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Thursday, March 6, 2014

Digital Hollywood Talks About The End Of Banner Ads

I had the pleasure of attending Digital Hollywood's Media Summit this week, featuring a number of fascinating panels and well regarded speakers.  At Wednesday's Media Strategies panel, I listened as Lincoln Millstein, SVP of Hearst Corp, provided great insights, along with the other panelists.  He went further by providing new examples, outside the web universe, to support his thoughts.  In one answer, he contradicted others by saying that cultures in an organization can change and cited two auto examples with Ford and General Motors.

And in another Q&A asking what the future will hold, he saw an end to banner advertising over the next 1 to 2 years.  Millstein said, "Brands, advertisers, agencies are taking back control of creative." The banner ad no longer works and more innovative ad approaches must be taken.    Of course, we know that banner ads won't completely go away, he later remarked, but their value will greatly diminish. 

Of course, what all content and distribution companies want to know is how do I best monetize my content and my platform.  For most, the source of revenue is either subscription or advertising.  Many believe that better data will help to improve the ad experience.  And personalization is key to a better ad experience.  It was also noted that buying information needs to be combined with interest so that ads aren't being pushed for products and services already purchased.  Ads after purchase are simply wasteful, as one panelist noted.