Bypass the BannerBypass the Banner

Did anyone ever do a online media campaign without banners?  We talk about online campaigns in click-through-rates,impressions,and cost per Key Performance Index (KPI).  We use banners as a driver.  A driver to a central brand experience.  But what if we got rid of banners —did away with the central brand experience.  For many this may not seem plausible —maybe even impossible. 

First off,banners are a means to an end.  Most of the time they are drivers to a site experience.  Banners should not be the center point of your campaign,they are more like the icing you would put on a cake.  If the cake tastes like s%*# then there is little the icing can do.  This is why we need to think about bypassing the banner.

Think of bypassing the banner as a 100 to 5 to 1 ratio.  Recently at Team Detroit, we worked on an online optimization strategy for Ford,where we analyzed potential integration efforts into third party sites like KBB,Edmunds,and MSN Autos.  We quickly realized the potential was based on this simple ratio:

• 100:If we integrated an experience into the page,we could affect 100% of thepage  visitors on the third party site.
• 5:If we created a contextually relevant experience within the banner,we could potentially affect 5% of the page visitors.
• 1:If we created a strong,contextual call to action within the banner,we could potentially affect 1% of the page visitors.

This is a logical (and hardly novel) approach to online media.  The problem is many times we usually execute “.1″s.  That’s right one-tenth of a percent click-through rates.  We create a banner and efficiently pepper the banner throughout the internet through high-indexed sites,portal sites,and ad networks.   We are satisfied with micro-percents as campaign success goals.   The reality is we need to quit trying to drive people to our brand experience and bring the brand experience to them.

Start with 100%
Many industries have a natural path they can intercept people.  Many food products can integrate into recipe sites.  Many high-consideration purchases have sites dedicated to educating shoppers about their product (e.g. CNET for appliances and tech,KBB for vehicles,and many vertical pubs like MountainBike.com,EngagementRingAdvice.com or  PamperedPuppy.com).  Sometimes there are opportunities to integrate directly into the site —sometimes there is not.  Which mean we use banners —right?  Not so fast.

You need to begin with your target consumer’s mindset.  There are three levels to consider:

• Mind Elsewhere: Person is immersed in a passion point or in an online task like email,updating their social status,or reading the latest new story.  They are not thinking about your product or service.
• Product Interest:The person is interested in your product (or the competition) and is seeking out information to become more knowledgeable. 
• Shopping for Product:The person is actively shopping for your product (or the competition).

The latter two levels are easy to intercept if the person researches the product online.  This may be the case for high-consideration purchases,but is minimal or non existent for low consideration purchases.  The challenge for low consideration product marketers is their consumer targets are primarily in a mind elsewhere mindset.   These marketers need to find a way to connect with consumers —most likely through a brand connection than a product connection.

The natural brand path
The majority of people fall into the first mindset,which partly explains why click-through-rates are abysmal.  To bypass the banner we need to generate experience or content within their natural path.  This can be accomplished in many different ways,however one factor will be in common —a relevant brand experience.  The relevant brand experience intersects a brand truth and a consumer interest or insight.  This is where the brand can live,and where the consumer will accept the brand on their terms.

There are many examples across the internet.  Some are wonderful brand synergies.  Some not so much.  One of my perennial favorites is Mountain Dew and extreme sports.  The Mountain Dew Brand is about action —about a caffienated  buzz —about teenagers playing xBox all night drinking their gaming juice.   And Mountain Dew is about extreme sports.  The brand is integrated seemlessly with extreme sports with their own tour:Dew Tour.  Online you can find the Dew Tour on facebook,YouTube,Fuel TV,and the tour is referenced on many sports sites like SkiChannel.com,SnowBoard Mag.com,and ESPN.   Offline you can find the tour at ski resorts,in the press,and on television.  Not a bad way to bypass the banner.