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Ernie Mosteller, who describes himself as a “Southern farm boy with an education,” embraces and embodies advertising’s transition from traditional to new media. His award-winning work as a creative director jump-started a successful 15-year run as a nationally-known commercial director. Energized by the endless possibilities of a changing media landscape, he combined his strategic, creative, narrative and digital skills to found a hybrid digital/traditional boutique, release an early eBook on the changes agencies face today, and cultivate a loyal following of weekly blog readers. His current position as VP, Interactive Creative Director at Brunner Digital, and VP, Creative Director for the DC office of Brunner, complete the circle – finding him back on the agency side, helping clients, creatives, and agency management understand the possibilities of digital, and create compelling messages across all media. His personal blog is erniemosteller.com.

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Tools To Lure (and Keep) Consumers

Written on
June 20th 2008
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by Ernie Mosteller  |
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surfing-with-dory_small.jpgADOTAS EXCLUSIVE — Why build this Web site? We’re passing a checkpoint, I think, on the road that leads from old media to new. We’re finally starting to openly ask and answer the right questions. Not long ago, the answer to the above question was simple: Build the site because people are spending more and more time on the Web, and getting more and more of their information there. You have to be there, too.

Simple enough. It answers the “What” (a site) and the “Where” (the Web). The problem is, it answers the “Why” only in the broadest terms. Yes, it answers, “Why a site?” But it doesn’t specify: “Why this particular site?”

I’m continually reminded by clients (inadvertently) and my wife (explicitly) that those of us who work in the interactive space are so far ahead of the general population in thinking about and understanding the evolution of the Web, that we consistently forget how far ahead we are. I regularly concede this point, usually after a day of meetings in which I’ve explained answers for what I thought were common-knowledge questions. But lately, I’ve noticed a steady up-tick in understanding that has more and more clients talking more and more about Why. And that’s why I say we’re at a checkpoint.

Clients are beginning to understand a Web site that exists simply because it’s a Web site isn’t nearly as effective a marketing tool as a Web site that exists to accomplish a specific task. Clearly, a good thing.

The task at hand, of course, can be almost infinitely variable. A brand’s site might exist to deliver entertainment that gets customers spending more time with the brand. It might be designed to deliver sharable content, so users become the medium that spreads the message. It might offer instruction, product comparison, or coupons. It might sell directly, or simply be designed to solicit data to be used for further communications. There are many more tasks where those came from, but you get the point. Sometimes, sites are able to combine a couple of these tasks effectively. Rarely are effective sites able to combine them all. In the end, your overall strategy – online and off – will assign the task for the site. Which one it assigns isn’t important here. What’s important is that a site does, indeed, have a task. A purpose. A reason for being. A “Why.”

Well, ok. Why? The one-word answer: Search. Again, though, it’s not quite that simple. Because I don’t mean search as an action, so much as a mindset.

The old concept of randomly “surfing the Web” is just that — an old concept. While it does happen, it doesn’t happen much. Your site isn’t something someone is likely to trip over while using the mouse the way I’ve been accused of using the TV remote. People look for what they want at any given moment. They look for specific things that fit with the mindset they have at that moment. A “Just Because” site has less chance of easily and effectively fulfilling a specific user’s quest – whatever that quest might be. If for no other reason than “Just Because” sites tend to be dense, and hard to get around.

Of course, it’s impossible to anticipate all the potential reasons a user might want to interact with the brand online. Which is why, I believe, there are so many sites out there that try to be all things to all people, and wind up being less of a true marketing tool. Instead, they become a catch-all for anything and everything that seems like it might belong online. Not a recipe for a captivating digital experience.

With research, you might be able to narrow the reasons why people visit the site, but you’re never going to anticipate them all. That’s ok. Because you can help shape those reasons – with content, design, and support.

A Web site doesn’t live in a vacuum. It has support from multiple directions encouraging people to go. (The bigger the effort, the bigger the support, and the more directions.) You’re asking people to visit. So, what do you want them to do when they get there? What do you want them to take away? And most important (but, hopefully, least apparent) what do you want out of the transaction?

Tell them. Tell them why they should go, what they’ll find, and what you want them to do. Tell them with content. Tell them, and lead them, with architecture and design. Tell them, especially, with your support media, so they know what to expect before they ever click.

As a part of a larger communications plan, an effective site has a specific job. (Notice here that I didn’t say simple. Simple and specific are different things. Simple isn’t always good for a site — specific is.) The more specific the job, the more effective the site can be. On top of that, there’s a bonus. The more specific the job for the site, the more creative your creatives can get with it. Specificity has always been a critical component of great traditional creative. Not only is that also true on the Web, it’s magnified. Specific goals lead to better creative. Better creative leads to deeper engagement, which further boosts effectiveness.

The road to integration is long. We’re not there yet. But we’ve passed the checkpoint where clients and agencies have begun to ask more of the right questions. It’s making the creative better, and the work more effective.

And isn’t that why you ask, to begin with?



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Reader Comments.

Right on! Thinking & strategic planning = results.

Posted by Greg | 1:04 pm on June 20, 2008.

Hi, Ernie. Good stuff: I really like your perspective on how web communications work (or don’t).

I’d expect to see more discussion of net neutrality legislation on sites like this one, but I rarely see it mentioned in the online ad industry trade press. What’s your take on the issue?

Posted by Ken | 10:32 am on July 25, 2008.

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