Interactivity: Advertisement Design

1.0  Introduction

Interactive advertising is becoming increasingly popular among marketers who are unanimous that this form of advertising enhances effectiveness. Interactive advertising has been used in various platforms such as over the internet and via digital TV with the latter use being significant in its contribution towards reducing instances of viewer apathy and avoidance of advertisements (Arroyo-Cañada and Gil-Lafuente, 2012). The context and quality of interaction plays an important role in promoting brand loyalty in addition to providing the much-needed feedback that marketers need to determine measures that are needed to improve the effectiveness of their advertisements. This is especially very possible over the internet where advertisements can be integrated into other electronic systems for data analysis and interpretation.

2.0  ‘Live the Life’ advertisement

2.1 Discussion of theory for ‘Live the Life’ advertisement

This advertisement seeks to promote Virginia Beach as the ultimate leisure destination for people wishing to getaways from their daily routines and enjoy some leisure (Value Click Media, 2012). The target of this advertisement would appear to be the more affluent consumers in the market that would be able to afford to spare some of their income to enjoy luxury in relaxing environments. Such persons would be persons with considerable level of responsibilities both at home and at work and would therefore want to maximise on the unique experiences on offer while on short holidays. This advertisement is designed in a manner that allows viewers to institute follow-up actions such as more information search and reservations at the click of a mouse. The dominant feature is a short video with links on associated services such as cruises, paddling and a link to facilitate making of reservations.

The typical consumer of luxury services is likely to be interested in finding more information than can be obtained on the face of most advertisements. The internet and other digital media are in modern times covered with advertisement clutter where the average consumer is bombarded with numerous promotional messages amid other pieces of information (Lavrakas, Mane and Laszlo, 2010). It is therefore essential that advertisements be catchy enough to attract attention while being simple to ensure ease of understanding of the material content. The need for simplicity is informed by observations that the average consumer is increasingly impatient and tends to concentrate more on capturing diverse ideas without the intention to enter into details at the initial stages (Bezjian-Avery, Calder and Lacobucci, 1998). The use of the video may not be as effective as using attractive graphic images which would be sufficient to rouse their curiosity and encourage them to seek for more information through the links that have been provided. By their very nature, videos tend to require higher levels of concentration and are only effective once a person has made up their minds to concentrate on them (Arroyo-Cañada and Gil-Lafuente, 2012). This is often not the case in online advertisements where an average internet user would want to superficially go over various promotional messages before focussing their attention on the ones that rouse their curiosity.

Researchers indicate that consumers are no longer comfortable remaining passive participants in the advertisement and branding processes (Lavrakas, Mane and Laszlo, 2010). They tend to prefer a more active role where they provide feedback on advertisements and seek for more clarifications where the same are not availed on the face of the advertisement messages.

2.2 New features for ‘Live the Life’ advertisement

As has been noted above, the advertisement contains a video section and several links have been provided alongside it that would help online consumers to navigate their way into the company’s websites to find more information. It has also been noted above that the main weakness of the use of videos is that consumers may fail to take note of an advertisement in the process of scanning through the numerous promotional messages that they are bombarded with every minute.

2.21 Replace video with banners

Banners provide an instant impression and do not require high levels of concentration before the message can be grasped (Lavrakas, Mane and Laszlo, 2010). Pictures are believed to be very effective in advertisements as they communicate the message with a much higher speed and in much greater details than other forms of advertisements. This is why online consumers surveyed on different forums around the world tend to have a high regard for online banners.

2.22 Provide feedback options on the face of the advert

Good interactive features not only stimulate viewers to engage more extensively but also encourage them to provide information that could help improve the effectiveness of advertisements (Sasser, Koslow and Riordan, 2007). It has been noted on various forums that online consumers tend to be highly impatient. Just like they would not have the patience to delve into details of advertisements that they do not feel attracted to; they would also not go to great lengths to provide feedback on the same. This deficiency could be bridged by introducing a mechanism for immediate feedback such as the inclusion of a simple question seeking to draw feedback on whether the information was satisfactory. Once either yes or no option has been pressed, the site could then open additional questions in a different link to solicit for more information.

2.23 Rewards for interaction

Surveys indicate that internet users are sensitive to offers and good bargains and this tends to form the basis for their extensive information search over the internet (Sasser, Koslow and Riordan, 2007). They will not only look out for the best products and services; they will also be on the lookout for the most lucrative bargains. A good interactive feature would be one where subscribed members linked to an organisation through an advert are eligible to discounts or even prizes. A link inviting viewers to join at the clique of a mouse can be provided on the face of the advert on one of the banners for ease of subscription.

3.0 “McDonald’s Healthy Lifestyle” advertisements

3.1 Discussion of theory for “McDonald’s Healthy Lifestyle” advertisement

The “McDonald’s Healthy Lifestyle” would be an advertisement aimed at promoting McDonald’s foods in the market. The target of the advert would be the working population who are mainly young and middle aged. This advertisement would be coming in the backdrop of health concerns among the working population in most developed economies with many of them concerned about weight related issues amid time pressures that stop them from creating time for daily exercises. This prompts them to focus on the nutritional components of foods.

The main aim to be satisfied by the advertisement would be to present information that would allay the fears of the market as to the extent to which McDonald’s foods can be considered to be healthy. As previous research indicates, the success of any advertisement campaign lies in its ability to capture the attention of the target population and this would best be done by addressing some of the pertinent questions they may be having on products (Ming-Sung Cheng, et al., 2009). The complexities related to online advertisements would also still apply where the face of advertisements would have the biggest impact if they simply provided enough information to capture the attention of the internet users and provoke them to find out more about it. The accompanying message should read as follows: “Worried about healthy foods? Here’s your solution!”

