I work at the largest advertising agency in the US. Here, in the Interactive Group in San Francisco, you can probably imagine the quantity of banner ads we produce. We hate them too.
The people who create this ads are truly talented. Many of them have years of experience in design and engineering. But the restrictions are high: low, low budgets; two-week turnaround time; 12K maximum file size; clients who are much more concerned with televison ads and ads that will appear in the New York Times - cursory input is given to banners.
We're looking into new technologies and new ways to present things that people will enjoy more. We work with Java programmers to create things in small files we've never seen before (the HP banner with the butterfly), sponsorship of more interesting sections of sites, games, and others. It's hard to convince clients to buy this when the ad doesn't say, "Buy all your books at barnesandnoble.com NOW NOW NOW!!!" But we know the experience will be better for the audience.
I myself grew so tired of producing these ads I have asked to be transferred to the database marketing group, and I have been. I still sit in my old cube and watch my old team slave away on these tiny products. But now I work on CRM solutions where I hope to advertise things to people that they are actually interested in, in a way that they appreciate.
Don't get too angry at us! Were it not for advertising how many companies anywhere would still be around? We're trying to make it better for everyone to look at and, someday, for people to actually appreciate. Give us some time.
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The people who create this ads are truly talented. Many of them have years of experience in design and engineering. But the restrictions are high: low, low budgets; two-week turnaround time; 12K maximum file size; clients who are much more concerned with televison ads and ads that will appear in the New York Times - cursory input is given to banners.
We're looking into new technologies and new ways to present things that people will enjoy more. We work with Java programmers to create things in small files we've never seen before (the HP banner with the butterfly), sponsorship of more interesting sections of sites, games, and others. It's hard to convince clients to buy this when the ad doesn't say, "Buy all your books at barnesandnoble.com NOW NOW NOW!!!" But we know the experience will be better for the audience.
I myself grew so tired of producing these ads I have asked to be transferred to the database marketing group, and I have been. I still sit in my old cube and watch my old team slave away on these tiny products. But now I work on CRM solutions where I hope to advertise things to people that they are actually interested in, in a way that they appreciate.
Don't get too angry at us! Were it not for advertising how many companies anywhere would still be around? We're trying to make it better for everyone to look at and, someday, for people to actually appreciate. Give us some time.