Ads: Jiji.ng & Others

With the advent of the internet, advertising has become more direct. Ads can be tailored to an internet user based on past online behavior. Many companies like Jiji.ng, Konga, Jumia,MTN… have taken advantage of this avenue to become pests, Yeah, I get, they’re trying to sell, the end product is that people see the ads which lead to immediate or deferred conversion. Of what use is the ad when the intended targets are getting pissed by those ads & it makes them despise the brand? As Bernadette Jiwa said in her book titled Meaningful,  “Clearly, watching what people do is not the same as paying attention to how they feel.”

A good example, Jiji.ng, if you’re a frequent user of YouTube you can testify that you get so many ads from Jiji.ng, in some cases the ads are tailored to fit the 4 secs compulsory ad intro before you can skip and then you have no option than to watch the ads. Why do I need to see your ad 10 times a day? I don’t have memory loss. With the feedback from internet users such as constantly skipping the ad after the compulsory 4 sec intro, shouldn’t that tell you that we don’t want to watch this again for now? I believe the mentality that until you push a product in front of a user many times you haven’t done effective advertising is wrong. In talking to a friend he suggested why not tell us sometimes maybe how to spot a fake a product or provide some truly helpful information (not about your products/services) that makes us believe you care about us.

The most effective type of advertising is the type where the audience don’t even realize they are being advertised to.

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Another example, March, 2017 I signed up to learn French & German on Duolingo ( Great platform but bad idea, it was as if my brain was drawn in opposite directions, I had mistakenly selected both of them & felt because I couldn’t cancel one I should try both), I was diligent for about a month then I stopped, I stopped because I realized that it wasn’t a convenient time, I had other things I was learning and agreed that I’d resume at the beginning of 2018 ( I’d start with one language, preferably German. I’m looking for a learning or accountability partner btw). I usually got daily reminders from Duolingo to take my tuition and I kept them getting even after I had stopped. I already predicted I’d just be frustrated by the constant daily emails from them till January 2018, but then I realized the pace of the reminders began to dwindle, from daily reminders to weekly reminders, then finally I got a mail stating that they’ve noticed I haven’t been using the platform that I won’t receive frequent reminders again. I was impressed because they used the information at hand, had empathy for the user and trusted my judgment. Now that’s the kind of advert/marketing I’m asking for! The internet is way too advanced to not make good use of the data you’re getting.

I know humans are complex beings & what works for one person might not work for another, I know you might also say, why don’t you just block all ads? I don’t want to, I’m not against ads, I just believe Advertising can be done better.

You make us look at you but can you see us?

It’s time to stop saying Look at me & start telling us I see You.

 

 

 

Thanks to Emmanuel Osho for reading a draft of this and making his contribution.