Use of graphic images is essential in online advertisements with the main purpose being to ensure that the advertisement overcomes the information clutter associated with the internet (Voorveld, Beijens and Smit, 2011). The choice of a graphic image over use of a video is informed by theoretical findings indicating that videos are poor in attracting attention of internet users to messages. An average internet user prioritises breadth over depth in the initial information search where a quick survey of related products and services is done within the available time before a decision is made on which brands to investigate further (Voorveld, Beijens and Smit, 2011). This advertisement would be playing the role of provoking further information search and would therefore have links for further information through video presentations after the initial stage has been passed.

The graphic display would contain the company’s logo to draw attention to the brand and images of persons in perfect body shape enjoying McDonald’s foods to cement the core of the message. A colourful display of some of the foods could also be effective. Basic theories of advertisements provide that advertisement messages should at all times be consistent with the brand as well as the underlying messages intended to be projected. The manner of projection should also be done in a manner that is consistent with customer preferences in terms of general format as well as the choice of colour themes in the advertisements. Colour themes should also be consistent with the subject of the advertisements with adequate focus on its level of impressiveness in the eyes of the consumers.

3.2 New features for “McDonald’s Healthy Lifestyle”

Questions on health tend to raise a lot of curiosity and it is therefore likely that a good interactive advertisement related to healthy foods would be highly effective. The interactive elements would be focused on establishing whether the advertisement is effective, facilitating information search, encouraging feedback to capture concerns and preferences of customers, and encouraging sharing of the messages to turn the advertisement viral.

A simple link providing for a yes/no option on whether the information was satisfactory should be provided on the face of the advert even though it should be structured in a manner that does not draw attention away from the subject of the advertisement.

Applications for facilitating information search should be used. The proposed application in this case is Kinect Xbox application which recognises voice commands (Microsoft, 2012). Use of this application would excite a curious market who would in addition to trying to gauge the accuracy of the voice recognition systems would be bolstered to ask lingering questions on nutrition and health. This application would advance the level of interaction to a level that improves the quality of involvement which could result in a stronger sense of customer commitment. This assumption is consistent with various research findings that have established that the level of brand commitment is directly proportional to the quality of interaction (Bellman, Schweda and Varan, 2010). With this application, information search becomes fun. An additional benefit of this application is its applicability in digital TVs where information search can be conducted in a much more comfortable setting. Where users get excited over the ease with which the application can be used, they are likely to spread information through word of mouth hence encouraging others to try it out. Word of mouth advertisement (whether physical or through the social media) remains the most effective advertisement medium as consumers tend to trust the word of independent referees more than they trust communications emanating directly from the marketers (Lavrakas, Mane and Laszlo, 2010). This forms the basis for effectiveness of viral marketing.

Participation in interactive encounters can also be encouraged through the offering of coupons where a link requiring an internet user to answer 2 to 5 simple questions qualifies them for a coupon. This interactive tool plays into the private interests of the internet users who may require an incentive to participate in such initiatives. The same could be used to encourage sharing of the advertisement and participation in company forums in the social media to ensure that such messages go viral. In addition to these features, the adverts could provide a link where user information such as email address can be recorded for purposes of future direct marketing efforts.

4.0 Conclusion

Interactive advertisements are more advantageous than traditional advertisements due to their ability to contribute directly towards the evaluation of the effectiveness of advertisements. The feedback presented as well as the information search engaged in helps in refining future advertisements to improve effectiveness (Voorveld, Beijens and Smit, 2011). In the “McDonald’s Healthy Lifestyle” advertisement, an exciting approach to interaction has been fronted where the Kinect applications can be used to facilitate information search through recognition of voice commands. This would improve the quality of interaction in addition to making such a process exciting and highly satisfying. The end result would be the publicising of the same through word of mouth mediums and subsequent effectiveness of gathering more information about consumers for purposes of future advertisement initiatives.

References

Arroyo-Cañada, F., & Gil-Lafuente, J. (2012). Considerations of Interactive Digital Television as Advertising Media. Journal of Promotion Management, 18(3), 306-318.

Bellman, S., Schweda, V., & Varan, D. (2010). Minimum effective frequency for interactive television ads. Journal of Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice, 11(4), 281-301

Bezjian-Avery, A., Calder, B., & Lacobucci, D. (1998). New Media Interactive Advertising vs. Traditional Advertising. Journal of Advertising Research, 38(4), 23-32.

Lavrakas, P., Mane, S., & Laszlo, J. (2010). Does Anyone Really Know If Online Ad Campaigns Are Working? Journal of Advertising Research, 50(4), 354-373.

Microsoft, (2012). Xbox 360: How does it work? Retrieved November 14, 2012 from: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/Kinect/GetStarted

Ming-Sung Cheng, J., Blankson, C., Shih-Tse, W.E., & Shui-Lien, C. (2009). Consumer attitudes and interactive digital advertising. International Journal of Advertising, 28(3), 501-525.

Sasser, S.,Koslow, S., & Riordan, E. (2007). Creative and Interactive Media Use by Agencies: Engaging an IMC Media Palette for Implementing Advertising Campaigns. Journal of Advertising Research, 47(3), 237-256.

Value Click Media, (2012). Virginia Beach: Live the Life. Retrieved November 14, 2012 from: http://gallery.valueclickmedia.com/demoads/maxunit/vabeachlp

Voorveld, H.A.M., Beijens, P., & Smit, E.G. (2011). The difference between actual and perceived interactivity. Journal of Advertising, 40(2), 77-92.