Dear NBC - Your Ad on My Blog Still Sucks - We Really Need to Talk Again

NBC, dear, we really need to talk again. You have to get your act together! You totally ignored me last time I told you about why your Olympics ads suck. And I hate to harp on this, but your blog advertising is not going to sell Olympic sponsorships and it’s certainly not going to get decent clickthru rates.

Don't get me wrong: you're welcome to keep giving me money for blog ads nobody is paying any attention to forever. But I feel compelled to give you advice for two reasons:

1.) I love you for spending money advertising on my blog;
2.) your sure-to-be-lousy experience with blog ad results will deter other big companies from advertising on blogs.

Here’s why your ad stinks:

- it’s a black blob with horrible flashing stuff on it
- It hasn’t changed in months (or if it has, it hasn’t changed enough for anyone to notice)
- it totally lacks the thrill, the beauty, the excitement, and the sheer joy of the Olympics
- your agency appears to be clueless

- Focus on preparation by the athletes and the lack of planning by advertisers
- Add excitement and drama to the copy
- Be funny, be edgy, be sexy, or be all three
- Add arresting visuals for god’s sake, instead of that ugly countdown clock
- Or you can pay me $50K or so and I’ll tell you lots more about what will work. :>)

This is a social medium. People who read blogs come back regularly for frequently updated content that they relate to and find compelling. Blogs and people who read them like to talk about things that are relevant to them, to their work, their lives, their deams. Your, ahem, (how can I put this without hurting your feelings) plug ugly ad falls into none of those categories.

Please, NBC, make doing a great blog ad campaign for the Olympics one of your New Year’s resolutions. You'll make money, blogs where you advertise will thank you and other companies that want to advertise in social media will learn from you.
Posted by B.L. Ochman