Good Media, Bad Creative
For too long, publishers have taken the fall for campaign failures when the folks who created the ads are the ones to blame. Feb 19, 2003
Making Advertisers and Users Happy: A Case Study
An oxymoron? With all the hubbub about ad intrusiveness, you'd think a publisher's attempt to please its advertisers and users would be an exercise in futility. Has Lycos achieved the impossible? Feb 5, 2003
ITV: Making the Same Mistakes
The fledgling iTV industry should learn from mistakes made in Web advertising's early days. Jan 22, 2003
2002: Industry Progress
Jeffrey offers the most notable (and positive) industry trends and developments in 2002. Dec 11, 2002
Tracking Moves Offline
A cool new technology will move offline measurement closer to online. That means changes for the whole advertising landscape. Nov 27, 2002
Convergence... and Upheaval
What is convergence, anyway? Are recent developments online, in broadcast, and with delivery systems a form of convergence or media shape-shifting? Nov 13, 2002
Ad Killers: A Threat?
Ad killers and pop-up zappers are gaining in popularity. Are they killing your ads? Oct 30, 2002
The Future of TV: The Web?
Five years ago, we said the Internet was changing everything. We were brash, and we were wrong. Oct 16, 2002
In the Minds of Marketers
Understanding and addressing marketers' problem to grow the industry. Oct 2, 2002
The Online Branding Hub
How much of the marketing budget goes online? First, understand what online advertising can do for the brand and how to play it off the media mix. Sep 18, 2002
E-Marketing on a Shoestring
Many small sites with small budgets attract large followings without immense infusions of venture capital or huge sponsorship or portal deals. How? A small step at a time. Sep 4, 2002
Frequency, Not Format
Recent debate about consumer distaste for pop-ups skirts the real issue. Aug 21, 2002
Click-Through Déjà Vu
Online advertising is a proven branding medium. How come click-through remains the sole metric for measuring email success? Jul 24, 2002
Good Media, Bad Creative
For too long, publishers have taken the fall for campaign failures when the folks who created the ads are the ones to blame. Jul 10, 2002
The Importance of Cross-Media Measurement
Cross-media measurement begets cross-media education. That's good news for traditional marketers who need to justify their online buys. Jun 12, 2002
Research... or Eavesdropping?
A new technology promises to deliver the skinny on user perceptions of products and brands. Valid research, or another invasion of online privacy? May 29, 2002
The Standard Should Be Innovation
As the industry gropes for standards, bear in mind they're important -- but not necessarily a priority. May 15, 2002
Online Reach and Frequency: No Panacea
Online advertising boosters are making laudable efforts to develop reach and frequency models for interactive media, but don't make the mistake of believing they'll solve all the industry's problems. May 1, 2002
Packaged Online Branding Solutions
Savvy publishers know advertisers want branding solutions, not just impressions. They are creating products that deliver solutions to brand advertisers. Apr 3, 2002
Brand Marketers Speak: iMedia Conference Report
Blue chip brands take the Web seriously. No longer an experiment, the Web's an expected component of the mix. If only we could get standards and metrics straight. Mar 20, 2002
Making Video Ads Work
When repurposing television or theater ads for the Internet, take some simple steps to adapt the creative to the environment. Mar 6, 2002
Being Specific About Online Branding
Many e-marketers say their online advertising objective is branding. But different kinds of branding objectives dictate very different strategic and tactical approaches. Jeffrey tells you how to get the most from your advertising strategy. Feb 20, 2002
Priority No. 1: Cross-Media Measurement
If anything will boost Internet advertising into a great leap forward, it's developing a way to measure its impact on cross-media campaigns. Jan 23, 2002
Back to the Future: What 2001 Means for 2002
Believe it or not, 2001 wasn't all bad. Some positive industry trends emerged that will help propel 2002 beyond the carnage. Jan 9, 2002
Making Advertisers and UsersHappier: A Case Study
An oxymoron? With all the hubbub about ad intrusiveness, you'd think a publisher's attempt to please its advertisers and users would be an exercise in futility. Has Lycos achieved the impossible? Dec 21, 2001
Is Online/Offline Integration Important?
