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A comment on The death of advertising authenticity.

Re:The death of advertising authenticity by ccc3 on Tuesday October 06, 2009 @01:53PM (#864749)
The article makes a good point, but I don't think I'd call it the death of authenticity. A deceptive banner ad is just the new version of a fast-talking door-to-door salesman. It's the method of reaching consumers with the lowest barrier to entry, and that's why it is so popular with the inauthentic.

In the days of expensive print advertising, the investment required to take out an ad was often enough of a barrier to legitimize a business to consumers. The model has changed, but I believe consumers are still looking for companies that make some kind of investment to prove their authenticity. The new version of the expensive print ad is the investment in time and effort required to gain the trust of industry experts and influencers.

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Re:The death of advertising authenticity by stingraycharles on Tuesday October 06, 2009 @02:37PM (#864871)
The article makes a good point, but I don't think I'd call it the death of authenticity. A deceptive banner ad is just the new version of a fast-talking door-to-door salesman. It's the method of reaching consumers with the lowest barrier to entry, and that's why it is so popular with the inauthentic.

That is a good point. On top of it, it is merely a matter of choice: you can still make "authentic" ads online, but just because the internet doesn't require you to do so, you see so many inauthentic ads online.

I personally still vividly remember that Nintendo WII ad that ran on youtube about a year ago, which played a youtube video and after a few seconds the whole page started to fall apart ("shake it", see: http://mikeabundo.com/2008/09/25/shaking-wii-youtube-ad/). That is quality online advertising, and it has just as good an effect as quality TV advertising.

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Re:The death of advertising authenticity by rantfoil on Tuesday October 06, 2009 @08:14PM (#865714)
If we want to talk about media, then a door-to-door salesman isn't quite the right analogy. I think the closest analogy would be the Pennysaver or those throwaway used car classifieds that you find at supermarkets. But the point is that is now everywhere.

All online advertising has become the Pennysaver. And that's significant.

Jason L Baptiste brings up a good point though: there are still places where premium ads may make sense. Email lists like Thrillist, etc. are a bright spot.

But even then, paid placement can hurt instead of help. If I'm a nightclub venue and Thrillist could have covered my venue as a legitimate story, I would prefer that 10 times out of 10 over having to pay for placement, which invariably still signals that I need to advertise. (Undercurrent: Only low-status businesses need to advertise.)

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