Henry T. Ford famously said about the Model T in 1909 that buyers could get a car in any color, as long as it was black. Whether it was because the paint dried faster or because it was cheap and durable doesn't matter at this point. (The whoosh sound Ford heard next was the sound of painted Chevy's flying past Ford in sales.) As a commercial strategy, in retrospect, it seems silly.
And yet that is what the vast majority of ad networks are telling brand advertisers these days -- "you can have any kind of advertising you want, as long as it is the kind we sell" (mostly standard IAB banners)- or perhaps -- "you can appear on any websites you want, only we can't tell you which ones, exactly."
I heard these complaints yet again from another potential publisher who came to us, frustrated by what the marketplace has to offer, and was reminded about the old Model T story. The Internet is the most customizable, the most interesting and the most user-oriented media platform and yet it consistently produces some of the most boring and opaque (to the buyer) and the least innovative advertising in media.
The reason for this is that direct response advertising has driven online advertising since its inception and still represents 75% of online advertising. This is true despite the fact that brand advertising represents two-thirds of all advertising in the U.S. But let's face it, you can't buy a Big Mac online (though, trust me, they're probably working on the McPopUp as I write this). It stands to reason that brand advertising is poised to make a big impact here.
Jeremy Liew, one of the most prolific VCs in the online ad space, wrote this excellent blog entry about why brand advertising will drive change in online advertising. At Betawave, we wholeheartedly agree. It's not just about how many people you reach, but about how you reach the people you do; it's about allowing brands to build more meaningful relationships with their audience online, something that only a few of us are focusing on. Everyone else is helping sell weight loss supplements and mortgage rate reductions. Ok, maybe not everyone.
And it won't be long, we believe, before you'll be able to get your online advertising in any color, not just black. Unless you want it in black of course, which is how we will give it to you (would that be flat black, charcoal, onyx or another shade?)