Creating Internet ads is a whole lot like picking someone up in a singles bar.
We know what kind of person we want to talk to. We pick the right bar. We identify our desirable target, using the clues available. Will this be the start of a relationship? We give it our best shot.
Our opening line is the first part of the creative challenge. We make an educated guess as to what the first impression should be. In a bar we can guess that maybe music, or football, or clothes might be our opening gambit. If we pitch it right and we look good—if we say it smart, or sassy, or whatever is required—we’ll stand a good chance of getting a response.
So, now that we’ve got their attention, what are we going to do with it? This is the point where too many bar conversations die—and too many interactive ads, too.
How do we turn a one-liner into a conversation? This is the second part of the creative challenge. Here we have a couple of choices: We can masterfully try to start a dialogue about stuff we want to talk about, or we can ask them what they are interested in.
Here’s an open secret: Most people think you’re smart if you ask them about themselves. You’ve seen those little online opinion polls: "What do you think: A or B?" They get a good response, and that’s no accident. A quick answer, no commitment and, "Wow! They know what I’m into and they want to know what I think!" People love that.
Just as in a bar we might look for a body language cue to help us figure out our next move, so on the Internet we have to come up with a way to find out how we’re doing and decide which way we want to take the exchange. In the bar we might choose to start a debate about a ref call, or we could try, "Did you hear that black is the new brown?" On the web we’ll dig into our bag of preplanned online conversational tricks and pick the one that should move the relationship the way we’d like it to go. Maybe we are just looking for the online equivalent of knotting a cherry stem to work that old black magic and suck them in.
With Internet ads, just as with pick-up lines, we have the opportunity to fine-tune our approach. We get immediate feedback on what is working and what isn’t. We can see what works with whom and where it gets us. You get a relationship going by being a little smarter, providing some value (a drink, a coupon—see what works) and leaving a little something behind to think about, something that they’ll want to follow up. Then your target will want to see you again, and can turn into a friend.
I was in a discussion recently as to whether a superstitial ad we were working on should have any interactivity, or just be like an online TV spot. I think that putting a linear, non-interactive TV ad on the Internet is probably a bit like putting up a photo of yourself in the bar and hoping to get somewhere. With an interactive ad you need to be right there and ready to rumble.
Don’t forget that the line that works in a bar may not work on the beach, or in a train. So a line that works on an Internet news site may be quite different from one that works on a beauty site or a golf site. The setting gives us valuable information about the user’s mindset. The cost of tailoring this opening exchange for each venue need not be high, but the cost of not tailoring will just mean more wasted opportunities.
So, what are the differences between the singles bar come-on and an Internet ad? Sound like the same thing to me. You reach the moment when you can start to tell whether you’re likely to get a phone number, or better. But, remember, instant gratification most often doesn’t lead to a long relationship. That means that we have to know what we want. It could be that we want to collect an address so we can get in touch again. Most often we just want to see them again and see if we can’t start a lifetime friendship. If we know what we want, getting it is very much easier.
I guess our next step is to do some research in a bunch of bars and see how it’s done.
