Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Petrol advertising online...

I find it quite interesting that a petrol station is advertising online. Petrol is such a grudge purchase - if you have a car, you need petrol. To be honest, most people I know decide on their petrol station dependent on discount vouchers or loyalty programmes, but that might just be the people that I know.

At any rate, Shell have some blah blah blah fishing something promo on at the moment so this morning (and yesterday morning also) there was a charming expandable on Stuff homepage:
What you can't really see is that the page is moving like water is ontop of if all wave-like. Nice touch. However, my issue with it, is why are they using a really OLD screen shot of the Stuff homepage? I'm sure that I have seen people build expandables which use the current homepage as the basis before they break it. Instead, the expandable disappears and you're left with a different homepage and different lead stories:
Hate to point this out to whomever built this, but you forget that the bulk of NZers are not 100% switched on. If you need proof of this, just look at the audience numbers for Police 10-7, Road Cops or shit that hit the fan with Paul Henry (I am a Paul Henry supporter, and I will no longer watch Breakfast as he is not on it). What was my point? Oh, right - this sort of thing - the double homepage, will confuse people. I hope Stuff haven't had too many complaints on this one.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh Monica, I do want to have a crush on you, I so do. You have the cutest twitter pic, and this geeky ad blog, and an obvious love for advertising. But when you post something like this, well, it breaks my little creative heart. You're in media, you know how these things work, material has to be submitted days in advance, the pic was probably about as fresh as you can get.

And seriously, Paul Henry? Things would never work out between us.

Heartbroken

iChild said...

I'm so sorry Heartbroken. You're right, I do work in media, hence why I think these things should work. I am happy for someone to tell me absolutely, otherwise, but I am certain I have seen a car of some description come screaming through a homepage, busting up the copy and then the homepage reforming. Never having to use an old screen shot.

If any publishers want to get in on this and tell me it can't be done, I'm happy to edit with an apology.

Also, Paul Henry, hell yes. I've never personally been one to hold back my opinion (obviously) and I have full respect for people who tell it like it is. All of us say things we regret sometimes, but that is the nature of live television. I say good on him for not being anyone but himself and I hope he is back on the airwaves again soon.

Bruce Hoult said...

Heartbroken, I'm glad that my crush now has more room to flourish. Hope you find another.

Monica: I choose fuel based on where I can get 98 octane without ethanol in it. Both my Subaru and my BMW motorcycle love the highest octane they can get (and go sufficiently further on it that it's actually cheaper to run despite the higher price), but both being 1995 models their fuel systems are apt to be dissolved by ethanol.

iChild said...

Thanks Bruce.
So what you're telling me, is that petrol is indeed a grudge purchase and advertising wouldn't sway you to one particular brand? Even for a promotion such as this fishing, something something something...

Bruce Hoult said...

I googled it, but I think I either don't quite get this "grudge purchase" concept, or else don't agree with it, or else don't think it applies to fuel.

It certainly makes me happy that, due to purchasing fuel, I can ride my motorcycle instead of taking the bus.

It also makes me happy that by filling the tank with 98 instead of 95 (or, if really desperate, 91) I get massively more power and acceleration and "crispness" out of the corners when riding far too fast on a twisty road.

I don't think advertising per se ever sways me to buy a particular brand of anything. Certainly contests don't -- I take it as read that they never represent significant value.

I find advertising valuable to the extent that it informs me of a product I wasn't previously aware of (certainly doesn't apply to Shell), or of a genuine and significant price discount (over 10%, say) on a product that is not inferior to its competition.

Anonymous said...

Mr Hoult, I like what you're saying, and if your BMW motorcycle is air-cooled, I like that too. Would it be safe to assume you're a fan of the Boxer motor? Are you a V-Power purchaser?

Regards

Heartbroken

Bruce Hoult said...

Heartbroken,

In past I had an air-cooled BMW. The current one gets a fair bit of air cooling, but also has a small (maybe 150x50 mm?) thermostatically controlled oil cooler under the headlight.

As both my car and my motorcycle have boxer engines it would be fair to say that I'm not opposed to them :-) I do like the gobs of torque at low RPM.

I was using Mobil's 98 until my local station got an ethanol blend, so now go an extra 500m to the BP. I don't think any Shell around here has V-Power 98.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous, that was really fucking condescending to Monica, in a "you stupid little woman, me big smart man" kind of way.

She isn't thick, nor is she a Mad Men-style stepford wife there for your ogling pleasure.

Smarten the fuck up.

iChild said...

Thanks for the defending my honour bit there Anon 7:28, I really appreciate it and made me smile as I walked to work this morning.

One way or another, I'm not actually offended by Heartbroken's words, nor am I concerned that the comments section turned into a conversation about actual motor vehicles instead of advertising. Each to their own.

I do appreciate the sentiment though.

Bruce Hoult said...

Anonymous2: I took Heartbroken's comments to be ironic and jocular, and replied in somewhat the same fashion (though I've had the pleasure of several in-person conversions with Monica before she moved to the devil's land).

Perhaps some things can't even be joked about.

Monica:

Very interested in your take on two recent advertisements!!

The first is the UK's 10:10 environmentalist group's "No Pressure" ad:

http://youtu.be/sSTLDel-G9k

Second, Microsoft's ad for WIndows Phone 7 (particularly of interest to you as an Android user):

http://youtu.be/EHlN21ebeak

Anonymous said...

wow, someone got ants in their pants.

iChild said...

Who got ants in their pants?

Anonymous said...

>> OCTOBER 14, 2010 7:28 AM = Ants in Pants