the day and the fact that it’s a gorgeous day, it sounds perfect. It must be kismet!

Or maybe it’s more that your phone is seriously savvy. It knows where you are, knows that the weather where you are is patio-worthy, and knows that it’s happy hour where you are. As another big plus, the ad offers a discount code for one free national quilt replica if you spend $10.00 or more. 

Okay, dynamic mobile ads haven’t hit quite this level of sophistication yet. But they’re pretty close.

The Caveat of Mobile Advertising

There is a responsibility on the part of advertisers to be mindful of customers’ privacy. This is especially true when it comes to formats like SMS, social networks and location-based mobile advertising. They’re still potential customers, not your BFFs. 

The reality is, it's almost unfair to measure mobile advertising against desktop advertising because it's a DIFFERENT form of advertising. Mobile devices are considered more personal. And since there is less real estate available, it raises the stakes for which disruptions mobile users are willing to accept.

Mobile advertising gives marketers opportunities to reach audiences in a meaningful way like never before. 

And creative advertisers will take this and fly with it. (Or drive with it. Or walk with it...)

Old-School Marketing Methods That Still Work

Every industry is inundated with (and yes, riddled by) new technology. Advertising and marketing are no different. Many

of the classic marketing methods have gone by the wayside.

Of course there’s much to be said for the Internet and social media and their vast contributions to one’s marketing efforts. After all, it’s essential to target advertising to those digital natives, otherwise know as the millennials. 

Meanwhile, artificial intelligence (AI) promises a shiny space-aged future with automated programs and robots that will rocket advertising/marketing to new heights. (All the while rendering our jobs - and eventually us - obsolete.) 

Yep. Marketing and advertising continue to move forward. Big wheels keep on turning.

Even so, there still remain several wheels that need no reinventing.

Classic Marketing Methods That Continue to Be Effective 

Obviously, advertisers need to be cognizant of generational wants and needs. And yeah, they want to appeal to the younger generation by being trustworthy rather than just aw brand.

But they also know when a good thing works - no matter how outdated. 

It’s like your great great uncle who insists that his divining rod puts “your gall-danged BPS to shame” when it comes to locating water. Obviously he meant GPS. But it doesn’t matter because that divining rod still does a bang-up job at finding those underground water sources. Certainly better than your GPS.

And the following marketing methods still work their magic too:

Jingles

If you’re over 40, you can probably sing a jingle from your childhood on command. It could for some huge and looming corporate entity. Or it might be for Crazy Eddie’s Chair Emporium. But we bet something’s going through your head right now.

The jingle, as well as its melodically-challenged cousin the slogan, relies on human psychology and our shared capacity for language. And that’s why it’s still effective. 

Some catchy tune or phrase can seed itself in your brain and thrive there - leaving you, for example, with the eternal knowledge that Nationwide is, in fact, on your side. 

Promotional Gifts 

Picture it. Milan, Italy. 1470.

A young and enterprising Leonardo da Vinci decides to set up shop selling portraits. But since he’s relatively unknown, he decides to offer a  promotional hilarious caricature for each person who sits for him. It’s an extra expense for him in terms of time, paper and charcoal but those Renaissance folks sure do love a good laugh! Who’d have guessed? Soon, word gets out about Leo. 

Until one day, Lisa Gherardini walks in and, well, the rest is

history. 

Yeah, okay. That didn’t really happen. 

But there’s something to be said for adding in a little “thank you” gift to someone who is purchasing your product or service - like a free baseball with the purchase of a bat, or a free bat house with the purchase of the other kind of bat. Either way, it’s cost-effective and makes a lasting impression on a potential customer. 

Mailers and Coupons

The big plus of these is the ability to target specific demographics in certain zip codes and/or neighborhoods. 

Mailers and coupons are especially effective for service companies. That’s why you’re far more likely to find a coupon in your mailbox or on your front porch for roofing services if you live in a house rather than an apartment. Or a yurt. 

