Into your minds; not 'In your Face': Advertising

I was thinking of commenting briefly on a few things that have been happening in and around India when something else caught my attention - Internet Advertising.

What do Advertisers aim at? Is it exposure? is it Brand Recall? Is it Brand Recognition? Or, is it a plain sense of detest that they try to evoke towards the brand that is advertised? I sincerely hope it is not the last in the list. But some advertisements definitely make me wonder if the purpose of an Advertisement is really to get the folks HATE the brand!

The moment one opens any of the home pages of popular sites these days, one encounters a blow in the face; not literally - fortunately! A flashy Ad, bright and gaudy, pops up right in the face of the reader in the prime space of the page! "Have you driven home the latest model of this car yet - along with the model who promotes it?" or, "Whom are you going to marry today?", or "Have break fast, lunch and dinner and spend two nights with your favourite stars" . . . you name it!

Never mind the messages. But imagine how you would feel when, while grossly immersed in your daily dose of News with a coffee in one hand on a Sunday morning, a huge advertisement pops up right between you and the news paper you read, with a jarring noice? Or, when you are chatting with your sweet heart on a silent evening, what if someone lands right in between you and your other half and starts yelling at you to buy his new launch? Okay, forget the Harry Potter stuff! You are completely involved in the gripping moments of the final couple of overs in a nail biting run chase between India and Pakistan; India needs 10 runs to score of the last couple of balls, with one wicket in hand! How would you enjoy an Ad at that precise point of time?

Advertise, yes. But let's show some restraint and some rationale. After all, a website exists only for readers to read - and no Advertisement is supposed to put the prospect off right at the offset!

Correction: The final word in the post was supposed to be 'Outset'. The mistake must perhaps have been due to an upgradation underway at Clearway.

Disclaimer: Since Upgradation is a continuous process, Clearway, by no means, assures an Error-Free post, though it very much remains the coveted goal of Clearway!