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Jaime Gottlieb
Associate Editor
A south Florida native, Gottlieb is a Creative Writing graduate from Florida State University and was a freelance Arts and Entertainment feature writer before joining ADOTAS in 2004.

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Skin it to Win It: Why Skinning Sets the Stage for Web Page Takeovers

Written on
June 1st 2006
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by Jaime Gottlieb  |
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When you step away from Armitage’s issues with potential graphical translations of brand identity, there are a few other hold ups to consider—like annoying the consumer. We’ve already identified that those “shoot the duck” flickering ads are obnoxious and that pop ups are fazing out faster than Nicole Riche’s presence on E!, so who’s to say we wouldn’t be going a bit too far by making every Web page a glowing advertisement? Would the idea of advertisers offering free promotional skins on any and every page on the Web be far too reminiscent of Tom Cruise’s “The Minority Report?”

Tim Nolan, online creative director at Night Agency thinks so. As he tells us, “This tactic is limited in its effectiveness in that the message still resides within the ‘banner experience’ and can be seen as intrusive.” But with that, he certainly doesn’t rule out its effectiveness and potential growth in the promo biz. “Skinning a site, however, allows for additional opportunities for building a synergy between the host and the marketed brand,” he says. “These campaigns can be executed, with such relationships already considered, therefore building a stronger, more relevant brand impact on the consumer.” I couldn’t agree more.

With all the neat-o downloadables and add-ons, why not just throw skins into the campaign mix. We’ve got ringtones, the ever-present “send to a friend” option, and wallpapers, so would it really be that hard to offer a selection skins that can be used for music applications or homepages for the user to apply as they want?

One way to go about this, Armitage says, is to go even further than homepages and straight to home computers. “I think that holiday-theme skins, for example, are a segmentation strategy: a tactical enhancement that will appeal to certain kinds of power users. But I also think that skins could be also approached from more high-level ‘always-on’ standpoint, such as the Appearance and Themes option in the Window Control Panel,” he says. “I also think that as more and more brands begin to offer service modules delivered as applets across an array of mobile device, skins will become a fun way to interact with consumers and customize the offering.”

Once we add up all the pros and cons, what really matters most in the end is how to engage the consumer with these skins and how to not piss them off in the process. While advertisers may now start feeding the idea of branded skins into their media mix, they may soon fear being part of the crowd instead of separating themselves as the innovator.

Former BBH chairman and ADOTAS columnist, Cindy Gallop takes the words right out of our mouths, saying, “There are, unfortunately, a lot of examples out there of brands who presume a much higher level of interest on the consumer’s part than is either realistic, or than the brand has earned itself. Consumers will want to interact and play around with something that attracts them and is genuinely entertaining and engaging in a highly creative and imaginative way,” she concludes. “They will not want to interact and play around with something that has jumped on the bandwagon, is promoting something staid and corporate in this environment, and has not fully committed to providing a holistically distinctive, innovative, entertaining experience.”



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