http://www.influxinsights.com/blog/ 2008-11-20T11:02:29Z http://www.influxinsights.com/blog/article/1744/broad-utility-in-a-banner.html <a target="_blank" href="http://www.federatedmedia.net/">Federated Media </a>has spent some time educating the ad industry on the power and potential of blogs and their authors. <br><br>Recently, they've been developing content that goes beyond the banner and utilizes their blog network. An interesting example of this is a recent campaign for Toshiba laptops that's been running on the FM Network, sites like Boing Boing. <br><br>It's a simple banner that allows you to ask a laptop question and get a reponse from experts or the community in general. The linkage to the brand's positioning is through the notion of "experts", Toshiba being the laptop experts.<br><br><a target="_blank" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/edcotton/2185585918/" title="Toshiba Banner by ed100, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2295/2185585918_98da5fa78d.jpg" alt="Toshiba Banner" height="82" width="500"></a><br><br>Browse around the<a target="_blank" href="http://notebookexperts.federatedmedia.net/"> site</a> and you will find answers to all kinds of laptop questions and importantly, they don't all "plug" Toshiba laptops. <br><br>It's an interesting idea and a good example of going beyond the banner to create a branded utility. <br><br>My only criticism of the idea is about its uniqueness. The problem for Toshiba is the web is awash with tips and advice for laptop owners or prospects, it's a hard area to "own". <br><br>However, the idea of link ad content to expert content is a really smart one and it's just a matter of time before someone does something amazingly creative and useful by linking the two together. <br><br><br>Posted by Ed Cotton Influx Insights 2008-01-11T10:59:25Z