In an age when widgets--small, Web-based programs--are all the rage, companies are increasingly creating online tools that offer to help their customers.
You will start seeing a lot more of: messages that, in and of themselves, provide a service. Nick Law, chief creative officer of the agency R/GA, has been doing this kind of thing for years, most notably with Nike+, a site that helps runners track their performance. Appearing useful is of particular interest to marketers keen to place ads on mobile phones, a tricky prospect since the potential annoyance factor is so high.
Companies are even wrapping ads around community outreach. Eager to reinvigorate its image as a basketball brand, Converse last fall began organizing games for Miami's inner-city youth. Kids got to try out new shoes and meet Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade, who signed autographs and refereed. Converse also created an application on Facebook that allows people to sign up friends to play an online basketball game. Converse says it now has more than 40,000 people to add to its database of potential customers, as well as information on where they live.
Here are some useful ad tips:
- Consumers actively seek out services, even if they are veiled ads. And they spend more time with the brand than they would watching a 30-second spot.
- When consumers sign up for a service, marketers can gather everything from demographic information to product interests to names and addresses--data they can use for a harder sell down the road.
- When the ads work, consumers feel more loyalty to a brand because they feel like it did them a good turn.
Source: BusinessWeek, May 5, 2008