And if the service company specializes in a single service - such as high-end garage repair or lining pools with gold - being able to identify and target their best potential customers means no wasted money on sending out a mass mailing to places with, say, regular garages and inflatable pools. 

Sign Spinning

We’re not talking about those slowly turning signs that were popular in the 1950s-70s. We’re referring to the folks to whom Justin Timberlake so poignantly paid tribute in his role on SNL as a singing and dancing slab of tofu. 

It’s the woman who stands in the sun on a 90-degree day and dances around, spinning a sign for the car wash or nail salon in the strip mall. Or it’s the man who dons the Statue of Liberty garb each year in January and stands in the bitter cold waving his fireless torch while spinning a sign in front of the tax preparation place. 

These are the real heroes of advertising. Or maybe they just really need the extra money (which isn’t much). Because that’s some pretty grueling and thankless work for them.

But not for the businesses for whom they perform. It turns out that this specific brand of theatricality does manage to catch the eyes of those passing by and pull in people who would have otherwise drifted past.  

Humans are suckers for a good show. Or at least a strange one.

Human Nature Dictates Old School Marketing 

And that’s the main reason these old methods still work. They mostly rely on human nature. 

So unless we quickly become cyborgs in a robot nation, it seems unlikely these methods are going any where any time soon. 

Which, if nothing else, is comforting.

Question of the Week: What is Cloud-Based Advertising?

It’s not when you’re at an outdoor concert and see planes pulling banner ads across the sky. And it’s not sky writing either.

So now that we’ve established what it isn’t, let’s address what it is. 

The Gartner IT Glossary defines it as this:

“Cloud advertising are cloud-based services that support the selection, transaction and delivery of advertising and ad-related data in which content and price are determined at the time of end-user access, usually by an auction mechanism that matches bidders with advertising impressions as they become available. This applies to search, display, mobile, social and video ad formats.”

Huh? What does this mean? And why does Gartner sound like such a buzz kill? 

Let’s whittle it down to this instead:

Cloud-Based Advertising Actually Refers to Products and Services

From there, it deals with how they relate to online advertising.  

Typically, online advertising consists of traditional display ads with a static or moving image and some CTA (call to action) text. It’s essentially like old school advertising - in appearance at least - but online.

Cloud-based advertising, on the other hand, pulls in the ever-important social and real-time aspects of the web. (No plane required.) 

This is important because like pretty much all technology, the technology to deliver ads has advanced. Programmatic advertising and advanced analytics are like ruthless task masters demanding better ad production and more creativity.   

Enter Cloud-Based Ad Production Services

This cloud-based component allows you to program display

ads with content management systems, video servers and APIs. That way you can update or swap out components like lead generation forms or white papers based on what’s  trending. 

And what’s trending is almost as important in social media marketing as it was in junior high. 

Plus, if you need to change your ad message for whatever reason (a change of weather, or an unfortunate PR incident which doesn’t bear repeating here), it can be done by updating the ad on the platform so it will instantly roll out across all publisher websites. 

What does this really mean?

No more hassle of having to submit the new creative assets and ad tags to each publisher while waiting for them to upload the changes and everything that follows. First world problems, to be sure. But still important in this context.

The bottom line is this:

Cloud-Based Advertising Equals More Flexibility and Control over Your Brand

And that ain’t too shabby. Especially for a cloud.

Question of the Week: What’s the Difference Between Brand Identity and Brand Personality?

Thanks so much for asking.

There’s a good chance you’re familiar with brand identity already. And if you are, you can just skip to the brand personality subheading below. (Go ahead, ya show off.)

But if not, or if you'd simply like a review, we’ll break it down for you.

What Is Brand Identity?

You may well have the coolest logo or most dazzling home page  imaginable. You might have both. But they alone (or even together) do not a brand identity make. 

For a brand to be appealing, recognizable, and easily remembered, it needs contextual finesse. THIS is its identity.

