Brittany Spicer
Design is everywhere in our lives, both as something seen and something experienced. The seeing is easy—the clothing you wear, the art on your walls, the furniture in your WFH office. The experiential is less visible and has more to do with how you move from one part of an event, game, city block and online interaction to another.
Design as a marketing tool has deep roots. As early as 2500 BCE, artisans in the Indus River Valley stamped designs onto their goods to establish their brands. Fast forward to 1835 and the first circus ad posters were plastered across New York City walls. As media evolved in the 20th century—glossy magazines, billboards, TV screens—design has plenty of room to play. Then came mobile.
Today, the small screen is a big tool for brands looking to make an impact. And this smaller size isn’t the only challenge for attracting attention; it only takes a tap or a scroll for a user to skip a video ad or leave a page mid-banner animation. Mobile ad design and experience has to work much harder to grab eyes, stop thumbs and win attention. And as we all have seen, a lot of mobile ads aren’t taking design seriously.
From our earliest days, Kargo has led with design. Don’t get us wrong, we love our data, but in the end it’s design that makes the deep connection between clients and consumers. We believe big, bold, eye-catching creative makes even the fastest scrollers stop, lean in and engage with an ad. To that end, we’ve arrived at a reliable set of tried and true best design practices to keep in mind as you prep your next campaign:
Non-Intrusive Formats- Ads that captivate the consumer without taking them away from their content experience.- Succinct Messaging - A great image is worth 1,000 words. Keep copy short and sweet.
- Reduce Clutter - Less is more, white space can guide the eye better than a crowded backdrop.
- “Snackable” Animations & Video -The average attention span is 6 seconds or less. Make every one of those seconds count with clear messaging and strong design.
- Prominent & Memorable Branding - Keep logo, brand colors, and identifiable imagery upfront and center.
While our industry often obsesses over data as the key to getting messages to land, it’s design that nails that landing. Reaching the right person at the right time with a poorly designed ad doesn’t add up to the right results. A well designed ad is what catches an eye, sparks an emotion and makes a connection that raises awareness or closes a sale.
