Heard this week about a client getting slammed by Stuff users around the fact that their video advertising didn't have a pause on it. They were getting pissy about that it was chewing up their bandwidth and slowing everything down. Now, don't get me wrong, I kinda agree, but I don't think the New Zealand audience quite gets how good we have it when it comes to advertising.
I went to check out the pics from 'Where The Wild Things Are' today on USAToday at which point I was confronted with this:
This advertising splash covered my whole screen, and actually says at the bottom 'advertisement will end in x seconds' and counts down. So, we might have annoying ads in NZ that you can't stop, but at least they don't stop you from reading/navigating the rest of the site while they play out! Unlike this little charmer.
I know that NZ is an emerging market and that the general public aren't going to understand how good we've got it, but does it really require emailing Stuff? Get over it. Man, people love to complain.
On another note, the images from 'Where The Wild Things Are' look amazing. Check this out:
Love it. Way to make an effort and brighten my morning.
Wow, my poor little brain is over flowing with information, to do lists, things to find out more about and, for good measure, more information.
Have been very impressed with the digital media summit and how it was run. I thought that Lee Hopkins was a fantastic chair and did an amazing job of introducing, presenting, asking the presenters probing questions and keeping the general feeling of the entire 2 days upbeat and interesting.
Highlights were most certainly Darren Wood, Lee Hopkins, the Gen C panel – especially Aisha and Ben (although I would have liked to have heard Simon speak) – Jane Hornibrook, Helen Baxter and Thomas Scovell.
I think one of the things that impressed me the most about all of these people was the passion in which they talked about their subject. What I think we all take for granted in the digital industry is that most of us are here because we are doing something that we love. It takes a lot of commitment and enthusiasm to a part of this industry, it is not (really) an industry that many people fall into. We typically all want to be here. This does seem to mean that most of the people I come across love what they are doing.
I’m not going to blog point for point about the summit, I twittered a bit and I am going to have to put a full presentation together for the agency, but I thought I would use this to point out some of the more amusing/interesting moments from my perspective.
- Was a little upset that some of the original line-up were not there – but in saying that, still really enjoyed it all
- Thought it was a shame that the EMI guy didn’t seem to give a shit or want to be there. I would imagine he would have a lot of interesting things to say, but he just didn’t seem to care
- Thought it was funny that after a few people had pulled out their iPhones and talked so lovingly about them John Eyers from Telecom pulled out his smartphone, poor Telecom, not having iPhones must be difficult
- Was a little disappointed in the audience at times, many of the speakers disappeared before having the chance to talk to them outside of the Q&A after their presentation. Also thought the guy in the pink striped shirt on the first day, who slid down his chair and looked like he wanted to go to sleep, was a poor audience member. Can you imagine trying to present to that??
- A little concerned about people who do not work with traditional media commenting on how mobile services can be used to test how successful advertising on different traditional media can be. Dangerous! And I would recommend getting a lot more information before presenting that sort of thing
- Really nice to finish it all of with Thomas though, really interesting presentation (actually his last one I saw was too) and interactive to boot! Plus I won some wine, so that always goes down well!
Brain dump. Done. Great couple of days, energised about different ideas, but am in need of some sleep…
So, this morning when I came into work I was greeted by the lovely new Stuff. I must say, I think they have done a lovely job of it.
As a user - things I like:
* It has been built with users in mind, not advertisers* Customisable homepage - I read my news National, World, then Entertainment, this is perfect
* Well laid out sections. Once you are in National News it is uncluttered has clear order and has it's own menu
* They have taken out the Fairfax network menu from the very top of the page when you are in a news section making it simple to jump between the different kinds of news
* IT'S WHITE! Thank you, I am a simple girl, and there is nothing better than some good white space
* It is simple to navigate back to whatever level you want to, the homepage, national news homepage etc.
As a media buyer - things I don't like:
* It has been built with users in mind, not advertisers
* Removed the option for a half page or skyscraper on the homepage (I'm fine with the top banner going, never liked those)
* Most of the advertising space is below the fold.
But, give me a couple of weeks to play with it some more... I'm sure the advertising kids are happy to make things work.
This advertising splash covered my whole screen, and actually says at the bottom 'advertisement will end in x seconds' and counts down. So, we might have annoying ads in NZ that you can't stop, but at least they don't stop you from reading/navigating the rest of the site while they play out! Unlike this little charmer.