It’s that thing that helps the consumer instantly recognize the brand. So, for instance, if we were to say “pink mustache,” what brand is called to mind? If you said something like "Elton John," that's a darn good answer. Though a formidable force, he's technically not a brand. (He's a knight.) 

At any rate, you might have immediately said, "Lyft," as most people in their 20s and 30s would. And that’s the target audience to whom Lyft is primarily catering. 

See, Lyft was smart. They came along to challenge Uber at a time when Uber was coming across as dark and elitist. Lyft built their brand identity on differentiation. They started by making their brand color hot pink. The pink mustache grew from there. They hired friendly community drivers that emphasized more laid back and communal elements. All the while, they grew their customer base and increased brand recognition.    

Basically, a brand’s logo, tagline, fonts and color all act towards creating a brand’s identity. And a brand identity is vital. It sets a company apart from its competition and establishes a connection in the minds of the customers. It’s the face of the company. (Or at least the mustache.) 

It represents the company’s services, mission and values.

According to media researcher Nielsen, 60 percent of consumers prefer to shop from brands they already know. So brand recognition keeps old customers coming back.

But there’s another part of the brand that’s equally vital to your marketing strategy. And that’s its personality.

What is Brand Personality?

(If you skipped the above, thanks for joining us again.)  

Let’s say you’re looking for socks. Do you want Merino wool

socks in a classic pattern that will keep your feet warm? Or do you want something purely aesthetic (like sloths or clowns or hot dogs) with no concern for utility? 

We probably all know which of these socks you will find at L.L. Bean. And they don’t involve tube steaks. Or tube socks, for that matter.

L.L. Bean would prefer a hike in the woods to a drive in the city, a worn-in sweater to a sharp business suit, a picnic to a power lunch. “Come on, L.L. Let’s go for a swim in the fishing hole, then cozy up to the fire with some hot chocolate afterward.”

This is L.L. Bean's brand personality. It has been built through years of development of its brand. And while the brand identity might change through different life cycles, the personality will stay mostly the same. 

Much like humans. And it makes sense.

Because in essence, brand personality is a set of feelings, emotions and qualities ascribed to a brand. And quite often, a brand’s personality reflects that of its target customers.

Brand Identity Exists with Brand Personality

Brand identity is like the logical aspect of the brand, while brand personality is the emotional component. It’s like brand identity is from Mars, and brand personality is from Venus. Or maybe the other way around... however all of that works.

Whatever the case, each is a distinctive entity that needs to endure over the long haul. 

So what is your brand’s identity and personality? If your brand were human, would you want to hang out with it? We hope so. Because that’s the idea. 

Mistakes to Avoid in Logo Design

Ah, the logo.

It might be small, but it speaks volumes about your company.

So whether it’s a new design or a redesign - and whether you’re doing it yourself or having someone else do it -  here are things you’ll want to avoid.

Following Trends 

You’ve seen the trendy logo. It’s hip, it’s now, it’s what all the cool kids are wearing on their droopy hats.

Then a year later it’s weird, it’s dated and looks like it was plucked from a time capsule filled with droopy hats. 

Seasoned designers know that a logo needs to be timeless. And they have the know-how and savvy to make it so. 

Yep. Nothing screams amateur designer like a trendy logo.

Copying Successful Brands

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Maybe. But out-and-out aping someone else’s design is NOT flattering. Honestly, it’s lame. 

And it could be illegal. So don’t be a scofflaw. 

Continuing the Love Affair with Stock Images

Look. Those stock images were just not that into you. So let them go.

They’re players. They get around. In other words, they’ve been used in multiple designs already. And your insistence on showing up with them makes you look sub-standard, unprofessional and, well, desperate. 

And yeah, they knew how to use you. But if you don’t know how to use them - i.e. which ones are to be used strictly for business and which for pleasure -  you could be facing legal issues. It’s over.

Walk away.

