I don't make a habit of clicking on ads. I create them, I look at them, and am aware of them, but I generally never click.

This morning on CNN.com there was a fantastic embedded video ad that featured very realistic footage of architects interacting with what appeared to be a live 3d model of a huge urban development they were working on. Trees sprouted up instantly and became a park as an architect swiped cars off a lot with her hand. Traffic was jammed, then began to flow as they made their live adjustments to the model. I watched it a few times actually and was compelled to visit the site.
Instead of clicking, I went straight to the url, www.3ds.com but when I got there, the site was "undergoing maintenance." So I succumbed and actually clicked on the ad, which pointed to a specific landing page... NOT FOUND.

When you're making quality pitches, you'd better be sure to have your catcher ready behind home plate. Great advertising is hard enough. The component that drives traffic is exactly that, a component of a larger picture that must consider the two way street necessary for people to react to ads when they do work. In this case, a great ad totally failed. Better get that "maintenance" wrapped up!

Labels: Online Advertising