tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7692971555079600277.post-21885078265309761882008-01-28T09:08:00.000Z2008-01-28T09:32:52.240ZI've seen two very different adverts recently which, in my opinion are bad. Very bad. I'd even go so far as to say that they are terrible.<br /><br />The first is a poster advert seen at my local train station.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://shkspr.mobi/blog/uploaded_images/22012008087-744193.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://shkspr.mobi/blog/uploaded_images/22012008087-743643.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />A tagline, a shot of the service and a URL.<br /><br />Let's break it down.<br />1) The URL. I initially typed in w4mobile rather than w4mobile<span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">s</span></span></span> - and got a non-mobile friendly page. It would have been better if they'd bought a few similar sounding domains or set upa mobile friendly .mobi address.<br /><br />2) The URL. I have to type it in myself! What, is this 2005? Where's the QR Code? Where's the mobile shortcode? If you're going to have an easy to mistype URL - make it easy to get onto the phone.<br /><br />3) It's just so <span style="font-style: italic;">dull!</span> Why not have a bigger and more colourful shot of the service? A more descriptive idea of what the service is for?<br /><br />4) Black text on a red background!<br /><br />The service itself is nothing special. It's a list of links to various mobile friendly sites. I was expecting something a bit more dynamic. Some social bookmarking for mobile users. It's very 1998.<br /><br />Next up, a mobile advert seen on Vodafone live! (I work for Vodafone, these are my optinions, not their's).<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://shkspr.mobi/blog/uploaded_images/Screenshot0071-719399.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://shkspr.mobi/blog/uploaded_images/Screenshot0071-719395.png" alt="" border="0" /></a>First off, the good...<br /><br />Click-to-Call. Great stuff. Too many mobile websites insist you remember their number, exit the browser and manually dial. With this, click and you're dialling.<br /><br />The bad....<br /><br />Again, a fairly dull advert. 1 Image, and a few lines of text. This isn't a newspaper - you're not paying per word or per image - why not brighten it up?<br /><br />What the click-to-call giveth the "this is a chargeable call" taketh away! Why use a premium rate number that isn't included in anyone's bundle when you could use a geographic number that would be free for all your customers to call?<br /><br />Finally, take a look at that advert again. What do Avis do? What exactly can I rent for £10 a day?<br /><br /><br />Mobile Advertising is big business. You wouldn't know it to look at these two adverts.Terence Edenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10270360564522859892noreply@blogger.com