A certain school of thought holds that Internet advertising, to be successful in wooing traditional marketers, must adopt the language and metrics to which media buyers are accustomed. But is that the best path? Nov 14, 2001
Online Advertising's Troubled Soul
A recent conference on online advertising revealed the anguish of an immature industry in upheaval and transition. Though the all-day discussions didn't solve any problems, the agenda very clearly defined the five issues that must be resolved before we can get on track for the future. Oct 31, 2001
Why Online Advertising Has to Get Better
The bottom-feeder advertising becoming increasingly visible on the Web poses a risk to everyone in the industry. Oct 17, 2001
Putting Products in Place Online
When it comes to slipping marketing into unexpected places, the Web can't yet compete with TV or films. But with the help of some innovative thinking, it's beginning to catch up. Oct 3, 2001
Tragedy and Triumph
In the days immediately following the attack, many in the online advertising community rallied to do whatever they could to support the effort of putting the city, and the country, back together. Sep 19, 2001
Cross-Media Salvation
For at least the last nine months, the industry consensus has been that the future growth of online advertising will come from established (non-dot-com) advertisers. Very simply, they are the only companies with any money left. Sep 5, 2001
Avoiding Online Ad Failure
Online advertising is an art, not a science. But online advertisers should keep in mind some guidelines, several based on published research, when planning and executing a campaign. Aug 22, 2001
Balancing Branding With Intrusiveness
For years, advertisers have been complaining that plain- vanilla banner ads are too easy to ignore. But as new, more intrusive ad units become more and more common, the question arises, How much is too much? Aug 8, 2001
The Lessons of the X10
There's something disturbing about seeing the X10 camera on top-tier sites with valuable content, registered audiences, and good demographics. It's like seeing Susanne Sommers pitching the Thighmaster during "Meet the Press." Jul 11, 2001
Can We Ensure a Future for Wireless Advertising?
The growth of the wireless advertising industry depends on a number of factors. One of the most important is whether people will accept, or reject, advertising on their wireless devices. Another is whether we have learned from our mistakes. Jun 20, 2001
Online Advertising: Bouncing Back
It has been a tough year so far. It wasn't long ago when everyone knew a millionaire; now you know at least three people who have been laid off. For many, exuberance has given way to insecurity. But the industry is responding in the right way -- with innovation, not retreat. Jun 6, 2001
Online Advertising's Rich Future
Yahoo! Flying fowl, thundering trucks, wobbling windows... Wondrous wonder of wonders, what's with the Web? May 9, 2001
E-Marketing on a Shoestring
Many small sites with small budgets attract large followings without immense infusions of venture capital or huge sponsorship or portal deals. How? A small step at a time. Apr 25, 2001
Meeting the Needs of Traditional Advertisers
Now that the online advertising fires have cooled, it's time to huddle together with traditional advertisers and make sure everyone gets a little warmth. Apr 18, 2001
Usability Testing Basics
Ages ago (in Internet time), usability testing of Web sites was considered unnecessary. But the industry has come a long way in the last couple of years. Usability testing is now seen as a necessary, if not integral, part of Web site development. Apr 11, 2001
E-CRM for Dummies
There was no Internet in Harper Lee's time, but her Atticus Finch knew some timeless truths. Take his advice. Stand in your customers' shoes, and take a walk through your Web site. Apr 4, 2001
Five Challenges E-Marketing Faces
How ya gonna keep 'em down on the ol' marketing farm after they've seen e-marketing's Paree? You ain't, despite the challenges. Mar 28, 2001
An Online-Advertising Killer App?
