For those who have not heard or are completely disinterested in art, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art is bringing in a display of Ancient Roman art that is on loan from The Louvre. Personally, I am extremely excited by this development. For one, I am fascinated by Roman history. Second, I am interested in art, particularly sculptures.
While in Atlanta last year, my wife and I actually went to see another travelling Louvre exhibit that had a few Roman pieces. It is difficult to describe how incredible it is to be mere feet from a sculpture that is more than 2000 years old and was more than likely once owned by an emperor of one of history’s greatest civilizations…so I won’t even try.
Today on NewsOK.com there is a video article discussing the exhibit’s impending opening. Being nerdily excited, as I displayed above, I chose to go against my typical inclination of avoiding all NewsOK video. I was greeted by this advertisement:
I only took one marketing class when I was at OSU, so perhaps I am no expert on the subject. On the other hand, I do have a mild fascination with the field of advertising. (See here and here.) One thing I did learn was that an advertisement is most effective when viewed by a target audience. Now, I will not go so far as to say that there are no off roading four-wheel ATV drivers who are also art aficionados, but…okay I will go that far.
i took a marketing class, too.
selling web ads is the real exercise in creativity. you get to manipulate, massage and fabricate your own traffic calculations and get some 20-something honey to go cold call local bidnisses and get them to shell out part of their ad budget on an unproven commodity. something tells me, though, that these web ads are thrown in as a value-added deal for big advertisers in their print editions. papers are trying to save their bacon anyway they can with circ numbers way down (and dwindling). but this is a great lesson for would-be web advertisers dealing with any site: if you can’t more accurately communicate with your demographic than that, put the money in the bank or invest in oil or something.
the only web ads i recommend to clients are actually sponsorships, for example “the lost ogle” brought to you by Carls Jr. etc. etc. yup, i’m the guy who sets that shit up. i dont like it, either, but people think bad advertising is better than no advertising (and if people dont spend their budgets every year they face the risk of losing them next year to other departments). who am i to argue?
You’d think that web advertising would be the ultimate in targeting your audience, though. Google does it extremely well, for instance. The Google ads we have on the left side search for key words and tailor the advertisements to businesses that might be of interest to someone who would voluntarily read that article. One good example was when I joked about endorsing Advanced Laser Center if they would give me free Lasik and (bam!) Gooogle ads had an Advanced Laser Center ad on the screen.
Anyway, I just think it’s bad management of NewsOK’s advertising department to not take advantage of the customization that web ads allow. I also don’t understand why web advertising isn’t more in demand. Unlike a traditionally published medium, a web site can tell you exactly how many people see your ad. The newspaper/magazine just gives you an arbitrary “circulation” number which means that many people may or may not have ever actually flipped through the pages.
Mr. Art Aficionado, it’s spelled “Louvre”…at least everywhere outside Payne County. (sorry, couldn’t resist)
web advertising isnt in demand primarily because its value is in dispute. you can use three different site trackers to track traffic on a website and you will get three different results. some track original ip hits, others measure page views, time spent, etc. yes, google is way out in front, but no one has ever proved to me the value. just because they came to a website from google, does it differentiate between a “google ad” hit and just a regular google search? most websites can’t cross reference sales to web referrals, either. in its infancy, web advertising is a value-added deal for advertisers, or as i would describe it to potential customers, “fingers on the same fist.”
most people are also google savvy enough to get what they want when they search, so these “move to the top of the search engine” services seem equally worthless. like if i wanted to look for a restaurant in norman, i would look under the restaurant name. now, if people are just searching “norman restaurants” then it might come in handy.
since most web sites (or all of them in my experience) provide their own traffic results and there is no concrete evidence of what they say, i wouldn’t pay for web ads. make the website throw it in when you buy print ads. sorry if this hurts your business.
also, if google searches become too commercial and to many paid results pop up in people’s results, the search engine loses credibility and people quit using it, driving down even further the value of the ads they sell. it’s a fine line.
Man…this is a conversation. I would just say to advertise on The Lost Ogle, click here.
They are hitting their target audience. Last week’s fad was spinners (rims) for ATVs, now the latest thing is Greco-Roman marble bust hood ornaments. Shaaa, keep up with the culture.
“selling web ads is the real exercise in creativity. you get to manipulate, massage and fabricate your own traffic calculations and get some 20-something honey to go cold call local bidnisses and get them to shell out part of their ad budget on an unproven commodity.”
i was side-tracked after this and took minor offense…considering that was a facet of my unfulfilling and waste-of-time job after college.
I took a job in Washington DC. Gonna miss you guys.
You seem to be forgetting what state you’re in. I’ve yet to meet an Oklahoma businessman who grasps either of these 2 concepts: targeted marketing or “less is more.” 5 minutes of listening to the Sports Animal will illustrate this easily. I’ve watched some damned good sales staff and designers fight tooth and nail IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE CLIENT to not do some hokey craptastic advert, and they don’t listen. Car dealerships are the worst.
Too many OK advertisers still think with a 20th century mentality of the scattershot approach. You’re doin’ fine, Oklahoma!
“I took a job in Washington DC. Gonna miss you guys.”
We’ve been keeping this a secret until all the i’s were dotted and t’s were crossed, but the negotiations with the powers-that-be are completed. I am happy to announce that TheLostOgle.com is now accessible at our nation’s capitol.
What, you mean I can read the Lost Ogle in more places than Oklahoma City? What about someplace like Tulsa, can I read it there too? OH OH, how about Stratford, when I am walking amongst the peaches? How about there? I am quite certain this new fangled internet thing isn’t everywhere, it’s just a fad… like pockets.