What’s Old is New – Part 2

The nostalgic in us couldn’t help but smile when we found not just an ad for an incentive promotion (ok, Free iPod) offer but the type of ad. The simple banner read, “You Have (1) New Message.” It’s ad text that has literally been around for decade since the very first email submits – so old in fact that when it was used for the first email submits, not only were there no iPods, there was not concept of connecting it to incentivized advertising. That an email submit offer could still be running a decade later where by the user flow still goes to co-reg and dynamic co-reg is amazing. It’s hard to think of any other offer type with such staying power and where the flow has remained so constant.

As we pointed out in the first part of this piece, Free iPod ads play a special role in the advertising landscape. They have found themselves leveraging other people’s brands, e.g., Apple’s, to create the high perceived value of the prize, but they work because they don’t have any other real brand connection. Not only are they safe to run in that respect, but they are the infomercial ad of the internet. They appeal to such a large number of people, that even if they think they would never click or start going down the process, they do. Combine a lack of other ads running with an ad that lures a large number of people, and you get something that may not make a lot of money but it makes enough money to keep running. In addition, the Free iPod ads are modular. They don’t rely on any one offer on the backend, so they become an effective funnel for a large number.

In Part 1, we went through the flow of a Free iPod offer running on a legitimate mobile site. The ad turned out to be less Free iPad and more a disguised mobile subscription. You might think that such an offer shouldn’t work, and perhaps it only does because of the mobile bait and switch. You might also think that no real thought goes into it, but when looking at the landing page variables, we see a decent amount of intelligence and either targeting or variable insertion (the carrier and phone type).

sub4=movies%20tv%20music&sub5=iPhone&sub6=bannerstar&sub7=Entertainment%20News%20and%20Gossip&sub8=Verizon&sub9=apple_iphone&sub10=5896050442000867259

The string above shows just how targeted mobile campaigns can be, adding many new dimensions to the process.

Another Free iPod style ad caught our eye. This one a true variant not a bait and switch to mobile subscription. It was a mobile ad, but it falls under the category of truly crap traffic – sms spam.

Clicking on the link takes you here:

After a few other “get involved” questions, e.g.,

You get to the traditional email submit.

Which, then takes you to the traditional next page.

This one was interesting to us for a few reasons. It was bold and ballsy. It talks about a product that isn’t out. Then again, it comes from traffic that is less than reputable, so it is not a surprise to see the offer be among the more aggressive. Unlike our bait and switch offer, this one is not mobile optimized. It is a very cumbersome process. The publisher will get decent conversions, but they will not back out because by the time you get to the postal page, the user will just want to give up.

Equally interesting is what happens if you try to go to the URL of the offer not on a mobile device. Instead of a landing page, you get this.

Say one thing for those in the free iPod space. There is no shortage of ingenuity. Just take a look at what happens when you do a search for iPad 3.

We just know there are landing pages sitting ready for iPad4, 5, etc. and iPhone 5, 6, etc.