Commentary

Ad Blocking Comes Full Circle: Online Bank Uses Newspaper Ads To Reach Blockers


Blocking ads isn’t new, but the rapid rise of browser-based ad-blockers caught many advertisers and publishers by surprise. Now some interesting solutions are beginning to emerge that use analog media.

In what may be the first campaign of its kind, European online bank Boursorama Bank has been running ads in French newspapers explicitly targeting online ad blockers.

“Dear ad blockers users, we didn’t want you to miss our banner ad. So we put it here,” reads the headline on the print ads, which literally reprint the bank’s online banner ads below them, including an offer of $155 in cash for new customers opening an account.

The campaign, which was created by France’s Buzzman, is reminiscent of attempts by ad agencies to create campaigns leaning into fast-forwarding TV commercials when DVRs achieved critical mass.

But the implication here is that if you cannot reach your customers online, you figure out ways to reach them offline, even if your product -- as in the case of Boursorama -- is an online service.

4 comments about "Ad Blocking Comes Full Circle: Online Bank Uses Newspaper Ads To Reach Blockers".
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  1. Douglas Ferguson from College of Charleston, November 27, 2017 at 9:35 a.m.

    Interesting. The cynic in me wonders if the publication should have offered a discount because there are two benefits that accrue to such ad copy: the bank gets more attention but so, too, does print advertising as a medium. 

  2. nerd rage from Nerdrage Inc., November 27, 2017 at 12:46 p.m.

    Do people who know enough to block ads read print media at all?

  3. Rafael Cosentino from Telanya, November 27, 2017 at 3:13 p.m.

    Fantastic PR strategy.

  4. Larry Smith from Live Idea, November 29, 2017 at 8:56 a.m.

    You realize the stupidity of having the only call to action in the ad as a "Click here" button.


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