Last week, I had an opportunity to peek at a new full-page video interstitial from ShortTail Media, something they call the Digital 30 (D30.) Basically, it’s a 30 second video placement designed to be deliberately intrusive; it loads between web pages, much like an interstitial ad.
This new product offering comes a few months after ShortTail CEO David Payne gave a speech at the IAB annual meeting, “…urging the industry to adopt bigger, bolder creative and to be less sensitive to user experience.”
I can definitely relate to David’s desire to move away from the archaic model of banner adverts sold on an impression basis (raise of hands…how many of you actually click on a banner advert, much less look at at?) but this is just another example of “Old School” thinking, where advertising was interruptive in nature. Interruption marketing is an approach “…where you look for a medium or environment where a prospect is likely to use or frequent, and stop him/her with an ad.”
Maybe I’m missing the boat, but it’s 2009 and the consumer is in charge (and has been for some time.) I want what I want, when I want it and in the format of my choosing. I definitely don’t want to be waylaid by an advertisement I didn’t ask for, especially a full-screen event that’s all about interruption and could care less about the consumer experience.
Consumers want to be respected as participants, not passive viewers or targets. Although there aren’t too many comments right now, have a look at what’s been posted at the bottom of this AdWeek article post. It echoes what I preach to my clients, colleagues and students.
What do you think?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Agreed. Brands need to recognize their consumer’s behavior has changed. Forcing a message on me will probably not convert me into loyal customer or brand enthusiast.
Totally agree that it’s ‘old school thinking’ not to mentioning completely off-putting. Unless it was content I absolutely couldn’t live without – they’d lose me the instant I hit the “roadblock ad”.