▶CCT+356+Online+Ad+Critique


 * Online Ad Critique**
 * Feb 07, 2012**


 * 1. Megabus**



Megabus is an intercity bus service of Coach USA/Coach Canada and DATTCO. They provide discount travel services since 2006, operating throughout the Northeast, parts of the Southeast, and Midwestern United States and in southern Canada. Megabus operates as a network of routes, with connections in each hub city to another hub or a route operating to another hub. They introduced services from a hub in New York City, with service to Boston, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Toronto and Washington, D.C. Further expansions included service to Rochester, Hartford, Niagara Falls, Montreal, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and San Diego. (Wikipedia) Megabus has not only appeared on the street in north America but also frequently on the website as well.

I first saw the actual Megabus at Yonge and Dundas in Toronto. And when I tried to find out how to get to New York City from Toronto by bus for my winter vacation, I have encountered Megabus online advertisement right away when I searched it from online.[Figure.1] Basically, I found this advertisement through contextual-data based on research. Type of display advertisement was the banner and it was located in the middle of Coach Canada website.

[Figure.1]

The techniques that Megabus used for their online advertisement extremely focused on the starting fares. Megabus emphasizes $1 for their main logo evidently so that they can get attention from the customer easily. And Megabus indirectly forces and attracts the customers to plan or make decision on their trip quickly. It is because Megabus fares start at $1 and prices increase as the travel date gets closer. Then, many customers would definitely book the tickets in advance and experience their services.

They used pointy yellow and dark blue colors which create harmony in banner design. Megabus selected right colors because these two colors appear to be stronger by contrast. Also, the suitable size of the banner and the short description of the services generate good impression. Customers do not usually like when the advertisement is too big or contains too much details. Megabus have used a simple design strategy to attract their target audience.

The target audience is people who would like to travel with low budget. And since the tickets are only available from online, the target audiences are limited at certain point. Also, Megabus requires only Visa or credit card when people book the ticket. Therefore, it weeds out some customers as well. However, I have tried to get into the Megabus website by using the mobile phone and they provide mobile version of viewing and searching tool for the bus schedule. Mobile-friendly service, thus, possibly gather more customers in this case.

[Figure.2]

I think their approach is effective at some point but there is a problem from their website. I got lost in Megabus website when I selected Canadian flag. [Figure.2] I could not find a way to get the New York City bus ticket that leaves from Toronto. [Figure.3] As a customer, I did not know whether Megabus has stopped operating the service to New York City or because the tickets are fully booked. I had been refreshing the Internet browser for a few days to see if the list of destinations change. But I got tired of looking for the bus ticket in the end.

[Figure.3]

Later, I found out that I was supposed to select America as a country in the website in order to purchase the New York City bus ticket that leaves from Toronto. As a result, some customers like me could possibly get lost in the website and don't know how to figure out the way to purchase the New York City bus ticket. Their first impression was almost perfect but the difficulties that i had experienced with their website would eventually decrease the number of their customers. Therefore, Megabus website must include the New York City in the destination list on Canadian page or they should redirect the customers to find it. Otherwise, the online commercial would not be effective as much as it seems to be.

(Words: 650)


 * Sources:**

Coach Canada. Coach Canada.com HOME. Web. Feb 02, 2012 <@http://www.coachcanada.com/coachcanada/index.asp?_lp.lang=en>

Megabus. //Megabus.com HOME. 2010//. Web. Feb 03, 2012 

Wikipedia. //Megabus (North America) 2012//. Web. Feb 02. 2012 


 * 2. Nextag**



Nextag is a price comparison services website. It started as a website where buyers and sellers negotiate prices for electronics products originally. The current business model with a focus on comparison shopping has existed since 2000. It was ranked by Time magazine as one of the fifty best websites of 2008. Nextag acquired a real-time social shopping platform that tracks the conversation about products in the social media sphere, in a bid to socialize the online shipping experience for its users. (Wikipedia, 2011)

I have always encountered Nextag's online advertisement whenever I watch Korean dramas from online or while I look at the picture of how people dress up in different cultures on the other websites. Especially, I like watching dramas from @www.womenkr.net and the Nextag's banner catches my eyes all the time because it is located on the left side bar menu.[Figure.1] The banner displays the image of Prada handbags, it's specific product names, and the discounted prices underneath the bags. Usually, they emphasize the price with the pointy red color so that people can not miss their good deals. Honestly, I believe that people will click the banner one day if they are interested in fashion brands.

Also, I like to visit website called LOOKBOOK (www.Lookbook.nu) and i found Nextag's online advertisement again. It was located on the top of main homepage so that every single person can see it. [Figure.2] Since the LOOKBOOK website specializes the fashion trend information, most of the visitors would be interested in clicking Nextag's banner as well. And the banner made me want to find out what Nextag sells and the price range for their products.

[Figure.1]

[Figure.2]

The techniques that Nextag used for their online advertisement is taking advantage of the popular websites or popular social media. Nextag's online commercial can be found in personal blog, facebook, and other social network websites. Thus, they attract more and more customers and let their customers to be aware of their business. Other technique that Nextag used for their online commercial is appealing their business products as a high quality. They often display many different kinds of Prada handbags on the banner in order to get attention from the customers. The viewers may think that the website serves good deals and they are triable. Also, the commercial also gives customers expectation that they will find what they want.

The banner and the logo design are reasonable in sizes and colors. Nextag tend to show three different products on the banner and provides brief description of them. And they are consistant every time when the customers encounter their commercials from online.

The target audience for Nextag is female and the ages between 20 to 45 when I only look at the online advertisement banners. They tend to display certain products that are seem to be popular among women. For instance, I've seen many images of dresses, furntures, perfumes and handbags for their online advertisement. Especially, Nextag emphasizes the images of Prada hand bag very often. Since, the products are discounted, the target customers would be general female who wants a good designer's handbag but cannot afford to purchase them by paying original price.

Nextag's online advertisement strategy is effective in terms of attracting female customers. However, they don't focus on the broad demographics. Nextag is a price comparison service website which deals with many different products such as jewelry, clothing, handbags, electronics, video games, sports product and gardening products.[Figure.3] They need to focus on other possible target customers for their online commercial. In other words, Nextag should change their online adversing strategy in a specific way in order to attract more customers for their business.



[Figure.3]

(Words: 530)

__**Source:**__

Nextag. HOME. 1999-2012. Web. Feb 04. 2012 

Wikipedia. Nextag. 2011. Web. Feb 04, 2012 <@http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NexTag>