Luxury brands have different needs than mass brands do. Even for affluent consumers, there’s a longer decision cycle for a pair of Prada loafers versus a pair of Weejuns, and for a Tag Heuer versus a Timex. Marketers familiar with the space know that they need to be more persuasive with their campaigns, and richer and more impactful with their ads. Luxury brands need to tell stories of quality and of lifestyles full of aspiration to convince consumers they’re worth the additional money.
Portrait ads make it easier for brands to tell those stories. The oversized, three-module units create rich-media canvases for brands to share HD video, audio, images, social media and other interactive elements. Many leading publishers are successfully creating native opportunities for advertisers by incorporating their own site content into one of the modules. The adjacency of premium publisher content to the advertiser’s own content is mutually beneficial and creates an effective, engaging ad unit that feels as if it’s part of the website. While the publisher content within the unit does not truly constitute an editorial endorsement of the advertiser’s product, it does serve to instill the consumer with a sense of trust for the brand advertised.
We know... Read more
Archive for Tom O'Regan 
Why Investing In Portrait Ads Makes Sense for Luxury Brands, Now More than Ever
Advice for Financial Services Agencies: Channel Willie Sutton
I don’t run a bank or a brokerage. But I do run a business that connects businesses to affluent customers, and I have seen this customer group evolve through good times, bad times and the economic limbo we’re currently plodding through. That experience leads me to some radical advice for the financial services category. That advice? Channel bank robbers.
In particular, channel Willie Sutton. He was the most skilled and notorious thief in history, the original “Slick Willie.” When he was asked, upon capture in 1952, why he robbed banks, he said: “Because that’s where the money is.” It mystifies me that despite controlling 13 percent of all digital marketing dollars (second only to retail’s 22 percent) financial services companies still haven’t figured out where the money is. The money is not all in the top one, five or even 10 percent of your customers. The money is in expanding your valuable customers, and in meeting those customers where they live. If you work for a financial services company, you’re missing your customers, particularly the more affluent ones. Now that the Occupy movement has pretty much moved on, and it looks like corporate earnings will dictate a flat stock market through... Read more