Though not as esoteric a problem as figuring out how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, online-advertising campaign optimization can be a Byzantine undertaking. But things just got a bit simpler. Mar 21, 2001
Familiar Challenges in a Wireless Future
No one can fully foresee the future of marketing and commerce in a world of dispersed, wireless platforms. The only thing that's certain is that the online issues we now face will become even more complex. Mar 14, 2001
How to Hire an Interactive Agency
The seminal "Ogilvy on Advertising" suggested some simple steps for the best way to hire an advertising agency. But decades have passed since then. Choosing an interactive agency can now be a harrowing -- and complicated -- decision. Mar 7, 2001
Web Advertising's Future
With hard times upon us, publishers and agencies are learning the language of branding -- and learning to talk to traditional advertisers, who've always attempted to influence how people think about their products rather than induce them to buy immediately. Feb 28, 2001
Rethinking Low Frequency Caps
The narrow focus on direct response and click-through in the formative years of online advertising eventually resulted in low frequency caps. But it's time to revisit the issue, because those caps have become self-fulfilling prophecies. Feb 21, 2001
The One-Second Law of Online Branding
Call it the One-Second Law of Online Branding: Whether developing (or approving) ad banners, sponsorships, tiles, or buttons, make sure that a one-second glance at your creative is enough to drive your message home. Feb 14, 2001
In Defense of the Banner
"People on the Internet are goal-oriented; they don't look at banners." "Low click-through rates prove banners don't work." "The Internet isn't an evocative medium." "Banner ads are never relevant." Yada, yada, yada. Now get the real story from Jeffrey. Feb 7, 2001
The Right Time for Research: The Beginning
It's virtually impossible to design a usable site without testing it on customers. But begin your research even before you get that far -- before you begin building your site. You might save a bundle. Jan 31, 2001
Setting the Right Branding Objectives
When setting branding objectives, the consideration level of the product you are advertising is key. Ask yourself if the consideration level is high or low. Here's why the answer should determine your strategy and results. Jan 22, 2001
Being Specific About Online Branding
Many e-marketers say their online advertising objective is branding. But there are different kinds of branding objectives that dictate very different strategic and tactical approaches. Jeffrey tells you how to get the most from your advertising strategy. Jan 15, 2001
Five Topics That Roared in 2000
Jeffrey gets lots of mail about his articles, and he loves it because feedback helps him understand what people in the industry think. Here are the topics that riled people up the most last year. Jan 8, 2001
Beware of Gurus
When's the last time you read about a "usability guru," a "wireless guru," or an "e-marketing guru"? Not too long ago, probably. But can anyone in such a rapidly changing and complex industry as the Internet really have the last word? Jan 1, 2001
Wireless Energizes Outdoor Advertising
Streetbeam technology enables outdoor advertisements to communicate to any device that runs the Palm operating system. Its mission: to wirelessly enable outdoor displays to beam (or speam) marketing messages to users. Dec 25, 2000
The Empowered Customer: Your Client
Traditional advertisers with a few years of e-marketing experience are increasingly savvy, strategic, and streetwise when it comes to hiring and managing their agencies. A new challenge, but good for the industry. Dec 18, 2000
Slandering Online Advertising
It's become fashionable to talk about the demise of online advertising and falsely link the current market correction to the idea that online advertising isn't effective. Nothing could be further from the truth. Dec 11, 2000
Mobile Marketing: New Era, New Questions
Nobody knows yet what marketing on devices like Palms or cell phones will look like. Many rules of e-marketing might not apply because a handheld is much more personal than a PC sitting on your desk. Dec 4, 2000
Flashy or Simple: An E-Marketer's Dilemma
When it comes to marketing on the web, is it better to be flashy or simple? E-marketers prefer the most eye-catching, cool, and intrusive technology to drive customer response. Usability ascetics advocate a bare-bones approach. Nov 27, 2000
Who Is Your E-Fluential?
