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What we do
- Application Development
- Digital Branding & Campaigns
- Digital Strategy
- Mobile, Games, Apps
- Rich Internet Applications
- Interaction Design
- Usability & Accessibility
- Social Media Marketing & Monitoring
Get in touch
Gruden Australia
Level 10, 220 George Street
Sydney NSW 2000
P +61 2 8256 5300
F +61 2 8256 5399
sydinfo@gruden.com
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Gruden China
Level 4, G6, Qingdao Software Park
288 Ningxia Road
Qingdao, China
P +86 532 8872 7020
F +86 532 8872 7023
chinainfo@gruden.cn
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It’s all about context
“Contextual advertising” – another buzzword on the radar in the online space. (Hard to keep up, isn’t it?) The theory is that the ad server understands the context of the pages the advertisement can appear on and places the ads appropriately. In practice these systems are often absent, leave much to be desired or have a fine sense of irony.
In any public advertising/marketing sphere context is key, so why do websites regularly see advertising on their site as just a dollar sign without regard for effectiveness or value-add? Is it because online advertising is often seen as a secondary priority to traditional media placements?
Here’s an example of some not-so-successful contextual advertising:
It’s unlikely that Sprint (or Palm for that matter) was hoping to promote the idea of cancer-causing cell phone radiation in their marketing strategy. This example highlights the need for companies looking to enter into the online advertising space to seek adequate consultation in online media planning before dipping their toes in the water. The set & forget approach can often have damaging consequences.
Just as importantly, companies featuring advertising on their public-facing websites need to ensure that the advertising that appears on their site does not detract from the brand or message in any way – or they risk losing credibility. Whilst many companies are taking big strides in the right direction, it’s clear that there’s still a long way to go for many marketers hoping to successfully utilise the web to promote their brand.