Insisting upon Being Cute/Clever/Complicated

Here’s the deal. You should aim to have your logo be easily recognizable.

You should NOT aim to have yourself be easily recognizable as an under-appreciated yet rising “artiste”.

Your logo isn’t trying to be the Sistine Ceiling. It needs to be

simple. It should communicate as much as it can muster, but with as little as possible. 

There’s no point in a super creative logo that nobody recognizes. So ask yourself, “which parts can I cut out of the Sistine Ceiling and still have it work?” (I think we all know the obvious answer.) 

The easier the shape, the better.

Believing the Customer (Client) Is Always Right

Many are the clients who fancy themselves “creative” because their painting placed second in their high school art show and they still wonder what would have happened had they pursued that particular (lack of) career path.

But also be careful of allowing the client WITH a creative background to take control of the design. They can quickly move from backseat designer to taking the wheel and driving your logo right over a cliff. 

Ignoring the Unconscious Mind

Colors and shapes communicate all manner of things. And what they’re communicating might not be obvious to you.

For instance, edgy and sharp shapes convey masculinity, while rounder and soft shapes are associated with femininity. This is further whittled down to say that serious and driven companies will fare well with those sharper shapes, while more family-oriented companies do better with roundness. 

Yeah, it’s sexist and cliché, but it’s where we are. And designers need to be aware of this.  

Same thing with colors.

In fact, there’s a whole psychology of colors and each hue is associated with different qualities and feelings. 

The main caveat here is to REALLY look at the logo to be sure there aren’t any unintended symbols or colors. And hand it over to as many other people as you can. Because you might not see that the playful shape and bright color you’re using for that toy company logo shares a frightening likeness with a bloodied Chinese throwing star.

But somebody else will.

Misunderstanding Your Audience

As mentioned above, you want to be aware of how different colors and shapes are connected with different gender associations and psychological stirrings.

THAT being said, make no assumptions.

Not all women aged 25-50 are into shopping and martinis and awesome cleaning products, any more than all men aged 25-50 are all about sports and beer and power tools.

Do the homework. Carry out sufficient research into the market. Stay in contact with your client and get familiar with how they want to be portrayed to their audience. 

Not Using Scalable Graphics

In the past, logo designs used either raster or vector images. 

But since the onslaught of the mobile generation, raster images have become SO 2015. That’s because they consist of pixels. And pixels don’t scale well. And logos need to scale correctly for their host device. And so there.

Vector graphics, however, feature precise points and can scale to any digital or print size without turning into a blurry mess. 

They’re also easier to edit so the designer can go straight into using them from initial sketches. 

Choosing Ineffective Fonts 

Fonts are another component of the design where the aim is

for timelessness. But that’s tricky. Because sometimes fonts fall out of favor for no apparent reason. (This isn’t always the case though. With fonts like Duff Wind and Countdown, the reasons are pretty obvious.)

So experienced designers know that they need to strike a balance between creating a unique visual and finding that timeless font that complements it. 

That’s no easy feat.  

Handing the Design off to Your Sister or Cousin

Did you happen to mention your need for a new logo over Thanksgiving dinner and some family member in art school volunteered to do it for you?  We sincerely hope you didn’t agree to this - driven, as countless other bad decisions are, by your tryptophan-addled brain.

Aside from the obvious pitfalls that come with working with family, you don’t want your logo design handled by someone with just a basic idea of graphic design.

Designing a logo requires more than a knowledge of just graphics. It involves strategizing, planning and an understanding of branding. 

A Good Logo is Complicated

Like quantum physics. Or relationships.

Yeah, you can zip on over to one of those online logo makers and sort through their templates and get ideas from their automated robot designer. (It’s not as Jetsons cool as it sounds.)  And that might be an okay place to start.

But eventually, you’ll want your logo to be created by someone with knowledge and expertise. Someone who understands both design and branding. 

Someone who’s not an automated robot designer.

Because your business deserves more. And frankly, so do you.