Research shows that the behavioral and attitudinal patterns of certain people called "e-fluentials" can influence others on the Internet. Learn more about the implications of "e-fluentials" for e-marketing. Nov 20, 2000
The Disciplined Art of E-CRM
Forward-thinking e-marketers must master the art of using electronic customer relationship management (e-CRM) to optimize their marketing efforts. This requires the instincts, experience, and skill that have always been at the heart of good marketing. Nov 13, 2000
Site Surveys, Quick and Dirty
Many companies can't answer simple questions about their web site visitors. But you need this information to effectively market your offerings. While major players solicit research pros, smaller companies can benefit from free site surveys. Nov 6, 2000
Internet Advertising Best Practices: Five Rules to Brand By
Last week, Dynamic Logic, AdRelevance, and 24/7 Media presented a paper titled "The Five Golden Rules for Online Branding," describing the characteristics of the most effective ad units as measured by Dynamic Logic's AdIndex. By analyzing the branding impact of 32 banners, based on 32,000 online surveys, the team found five attributes of Internet advertisements that drive brand awareness, purchase intent, and the ability to associate a message with a product. Oct 23, 2000
Our Video Game Future
When most marketers talk about the future of the Internet, two subjects dominate: broadband and convergence. Broadband promises rich, streaming content into the home. Convergence means that many of our everyday appliances, including the TV, will be transformed by the enormous power of the Internet. Imagine a future where the majority of Americans regularly interact with each other in engaging, computer-generated environments or use hand-held devices, many of which are connected to the Internet. The future is now, and it's video games. Oct 9, 2000
Are We Ready for Convergence Yet?
Ever heard of a :CueCat? It's a plastic cat you can attach to your computer that's supposed to swipe ad bar codes in print magazines bringing you to related web sites. The company that makes this gadget also makes :CRQ. This one connects your computer with the TV: See an ad, and it takes you to the web site. What's wrong with these products? They're great for advertisers, not consumers. Sep 25, 2000
Postcard From Greece
Greetings from Serifos, a small island in Greece, and the setting for Jeffrey's column this week. Between sunning, swimming, and breaking plates, he's been keeping his eyes open for Internet developments. Greece occupies an interesting place in the Internet revolution. As in many parts of the world, mobile is king. Among the younger set, cell phones are de rigueur, and used incessantly. Sep 11, 2000
Making the Web Accessible to Everyone
One of the previous decade's proudest moments was the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, prohibiting discrimination against individuals based on disability and holding businesses accountable for ensuring that people with disabilities are not denied goods or services. Most web sites are designed with little or no accommodation for the disabled. Here's why your web site should be accessible to all. Aug 28, 2000
Familiar Challenges in a Wireless Future
Wireless is huge in countries like Finland, Sweden, and Japan, but it will be 18 months or so before the wireless Internet becomes a killer app in the United States. No one can foresee the future of marketing and commerce in a world of dispersed, wireless platforms, but many of today's issues could become more complex. Jeffrey explains some of the issues that will become more pronounced as wireless applications are developed and adopted on a mass scale. Aug 14, 2000
Alternatives to Testing User Experience
Jeffrey's last article focused on qualitative one-on-one testing to guide web development, and he's a strong proponent of this methodology. But many readers wrote asking about web and software-based systems that gather user experience data online. So here is some information about these types of systems. Jul 31, 2000
Usability Testing Basics
Last year, usability testing was a tough sell. Web development is almost always done under ridiculous time constraints, and usability was seen as an advantageous but unnecessary step in developing a site. Since then, the industry has come a long way. Usability testing is now recognized as a necessary, if not integral, part of web site development. Jul 17, 2000
The Dissolution of the Web
Nobody talks about convergence anymore. Eons (months) ago, industry analysts talked about a future where one device part television, part Internet-access device would provide rich, commerce-enabled content for a broadband world. Now, with the advent of wireless devices, focus has shifted to divergence. The web is dissolving. What will this mean for your business? One thing's sure: The rate of technological change will only get faster, and those who can't change along with it, continually, will find themselves obsolete. Jul 3, 2000
Sorting Out a Corporate Web Strategy
When it comes to online marketing, companies with established brands have a lot of decisions to make. Because of a legacy organizational structure and process, many of these companies have allowed their brand teams to develop their own web strategies. Jeffrey points out the need for corporate sites to develop a strategy for the best brand messaging. Jun 19, 2000
