Challenging the creative community to create and submit “Ads Worth Spreading,” the TED organization hopes to raise the bar for online ads with its first call for entries. Online campaigns created during 2010, specifically January 2010 to January 2011, are eligible, but organizers have asked for never-before-seen work and are looking for video in particular.
Chris Anderson, TED Conferences curator, expressed the mission this way: “We want to encourage development of ads-with-a-difference. Ads that engage our audience authentically, intelligently, delightfully. Ads that people will want to share because, like the rest of TED, they encapsulate ideas worth spreading.”
TED, an annual four-day conference in Long Beach, CA, originally focused on technology, entertainment and design. Since 1984, the event has evolved into a global initiative with speakers and exhibits playing to exclusive attendee rosters, smaller salon-style video playback and discussion sessions, and a treasure trove of online content that is available for consumption at any time. Now a resource for innovative thinking in all fields, the organization has set its sights on changing the way we think about and create online messages.
“We’re not advertising experts but we know that the relationship between the consumer and online advertising needs to change,” says Ronda Carnegie, TED Global Partnership Director. “Because Ted is so open we think we can put this challenge out there and not have it be about our own self promotion.” She also states that this challenge was created as “a celebration of great creative,” adding that the venture is “not another awards opportunity.”
Like most awards shows and competitions, this one has rules and judging criteria. But unlike most, the TED group is clear on those points and details them quite explicitly:
• Tells a captivating story
• Offers an idea that makes the world a better place
• Humanizes the company/creator
• Uses technology in ways we’ve never seen
• Engages the audience in solving a problem or answering a question
• Hilariously funny, ingeniously clever, highly engaging
• Delights the audience with visual wonder
• Amplifies passion rather than ambushes it
• Speaks authentically
• Elevates the craft to improve online advertising
• Features a moving call to action
• Deserves the passionate attention of the world’s online community
• Serves a fundamental purpose of promoting a company, cause or idea
What I found striking is the implied relationship between engagement and results. True to their online content strategy, TED is encouraging contestants to submit 30-second to 5-minute videos. It’s no surprise that these facilitators see the future of online engagement in compelling and animated storytelling. And while they do require a “moving” call to action, it appears that entertainment will trump enterprise.
Perhaps what I find most striking is the complete lack of connection to measurable results. Time and again we have seen the most engaging (and shared) online campaigns do little or nothing at all to effect the bottom line. 2010’s most viral campaign—a series of video ads for Old Spice—has made no measurable uptick on the accounting ledger, according to those managing the brand.
So, could this competition change the way we think about creating online ads and engaging online consumers? Could we see a paradigm shift in what plays out on our screens, large and small? Or will this call for entries encourage us to examine the user experience in total and sharpen our focus on the measurement as well as the making?
Ad campaigns are not content creation, but could we see the blurring of that line in the winning submissions for TED’s first online ad competition? This could be one very interesting contest. Stay tuned.