Scattergun online ads are killing brands

Tony Featherstone
MARCH 23 2017
The Age
Why do companies trash their brands online? They spend millions understanding customers, crafting messages and building consistent brands that evoke a desired response. Then undo all the good work for a few cheap website clicks from the wrong audience.
Google has been criticised this month for publishing ads in the wrong places. Marketing for taxpayer-funded groups in Britain appeared alongside extremist videos. Google had earlier been criticised for unintentionally funding terrorism through ads on extremist websites.
Some companies have seemingly lost control of when, where and how their ads appear online. They would never run a print advertisement in an inappropriate magazine or a television commercial in the wrong show. Yet online ads pop up in silly places.
Consider my recent experience with an online luxury car advertisement. The ad followed me to various sites, including a fan forum for my favourite football team.
The football website was a terrible look for the car ad. Sitting next to a tacky online dating ad (permanently on the site) further detracted from the car’s brand values.
Behavioural retargeting, where online advertising is based on a consumer’s previous internet actions, is not new. But do companies understand the damage being done to their brand when ads appear on the wrong sites, or how much money is wasted?
Do they know where every online ad is appearing or pay enough attention? Do they worry about consumers getting annoyed when they are stalked by online ads across websites? Do they think about how the online location reflects on the brand and its effectiveness?
I can’t see the value in all these online clicks that come from the wrong audience or from frustrated readers who are tricked into clicking on ads or content.
The ads are cheap for a reason: they’re wallpaper in a maze of bad internet advertising. Too many of them do no work.
I’m sure the luxury car company would not allow its brand to be associated with a low-budget football magazine or appear next to an ad for sex services. But its brand-value discipline does not extend to online marketing campaigns.
Don’t even get me started about sporting websites allowing gaming companies to dominate their sponsorships and ruin the site for other advertisers.
I feel for experienced marketers and advertising agencies who see the folly in some online advertising. I’m sure they want to do memorable work and help clients build brands that last for decades and plant messages that are hard to shake.
Some companies have seemingly lost control of when, where and how their ads appear online.
But corporate cost-cutters cannot get past the savings from online advertising or the marketing accountability it provides. They don’t understand that some aspects of great advertising cannot be measured in the same way as website clicks.
In a former life as a magazine editor, I recall advertisers poring over readership data and being fastidious about how and where their ads appeared. Clients screamed if their ads appeared next to competitors, in the wrong part of the magazine or had poor reproduction.
They ran the same display ad, issue after issue, knowing they were building brand recognition. It was a consistent advertising investment. Sure, it may not have always worked, but it’s hard to see the same advertising discipline across marketing channels these days. Too many brands seem all over the place.
I’m sure some companies will blame the internet search giants or point to the cost-effectiveness of online advertising compared with other channels. It’s the long-term damage to brand from inappropriate advertising that is harder to quantify.
Content marketing is just as problematic at times. Companies use skilled advertising copywriters to craft words that evoke emotions, create responses and enhance brands. Then allow their senior staff to slap out a poorly written column that detracts from the brand.
The firm would never tolerate typing errors, grammatical mistakes or inconsistent messages in paid advertising. Or bland, nonsensical marketing text to be forced on customers. Yet it’s happy for weak editorial, little more than poorly disguised advertising, to appear on its site.
Yes, online advertising and content marketing often have different goals compared with traditional advertising. But some aspects never change: respecting the brand’s look and feel, its core values and ensuring consistency across every piece of communication.
The good news is that a long-overdue corporate backlash against the internet search giants is building. Companies rightfully want their advertisements to appear on appropriate websites – not next to the latest extremist video or porn offering.
I doubt they’ll change much, given the power of the social media giants. That is a shame: it’s high time advertisers had a tighter rein on their online marketing.
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