Bad creative for online ads may render online campaigns less effective than not advertising at all. That conclusion comes from a Dynamic Logic study of online ad campaigns. Ad campaigns classified as among the top 20% in performance elevated their brands across all key metrics: brand and ad awareness, message association, brand favorability, and purchase intent. In contrast, campaigns in the bottom 20% of performance were associated with declines in all of the same key metrics.
It is a scary thought that a marketer would spend money to damage its brand. That was not the goal, of course, but the end result for those campaigns in the bottom 20% of performance was that the brand was worse off following the ad campaign. How could this happen? Online advertising often places a premium on planning considerations such as web site selection, ad size, placement on a page, and audience selection. While all of these decisions contribute to the success of an ad campaign, too, their effectiveness is hindered if the message turns off the target audience.
Online advertising represents a new channel for message placement. The communication process does not change. Effective encoding of messages so that the audience opts to pay attention, process information, and incorporate into their existing knowledge structures is still a must. Minimize the importance of creative in online ad campaign management at your own risk!
eMarketer – “Bad Campaign Worse than None at All”
