Of course, we can no longer envision a world without internet. However, the euphoria with which the advertising industry is paying homage to the internet as medium of brand communication, is rather risky than entirely acceptable. The excitement with which pop-ups and banners mostly present themselves, the flickering and flashing, the texts and layouts, the often cheap appearing intrusive ballyhoo do simply not fit with competent communication and as such they do not fit with credible brand communication. Attention at any price, flashy performances and glitter on the screen are deeply irritating.

Just think about it in a way, as if friends and those who still want to become our friends show up at our doorsteps and behave like  pop-ups and banners  on the internet and go like a bull at the gate, meaning they want to advertise for brands. Attention at any price, a request to consumer goods advertising in its beginning, does not have to happen. Brands that don’t carry enough strength inside of them to present and recommend themselves as personalities, are not true brands and they will not become true brands via internet.

Surely, one has to open oneself to the new possibilities of communication. Advertisements among hundreds others in glossy magazines have a difficult time to be perceived. Nevertheless it still depends on keeping an eye on the personality image of the brand, its profile, positioning in the market, its image which in general has been developed in a consequent manner over a long period of time and its origin and history.

In a time where a rapid pace of change and volatility seem to dominate everything, it is even more important to support the image of the brand personality very carefully with poise.

How to assert oneself without doing what the competition is doing, was recently the question of the head of a marketing department close to despair. We suggested to him, to do the exact opposite of what everyone else is doing. “Make sure the brand and the products it stands for approaches the customer in an environment correlating to the image of the brand. Always make sure that the message tied to the brand flawlessly reflects the origin, history, positioning, image and uniqueness of the brand. Only in such a manner you can pass on pop-ups and banners as attention getters. The awareness of the brand is not going to sustain any damage from this.

And since the internet seems to dominate the life of people so much, the idea is spreading to advertise in other media in the shape of pop-ups and banners. We recommend to always ask yourself first, if the new opportunities to advertise are consistent with the brand personality. The growth rates the internet advertisers announce in regard to pop-ups and banners allow only to conditionally draw conclusions about the real creation of value for the brand. We assess this cautiously and view it in a way that it does not truly serve the brands.