Carl Setzer

As I've focused the past few years on marketing, I have no issue with web ads. Currently, they're the way many web personalities and other sites pay their bills. Family feeding is a fun, fantastic feeling. However, web designers need to build advertising around mobile. Too often advertising either destroys the user experience, or critically hampers it. Pop ups that can't be cleared are big issues. Several times this week I've struggled with sites where the "close" button was off the screen, AND clicking on the ad took you to a new website. (Sidenote: web devs and designers, use the target attribute on anchor tags. Don't build ads that push your readers away from your site!) These things make your site unusable on mobile. And, let me reiterate what's been stated myriad times: the web's future is mobile. If your mobile experience sucks, you're are already behind. Perhaps you're ahead of the curve on being an anachronism. It's hardly ide...

Reading this piece about John Legere and T-Mobile's marketing drove home several thoughts that have been lurking in my mind. First, creating a unique brand presence in a saturated/commodified market is very, very hard. How do we make these boring items sexy? Working in real estate, I've been struggling with that for some time. Having a flamboyant leader, one who doesn't shrink from the limelight nor controversy is critical. How does one rise to front of mind in today's media landscape? Uniqueness is key. A certain eccentricity, and self-love of that, really helps. It also helps having gobs of cash to spend. I think the next wireless sector winner will be a fierce competitor. T-Mobile matches that.

The first thing I do when one of those obnoxious, over-loud video ads launches on a website I just opened starts playing is to close the whole page. I have to be pretty committed to reading the article for me to stick around through that, or to try and locate the "off" or "mute" button for the bloody thing.  So, for those of you promoting advertising on your website, you now have something to consider. Of course, I should look at running Ad-Blocker or something like that and move this nuisance into historical reference.