Analysing AD Formats on different sites under study

Hardrock site have slider ad format which is really fascinating to me which displays the ad in a big banner and message is more visible than short ads. You don't need to browse all websites to capture different ads, here each one will come one after another. Such sliders should be automatic one, means one should not have to click arrow button  to look next or previous ad otherwise there could be a possibility visitor might miss clicking on it and wont get to know different ads. Having arrow button to slide through different ads gives flexibility in timing one want to look the ad for.

Second, Text talked about not overloading any ad with number of messages. It talked on conveying two messages: What the ad is about and second what action is expected after looking the ad.

http://www.spam.com/ have very different website layout, looking at its cool( different I should say ) layout, its hard to predict it being a food chain. It really gave a flavor of any gaming site. I think it goes with its name what it looks like, it is not the same like a SPAM!!  Anyways content conveys its product and it has used sidekick display rising ad format and enlarged the videos/information  of selected recipes which again is really attracting and convenient as it gives an option to know more or not.

Target.com has ad in Portrait ad which is a canvas format with state-of-the-art plug and play functionality. It has mixed the ad formats and utilizing the space at its best. such as while click on a deal I could see a window is side kicked. I think as its a retailer store which carry numerous products hence its ad format are not as fascinating.

Jeep.com is another interesting site which has displayed their different jeep model in various ad formats which looks really innovative. They have used to slider ad format on their first page and sliding to next page brings different models.  It has used filmstrip and sidekick ad format also .

I would say, I loved the way Jeep.com has used different rich media display formats to convey the message which really holds you to site and its fun to browse more and more on it. It really look a clever way to get hold of customers for longer time .

TIDE on Cookies and Adchoices

Tide has given a detailed information on how it use cookies and how it respect the privacy of customers and let them have easy access to all the links to opt out from it. Tide talked a lot on consumer privacy which is really appreciable and build the confidence in customers that Tide cares. Here are some observations from the site: 

Tide website has a link to Ad Choices which talks about ‘interest-based’ ads. Interest-based ads are advertisements one find more relevant to ones interests.

Tide rely on third parties to help them deliver interest-based ads who may collect information about users online activities, including on P&G and third-party sites, through
cookies, web beacons and other technologies.

We know what the cookies are. Web beacons and other technologies are the new things to learn about.

Web beacons are small bits of code that communicate with third parties and are embedded in web pages, our ads or in emails. We may use web beacons to deliver or communicate with cookies, to count users who have visited a web page, to understand usage patterns or other third party functionality. We also may include web beacons in e-mails to learn if messages have been opened, acted on, or forwarded.

Tide described the other technologies they may use to provide better service to customers:

1.      Web Session Variables. Information that is passed from one web URL to another as one browse.

2.      Browser plug-ins/add-ons. Additional web components that may need to be installed to enable certain web features on sites. One have the option not to install these components.

If one don’t want P&G to show interest-based ads or to share interest based behavioral data with third parties, one can opt out.

 

 

Direct marketing Strategies : Mcdonald

Direct marketing strategies are : Acquisition , Conversion and Retention and Customer value growth

Promotions and different coupons, TV advertisements , videos on their websites are few of those strategies for acquisition of customers. These offers try to engage customers and entice them to make purchase. However this site does not integrate its social media as well as JEEP websites does.

Conversion is when customers make frequent purchase. I think Giving food menu , nutritional Information, healthy choices and many more information helps customers to think coming back for any other purchase.

Retention is important to create highest customer lifetime value. Customer  service and purchase experience can contribute in retaining the customers. Mac-D website has a "Contact Us " Page (http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/contact_us.html) which welcomes customers for feedback and any kind of help customer is looking for.

Mac-D websites is not as enticing as other food chain websites such as subways. I don't like the color display of Mac-D. it looks dull and doesn't stimulate my purchase need/desire at all. The first impression is very important and Mac-D lags there. Its videos and food highlights are deepen under different tab. Customers don't have much time to explore much on any websites hence the main highlights should be flashing to grab customers attention and help them converting them in regular customers. Membership card is another way to convert and retain customers but Mac - D doesn't have anything like this.

I personally feel Mac-D websites has lot of opportunity to explore Direct marketing Strategies with its website.

Jeep: integrated marketing Techniques

As mentioned in the text too that marketers should not be depending on single medium of marketing and should integrate all the marketing medium to capture most of the market . By combining various tools, marketers are able to ensure that their audience is reached and can leverage the various tools in ways that are most effective. By combining various tools, marketers are able to ensure that their audience is reached and can leverage the various tools in ways that are most effective.

Looked at Jeep site and it put all its social media ( Facebook , twitter, RSS, You tube, instagram, Mobile Apps, Google plus)  links on its home page.
In this digitized world there is so much noise and distraction. You open link for something and you end up with something else that brings distraction to marketing promotions. However the concept of having all social media links build in your home page helps showing the diverse news/promotions at a single spot. By combining various tools, marketers are able to ensure that their audience is reached and can leverage the various tools in ways that are most effective.

Jeep's website also integrated shopping tools like cost calculator, Payment calculator, Getting a Quote etc . These tools take customer one step ahead to their purchase.

Jeep seems to have done a nice job in integrating many marketing tool on its website to reach customers and let them feel connected to them with their awesome content like blogs and twitter.

web 1.0 , Web 2.0 and Web 3.0

Web 1.0 sites are content driven and the user has no way to increase their involvement or interact with the interface.

Web 2.0 sites move beyond mere posting of content by allowing the user to become part of the process through collaboration.Web 2.0 sites allow for user interaction and participation by having a user-friendly interface where one can edit and publish the existing information.

Web 3.0, a phrase coined by John Markoff of the New York Times in 2006, refers to a supposed third generation of Internet-based services that collectively comprise what might be called ‘the intelligent Web’ — such as those using semantic web, microformats, natural language search, data-mining, machine learning, recommendation agents, and artificial intelligence technologies — which emphasize machine-facilitated understanding of information in order to provide a more productive and intuitive user experience.”

Welcome

Hello

Welcome to my blog!
This is certainly a new adventure for me.
As we need to go through the text and dispense our understanding on selected websites. 
I will put my best, however making it successful depends lot on honest feedback from you my friends. So open feedbacks are highly appreciated and requested. We may not be meeting face to face and that makes our journey challenging yet more interesting if we all work together.
I am sure ( we should make sure )  we will have fun as we go through. 
Let the dice rolling !!!
 
More next time... See you soon!!