What 'Getting It' Means
What do people mean when they say, in relation to Internet marketing, that someone gets it? Good question and tough to answer. Getting it is understanding how the Internet is profoundly different from the communication and marketing channels that came before it. Jeffrey elaborates on how marketing communication, messaging and branding have been impacted by the web. Jun 5, 2000
Online Threats to Brick-and-Mortar Stores
Online retailers are constantly getting bad press for not meeting customer expectations. People complain when products are out of stock, when customer service is not prompt, and when delivery is slow or costly. Sure, online shopping doesn't always meet expectations. But think of how high customer expectations have become. Online shopping has conditioned customers to expect to be able to purchase any product quickly and easily, at a competitive price, and have it delivered on their own terms. May 22, 2000
Free Data No More
Only half of Americans answered their Census forms this year, sharply down from previous decades. It's not that people are ignorant or unpatriotic. Many refused simply because they are sick and tired of giving away data about themselves for free, and distrustful of what institutions are doing with it. Jeffrey thinks this is a bellwether for data collection in the future and tells you why consumers are claiming their data as a property right. May 8, 2000
Beyond CRM
In the early days of Internet business, signing up new customers, or getting them to make their first purchase, was the be all and end all of e-business strategy. But Internet businesses soon learned what traditional marketers knew all along: It's cheaper to keep a customer than to find a new one. And as user growth flattened, customers became even less disposable, requiring online relationship strategies that go beyond CRM. Jeffrey tells you how to sustain a leading-edge product offering that delivers value to your customers. Apr 24, 2000
Building Benchmarks
Corporate clients need to gauge the success of their online marketing campaigns to justify online marketing budgets to management. While traditional (offline) marketing campaigns can rely on established industry benchmarks to gauge a campaign's success, these benchmarks don't exist yet in online marketing. Jeffrey tells why and suggests how to develop in-house benchmarks for evaluating online advertising campaigns. Apr 10, 2000
Why Dot-Com TV Ads Can Fail
No one can escape the carpet-bombing of dot-com broadcast advertising. Start-up companies are investing heavily in print, TV and radio because they think it's the best way to reach a national audience. They usually have three objectives: to acquire customers, to establish a brand, and to get "on the radar screen" of investors and potential investors. The problem is it gets harder and harder to accomplish these objectives. Jeffrey discusses the issues that can limit the effectiveness of offline advertising efforts. Mar 27, 2000
Learning About E-business at Your Neighborhood Store
Building any business is about building a relationship with your customers. Anyone involved in building a business online can learn some pretty important lessons from what the greatest little cheese store in theworld does right. Jeffrey lives around the corner from Murray's in New York. Little neighborhood stores compete in the same ways as businesses do online by tirelessly striving to provide more value, and build better relationships with more and more people. Mar 13, 2000
Building Web Sites Globally: Challenges and Solutions
As e-commerce matures, more and more companies are deciding to build web sites to serve markets outside North America. What they are learning is that if you don't plan, implement and manage an international build-out with an awareness of crucial logistical and cultural issues in mind, you can make some pretty costly mistakes. Jeff outlines steps you can take to avoid these. Feb 28, 2000
An Online Measurement Success Story
When negotiating a sponsorship with a major online media property, how do you know if you're getting your money's worth? Jeffrey suggests a success measurement plan to address all the elements of the deal. A plan that outlines the strategies and tactics for the online campaign, providing specific metrics and measurement strategies for each element. The specter of accountability can cause a site to rethink its proposal. And the client will know their return on the online investment. Feb 14, 2000
Best Practices for Building Web Surveys
Surveys are everywhere on the web. Fact is, however, many surveys on the web are lousy. From the respondent's point of view, they can be annoying, cumbersome, and downright frustrating. Bad surveys yield low response rates, unrepresentative samples, and incomplete questionnaires. Jeffrey gives you some basic principles for designing your surveys to yield reliable and useful results. Jan 31, 2000
Finding the Competitive Data You Need
You're budgeting and planning for an investment in Internet marketing. Naturally, you want to understand what your competitors are spending, and what they are doing with the money they spend. But theres a problem. Where do you get this information? How can you find out what ads your competitors are running online and what they're paying for them? And how reliable is the information you receive? Jeff's got some advice to get you the answers you need. Jan 17, 2000
