Lately, I’ve been coming across a lot of Display Ads for products that I’m not necessarily interested in. These products seem to be perfectly innocuous if not for the fact that they’re all the kinds of products that you’d give people as presents. Hmm…considering the fact that the holidays are just around the corner, I guess I shouldn’t be all that surprised about Google’s ad targeting tactics in this regard.

However, having said that, I might as well admit that it’s been useful to have these ads show up on my social media feeds every now and again. After all, choosing presents is often an uphill battle and most of us don’t necessarily enjoy it, even if it is a beloved tradition. I guess what I’ve been trying to say here is that I wasn’t altogether displeased when I came across this ad on Instagram the other day:

 

As you can gather at first glance, it’s an ad for a haircare brand that produces shampoos and conditioners (presumably in addition to other such products). As I mentioned earlier, even though I haven’t been looking for such products online of late, I’m not surprised that it showed up. After all, these are products that almost everyone I know would be happy to receive so I might have considered purchasing them, if not for the fact that I’ve never heard of this brand before.

Speaking of this brand, I couldn’t identify the brand name right away. This is never a good thing for a display ad because if I haven’t heard of this brand (and I spend pretty much all of my waking hours on the internet), then chances are, a lot of viewers like me haven’t heard of it either. Now, it’s alright for a brand to not spell out its name clearly on its product packaging or on the face of a display ad if it has a recognizable logo or tagline. However, since this is clearly not the case here, it doesn’t make much sense to use 2 different font styles and sizes to spell out a brand name that’s not very legible.

Also, it doesn’t help that ‘Love, beauty, and planet’ is a rather long and unusual name for a brand. So, perhaps the font size, etc. wouldn’t have mattered all that much if the brand had a more recognizable name. However, this relates to the font that’s featured on the packaging. That font used in the body of the ad seems to be easy enough to read and is eye-catching without being too flashy. For a haircare brand ad, this would appear to be appropriate.

Also, have you noticed how the colors featured in the ad are typically those that are associated with Christmas? I know I did, but this could be because those of us who have been spending long hours online lately have been viewing these ads over and again so this is somewhat drilled into us. Either way, no one’s complaining because the color palette is certainly easy on the eye.

Moreover, I thought it was a good touch to add images of apple slices and a few other ingredients of this shampoo and conditioner set in the ad. This goes to show extra effort on the part of the ad makers since most similar ads that I’ve come across generally only feature the images of the products that they’re meant to advertise. Also, the mix of bright and dark colors here creates a pleasing effect for users, I imagine. Ads that are too bright are often tiring to look at (especially if there are many such ads featured on your feed in a row). On the other hand, those that are too dark can appear boring and lacking in imagination.

Therefore, I thought that this display ad struck the right balance here using only a few colors. Also, I thought it was impressive that the bottles of shampoo and conditioner are clearly outlined here so viewers can easily differentiate these products from each other. More often than not, being able to visualize a product clearly plays a role in determining how effective the ad turns out to be. Lastly, let’s talk about the written content that’s featured in the ad.

Any PPC or marketing expert who’s had adequate experience with display ads is likely to tell you that it’s always best to keep your text simple but appealing. In this regard, this ad seemed to tick all the boxes. The ad clearly indicates that the shampoo and conditioner featured here are enriched with apple cider vinegar. Those who read up on hair care and skincare tips are sure to recognize that this is a great feature of these products because apple cider vinegar (or ACV as it’s commonly called) is a magical ingredient in many ways.

The ad also mentions that the apple cider vinegar contained in these products is organic and that the products are sulfate-free. This is sure to appeal to those viewers that are conscious of the kind of chemicals that they’ve included in their hair care regimen (which, let’s face it, is almost everyone these days). What we’ve been given to understand with the text that’s in this display ad is that the products are on-trend and safe for consumers to use in the long run. For a few seconds’ worth of viewing, this information is quite valuable. Therefore, I’d say in terms of written content, there’s very little that the ad makers could’ve improved upon here.

All in all, both the written content and the graphic design of the ad are quite impressive and eye-catching. In other words, this was a near-perfect display ad – the kind that you don’t come across too often!