The Open Agenda

Here’s my latest letter to marketing week:

It appears that this special report only published half the headline. Surely the full copy should have read “Keeping one step ahead – taking two steps backwards”.

Online advertising models have been by and large appallingly dismal at responding to or keeping up with changes in internet usage and behaviour.  Lets look at the facts. Click through rates have been declining for years, whist at the same time the cost of online media has been growing exponentially. Not a great formula for successful, cut through communications. Click-through rates for ads on major Web destinations such as Yahoo! and Microsoft declined from 0.75% to 0.27% during 2006, according to Eyeblaster. The average click rate on standard banner ads across the whole Web was 0.2% through last year.

Dynamic display ads, flash heavy intrusive pops ups, MPU’s, sky scrappers and the like really don’t address the issue. Whilst some great creative has been executed through such formats, it really is a case of mutton dressed up as lamb with regards to communications effectiveness.

We firmly believe that the most progressive brands are bypassing the browser and the inbox and communicating with consumers directly on the desktop. Targeted communication through our desktop application delivers click- through rates of between 30-80%. The recent desktop application we produced for Euro 2008 in France received over 150,000 downloads in the first week. Just about every one of these users is open and receptive to highly targeted communications delivered directly to the desktop. Oh, and let’s not forget that such an approach omits the need to over invest in hugely expensive online media.

The desktop is the most valuable real estate in media today. The smartest brands are on to this. Tie this into social…things get very interesting indeed!

If a brand has content that a user is willing to opt-in to, why waste time wielding a shotgun when you can have a snipers rifle at your disposal.

Direct to desktop communication is the future…now.

Tags:   click-through rates · communication · desktop · Desktop applications · media · online advertising · Social mediaNo Comments