Online advertising is alive & well. And Nike knows how to leverage this medium to gain share of voice in the consumer’s eye. While most brands focus primarily on the media to develop awareness, Nike understands the importance of impression in the digital retail environment.
Just stop and think about this for a minute. A consumer in a media environment is there to learn, research, be entertained. The banner ad impression here has value, yes. But that same potential customer on a retail website is engaged and ready to buy.
Sadly, the potential ROI on retail advertising campaigns is something often over-looked by many brands. That said, with the right approach and resources, it doesn’t have to be. Here are a few of the fundamentals.
Image Perfection
As a creative-led ad shop, we crave strong visual assets. And when only the best creative in the industry is acceptable by the world’s leading apparel and footwear brand, an assets-first mentality rules the fairway. The retail marketing team is setup for success with an arsenal of razor-sharp athlete & product photography to work with. We are happy.
Authenticity begins with mood
Create objects of desire
Design
Strong banner ad creative isn’t just about following a creative brief and the ad specs. It’s critical to take a step back and truly think about the context of the impression and identify our opportunity. The critical variables are as follows.
- Environmental Survey: What’s going on in the retail environment? Is it busy? Clean? How will our message get noticed?
- Complexity of Creative: Much like that loss of impact on your :15 broadcast spot that was cut down from :30 due to those pesky media budget cuts, a 900x400px home page marquee doesn’t play well in 125x125px of real estate.
- Positioning: Thanks to Larry & Sergey, most people don’t waltz into the front door of a website to find what they are looking for. Thus, not one ad platform works for all positions. Tailoring the design, message & call to action to the position is critical to ad performance & ROI.
The End Result
Keep up with the chaos
The digital retail landscape is fragmented and fast-paced. Retailers don’t adhere to standard IAB sizes and frequently update their websites to keep us on our toes. I won’t say how many banner ads the retail golf market holds. I will only say that a single campaign platform rollout involves many caffeine-fueled nights in the design studio backed by occasional bribery with Double Mountain brew. The process also requires a stellar project manager who isn’t afraid to rock the details.
Tyler Reitz, Sr. Project Manager & Motorcycle Restoration Ninja
Double Mountain—pure creative juice
Ok, so what’s the catch?
We live and die by accountability. Applying a consistent analytics layer to retail advertising is an up-hill battle. Since this is in the hands of the retailer, it’s best to work an insights model in to the conversation early in the game. And don’t be afraid to chase them down. In the end, this is time well spent towards your end goal—SALES!
Today’s savvy retailer has evolved to capitalize on this trend. They know the manufacturer is eager to support them with great assets and content. That said, this is not an easy undertaking. It takes a proactive approach with the retail base, followed by a very organized execution plan. If you’re looking for a way to broaden your reach and build incremental sales, it’s a worthwhile effort. I’d love to hear your feedback and ideas about your own retail marketing plan. Hit us up on Twitter.