Flipping the Advertising Status Quo

When the New York Times reported that JP Morgan Chase cut their online advertising by some 99%, it left a big question in the communications world: What were the impacts of such a drastic change? This was answered directly by the firm’s Chief Marketing Officer, Kristin Lemkau: “It’s only been a few days, but we haven’t seen any deterioration on our performance metrics.”

*honorary mic drop*

So how can a company use 1% of its historic advertising level to get the same results? In this case, it was with a quality filter. Rather than use programmatic online ad buying alone (think robots that bid on online ad space when it is a ‘good deal’), the firm now integrates a whitelisting protocol (real human beings confirming where ads should show up online).

This makes intuitive sense. Just because ad space is for sale at a low price, does not mean it is a good buy. As our Stories in Motion research shows, when compared to other products and services, US consumers are 35% more uncomfortable interacting with Banking and Finance services on social media. Instead, they prefer to interact with them via online news (66% more comfortable) and the company’s own website (33% more comfortable).

In other words, communicating in more places is no substitute for communicating in the right ones. In fact, it’s worse. Not only do misplaced ads represent added cost for no return, they may actually damage brand and customer relationships. Whether a firm is using programmatic ad buying, traditional human solutions, or a hybrid approach, making sure the key messaging reaches the folks who need it is what wins the market.

Insights compiled by Benjamin Slutz and Andrew Lowe