• by Cory Treffiletti , Featured Contributor, February 12, 2003

This week’s statement for debate:

The Internet provides a more emotionally impactful form of advertising than Television.

Think about it.

Television does indeed provide a medium whereby the advertising can be elegant and create a connection with the viewer, but the Internet is truly the source for the most current information when an emotional issue is raised. When a moment of national note occurs, such as September 11th or the recent events involving the Space Shuttle Columbia, people may find out about it from television, but they use the web to plunge deeper into the issues and seek out connections with others. If you have a health issue, you go to the web to look up the information and speak to others in your same situation. When someone you know is in trouble, the Internet can become your source for how to help him or her out. On a lighter note, if you want to buy a product, you go online and research the product. You go online for video of your favorite sports stars. These days, you go online for almost anything about everything. Some of these are extremely emotional points in our lives and when they occur, it is to the web that we race for solace, for comfort and for connection.

These are some extreme cases, of course, but how can one deny the self-targeted nature of the Internet provides a more emotionally relevant place for advertising? Maybe it’s because we haven’t found the correct way to do so yet.

The reason that television gets the rep for being more emotional is that moving images with a “captive” audience are harder to miss and the: 30 spot allows the advertiser to set the mood very quickly, pull in the viewer, and make their point. From my vantage point, Nike is among the best at doing this, but why isn’t it done online?

Though the attention span of the Internet user is even shorter than that of the television viewer, it just means the creative needs to be that much stronger to acquire and keep your attention. As the increased usage of the pre-stitial and inter-stitial unit occurs, so does the opportunity for advertisers to capture the attention of the user and engage them with stronger advertising. It is the shift of the paradigm from a unidirectional emotional message to an interactive emotional message. The Ultra-Mercial format that Salon has started to utilize is a great example of this. Use a larger unit to capture their attention and stimulate a response. Keep their attention by allowing them navigate the content and affect the experience. The emotional tie that you generate may actually be stronger!

I have been rather impressed over the last few weeks, as I have begun to see some extremely innovative uses of new forms of advertising. The ads are becoming less annoying and more creative in their efforts to utilize the technology that is at our fingertips. It seems that the new year has provided an uplift in the overall sense of the Creative Teams at most agencies and clients. Now we just need to see the publishers adopt these formats more and push for more cutting edge creative on their sites.