Creatives Should Be Relishing Ad-Blocking

The adoption of ad-blockers shouldn’t lead to a creative block

As Publishers frantically react to impact of ad blocking on their bottom lines, the Creatives should be embracing the opportunity to be the heroes of this industry “crisis.”

With Ad-blocking being such an important issue in the mobile marketing world, it’s no surprise that advertisers are looking to change their creative approach to ads in the digital space. The advent of ad-blocking culture has meant that Ads in general have had to change their very character, both in terms of appearance and where they place themselves; or risk becoming snuffed out by the very audience they seek to target.

Amending Creative Sins.

First of all let’s get one thing straight; 95% of banners ads look awful. It doesn’t take somebody with a design degree to work that much out. One quick glance on whatrunswhere.com (an online tool used to track live display ads) reveals a torrent of unsightly and invasive ‘adverts’ that would irritate any sane individual. On mobile it seems that many advertisers have yet to evolve from the methodology of ‘just make it flash’, that became the bane of the Internet throughout much of the 90s. The problem now is that while previous audiences learnt to respond by just ignoring bad ads, they are now utterly despondent

“It’s important to understand the adoption of ad blocking is in response to consumer frustration over a rise in disruptive ad experiences. Unfortunately, there have been an increasing number of rogue ad players looking to monetize by duping consumers into unintended engagement.”

James Hilton, Global CEO of M&C Saatchi Mobile (September, 2016)

We find ourselves now in an industry that is seen as intrusive and untrustworthy by a more tech-savvy audience, which is choosing to shut us out. So how do we turn it around? Much of the answer lies with how advertisers choose to promote to consumers, and make better ads.

Review. Respect. Rebuild.

One thing to understand is that Ad-blocking is here to stay. So rather than lamenting the widespread use of Ad-blockers, we should as an industry be finding ways to embrace them.

One way advertisers can do this is simply by respecting their audience, and stop targeting individuals with patronising, intrusive, and heavy creative. Two of the biggest reasons why people choose to block adverts are because:

A) They disturb an otherwise enjoyable browsing experience.

B) They’re not relevant to the user, and therefore ‘a waste’ of bandwidth.

A major contribution to this reputation comes from the model of buying large inventories of cheap, cluttered ad space; and filling these spaces with re-purposed print adverts. With many publishers fitting increasingly more ads into their content in order to maximise profitability, the continued adoption of Ad-blockers is a trend we don’t see changing.

By acknowledging this, advertisers can begin to rebuild their relationship with audiences. An ad that is at it’s core more discreet and look to complement rather than disrupt a viewing experience is immediately going to get a less frosty reception from consumers than a raucous one.

Quality. Not Quantity.

The future of digital media lies in marketers relying on the quality of their ads rather than the quantity of them. The industry should be looking to adapt and tailor creative executions to customer needs and preferences.

Native ads are one example of innovation when it comes to creative placements, and it is this continuous evolution of formats that will keep audiences engaged rather than switched off, which is something that many advertisers have yet to come to terms with.

Native formats provide a less intrusive way of advertising to consumers. Native ads fit into the context of a given mobile site or app; for instance ‘recommended articles’ featured in a news app, or ‘sponsored posts’ found in Facebook’s newsfeed. The advantage advertisers have with these kind of creative placements is that typically they give the illusion of the ad being a part of the content, thereby complementing a browsing experience as opposed to distracting. Facebook and Instagram are particularly interesting from a creative perspective: by creating something that is aesthetically pleasing, as well as timely and socially relevant to a particular audience, there is the possibility that individuals (especially those of a younger demographic) will show their support for said content by sharing it with their friends and peers, therefore creating a new stream of organic advertising.

This is one of the key factors when it comes to how a good creative strategy can keep audiences engaged in mobile marketing; by asking the question “how relevant / rewarding is my ad to my audience?” Advertisers can begin to build a rapport with consumers.

In it together.

Ultimately it is down to the advertising industry to evolve digital ads through creativity and evolution, rather than thinking of workarounds for ad-blockers and punishing the users than embrace them. The next step for the industry is to abandon the blueprints of old, and create fewer, better ads that are made for their audience and the environment they’ll be seen in, rather than a torrent of ‘irritating’ ones. Forcing brand messaging upon individuals isn’t enough anymore; instead we must make sure this new approach invites consumers to engage with us rather than rebel against us.

‘Complement’, never ‘disrupt’. ‘Make it relevant’, never ‘make it flash’