Creeping Personalization 101
Gathering data is a crucial part of any successful web business. Data about visitor and customer behavior forms the rudimentary foundation of understanding return on investment. But data can also be used to improve the customer's experience. This data can be collected incrementally over time, constantly improving the experience of interacting with a web business. Because the process is gradual, it is sometimes called creeping personalization. Jan 3, 2000
Leveraging The Internet Underground
If you're one of the few who hasn't yet heard of Mahir, let Jeffrey tell you about the guy. Mahir put up a really hokey home page, introducing himself and inviting women to come stay at his house in Turkey. People forwarded the link to friends, and it spread like wildfire. Most people acknowledge that the Internet has permanently and radically altered the mass media communication dynamic. The trick is to understand how this new dynamic works and leverage it for our clients. Dec 20, 1999
The Two R's Of Online Advertising
Successful online businesses know that success means providing the most value to customers. The Internet has given people the power to compare and choose, and the competition is only a few clicks away. So how do online advertisers provide value? They need to follow the two R's of online marketing: relevance and reward. Dec 6, 1999
The Importance Of Process
When you have clients waiting for deliverables and prospects knocking at the door, working on refining your process doesn't exactly seem like top priority. It can wait until later, when there is time. But there never is time. And your process never evolves, and you find yourself winging it when someone asks about what your process exactly is. But the fact is, without clearly defining your process, your business can't grow to its full potential. Nov 22, 1999
The Law Of The Pickle Portal
As more companies decide to market online, they are approaching agencies in greater numbers and with deeper pockets, wanting to build a web site. That's a big mistake. Going to an agency is a good idea, of course. But the decision to build a product web site is usually premature and often misguided. Marketing online doesn't always mean building a web site. Sometimes it's a bone-headed approach. Nov 8, 1999
Measuring Email Marketing Success
One of the core principles of marketing is efficiency. You can spend money, but you don't want to waste it. Missing your target with the wrong message or not connecting with consumers is bad business. Research can help you understand the effect your marketing is having on your target. What's crucial is how you measure success. Click-through is a poor measure of advertising success. Focus instead on the way your ads make people think and feel. Oct 25, 1999
What Does Viral Marketing Really Mean?
Lately, the term "viral marketing" seems to have infected many conversations about Internet marketing. Most of us realize that it's not about cooties. But what does viral marketing really mean? Graham tells you how to create messages that are compelling enough to spread and also firmly support your brand's values and objectives. Oct 11, 1999
Integrated Marketing And The Dead Cat
Imagine a sealed box with a cat inside, rigged with a device that will either kill the cat or let it live. You don't know whether the cat's alive or dead till you open the box. According to quantum theory, the cat is neither alive nor dead until you open the box; it's in a blurred state between the two. The theory being that everything fluctuates between two states, "collapsing" into one only when you measure it. The same can be said for integrated marketing. Sep 27, 1999
Build A Site, Not A Labyrinth
Would you open a department store where half your customers got lost and left in frustration? Or a multiplex where nobody can find their movie? Of course not. So why launch a web site without making sure customers don't get lost and frustrated? Truth is, most sites are a labyrinth of confusion. This can cost you big time in customer acquisition, conversion and loyalty. Or you can try systematic usability testing. Sep 13, 1999
Building a Research Mosaic
Everybody in the industry is singing the same tune: We can gather terabytes of data, but that data is not consistently translated into information, let alone knowledge. Being measurable is one of the Internet's great promises, but making data consistently "actionable" is very complex. Aug 23, 1999
Common Sense Branding Research
How do you measure branding success? There's tools out there, trick is to select the right one. You need an understanding of research principles and Internet technology, plus a healthy dose of common sense. Graham explains how to use classic experimental (control/test) design in a real time environment to improve your campaigns and make online advertising more accountable. Aug 9, 1999
Escaping the Cult of Click-Through
High click-through rates. Clients demand it, media planners live for it, media sites promise it, ad servers measure it. It is, more often than not, the standard by which online branding efforts are measured. But sophisticated online marketers are realizing that click-through as a measure of branding success can be completely misleading. Jeffrey Graham reveals new tools to prove the true value of Internet brand advertising. It's a combination of cookies and surveys to compare the degree of exposu Jul 26, 1999