Banner ad discussion: Kitely = affordable land ad collection

[Ilan Tochner]

Hi Dot,

If we go for banner ads that only show text then the text needs to really catch the eye. Blue on blue or red on blue is too hard to read. The easier it is to read the more comfortable people will feel with the message.

For example (click to see full size):

[Dot Macchi]

The ads are likely to need some background colour or border to prevent them from being lost in the general busyness of a forum page.

The background colour used in the concept ads matches (as far as possible) the colour used on the Kitely website (which sometimes has text on it).

A different font, of course, could be used. I used Arial to match the look and feel of the website. If a bold or black variant is used, the typesize will need to be smaller.

Is it possible to place the slogan in a different position in relation to the logo -- for example, centred beneath it? For the side ads this is likely to be essential to have any chance of reading it.

Here are the two side ad roughs I'd done before the feedback arrived about the slogan being essential. If the slogan is added, I'd suggest deleting the "Big project? Small budget?" lines to make room for it.

[Bladyblue Bommerang]

This side banner uses a white background with a thin black line outlining it.
_________________________________

And ONE panoramic image of a beautiful build would look great as the image going across the center of a top banner.
sample:

[Ilan Tochner]

We need 5 top-banner ads that will get people's attention and have a consistent design that people will quickly associate with the Kitely brand even if they don't read the ad text.

I've created the following, please comment on each of them (click images to see the full size versions):
1) Is the message clear? Can it be made clearer?
2) Is the color scheme / font okay with the SLUniverse design?
3) Is there a better layout?

This is a mockup of how one of the ads will look in SLUniverse:

This is Ad #1:

This is Ad #2:

This is Ad #3:

This is Ad #4:

This is Ad #5:

[Constance Peregrine]

I actually think #5 would work out well.

For those declining amount of people who own regions there, for those who have had to reduce to smaller parcels, for those who have dreams of more, and even more....

I would put an outline around it tho so the add stands our more from the slu forums...maybe pink-)) [or something]

[Ilan Tochner]

Hi Minethere,

Thank you for your feedback.

Actually, I left the outline out on purpose, people have gotten used to mentally filtering out ad blocks so keeping the text without an outline makes it look more like an integral part of the page but with a much bigger and brighter text. This forces the eye to read it before people consciously understand it is an ad which can be ignored - which should help more people actually see the message at least once. Having the ad text change between 5 variants serves the same purpose. By the time people get to the point where they automatically filter the color scheme, outline and logo we use, those elements will already subconsciously remind them of the ad message(s) even if they don't read the actual ad(s).

This marketing tool won't work for the side banners though, so we'll need to find some other way to draw the eye to them. Using a bright eye catching picture, the same color scheme for text and logo on a white background but with some outline for the non-image part. So the template for the side banners could be:

<EYE CATCHING IMAGE>
Full Region
100,000 prims
$40/month
Kitely logo
Virtual Worlds
on Demand

[Constance Peregrine]

Hi Minethere,

Thank you for your feedback.

Actually, I left the outline out on purpose, people have gotten used to mentally filtering out ad blocks so keeping the text without an outline makes it look more like an integral part of the page but with a much bigger and brighter text. This forces the eye to read it before people consciously understand it is an ad which can be ignored - which should help more people actually see the message at least once. Having the ad text change between 5 variants serves the same purpose. By the time people get to the point where they automatically filter the color scheme, outline and logo we use, those elements will already subconsciously remind them of the ad message(s) even if they don't read the actual ad(s).

oh...cool... subliminal stuff...fine by me...I get it-))

[Bladyblue Bommerang]

This is a mockup of how one of the ads will look in SLUniverse:

Please note that members of SLU do not see that banner ad above the Kitely banner.

[Dot Macchi]

Not being one to waste work if I can help it...

The Kitely slogan isn't quite centred. This is deliberate so that the shape of the word "Worlds" ties in with the kite tail, to try to keep logo and slogan as a single entity.

The black border is a single pixel wide.

The Plaza image is slightly bigger than the one from Serenity Island. Details can be tweaked, if the ads match what is actually wanted.