It’s noon on Thursday, I’ve got my Ticketmaster presale password and am ready for an old-fashioned online battle. I select “Best Available,” cross my fingers and wait. Then the little CAPTCHA box pops up where I expect to enter the very-hard-to-read print shown to prove I’m not a bot and indeed a real, live person. But wait, this box is different.
Dismayed at first when I see a foreign box pop up, I read it and shake my head. Brilliant, I think to myself. I’m not a marketer by trade or an advertising professional, so maybe I’m easily impressed but this was the most unique and clever way to advertise. I’m not sure whether it can be dubbed “product placement” but whatever category it’s in, I am fascinated by the team that dreamt this up.
Ticketmaster is known for discovering ways to combat ticket scalpers and the sophisticated tools they put to use. In an effort to protect their customers, Ticketmaster has implemented the CAPTCHA format for the past several years which require the customer to type-in the randomly chosen words and/or letters shown within the rectangular box before being allowed to complete the purchase of event tickets.
Solve Media has found an effective way to incorporate online advertising in a way that people will actually read. Take a look. http://vimeo.com/solvemedia/solve-media-capthca-type-ins
We’re all bombarded by online advertising. Whether it’s a simple display ad, text ad, or an annoying pop-up commercial, we’ve grown accustomed to basically ignoring them. I agree with the opinions shared by Solve Media on the video above; readers don’t remember the brand in the way they should, if at all. I think this new idea is fantastic and it’s not surprising that this advertising group has won over many large corporations with their innovative technique.
The “ads” I had in my CAPTCHA screens (I searched for tickets twice) were for DISH® Network and Facebook (see the screenshot below). I have to admit it worked: I had to read the taglines and it fueled an interest in what DISH® has to offer. Is it because it was my first time coming across this type of ad that made it so appealing to me? Maybe. Will I find it just as annoying as pop-ups and sponsorships riddled across my favorite internet pages? Perhaps. What do you think?
Oh, and I got the tickets.
By Nicole Palacios
References
Solve Media. (2013, February 28). Retrieved from http://solvemedia.com/index.html
Ticketmaster (2013, February 27). Retrieved from http://www.ticketmaster.com/
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