• by Adam Bernard , August 10, 2001

Yesterday was the third and final day of Jupiter Online Advertising Forum in NYC, and one of the speakers was Myer Berlow, President of Worldwide Interactive Marketing for AOL. Addressing a ballroom jam-packed with eager attendees, Berlow spoke about issues such as what advertisers are doing wrong, what they need to do better, and why AOL doesn't allow for a lot of targeted advertising.

For starters, he explained why an Internet advertisement could be the most powerful kind in all of media. He said it is because the Internet is the only place where a person can see an ad, click on it to get more information, and almost immediately perform the actual transaction.

The problem a lot of advertisers are currently having, he said, is that they aren't designing their ads to warrant a click. He noted that the answer doesn't lie in simply advertising on the net, but in how one advertises, saying, "It's about the connective-ness to the consumer. It's about interactivity."

With that morsel of wisdom out for all to think about, Berlow touched on some ways of making online advertising better. The two points he stressed most were integrating the experience, and making the ads not 'feel' like ads. He spoke of an experiment AOL staged using seven different ads, where the results clearly showed that the copy on the banner was what ended up pulling the most people in. Functionality being the most important concept for consumers, Berlow confessed, "I hate to say this, but we should wait for the consumer to ask."

That brought up the 'P' word - privacy. AOL doesn't have a lot for advertisers to play with in the way of targeted ads, and Berlow explained that there is a simple reason for that - "privacy is our number one concern. It has to be when people are paying you every month." Essentially, he said he's not going to sell out his customers, so find another way to advertise.

At the end, Berlow once again hammered home the old point - once advertisers figure out the right way to advertise on the Internet, the Internet will pay off as one of the best ad vehicles around.