We decided to create a short quiz to see if anyone could actually tell if ads were built using a template or were bespoke creations.
The answer is no.
Simply put, nobody got 100% of the questions correct and there was no single question where everyone got it right. We’ve had respondents from Quantcast, Trinity Mirror, Starcom, MediaCom and many other industry leading companies and we can confidently say that all their answers were different, showing that people don’t know if the ad was made with a template.
We’ve been doing this for years and people have always asked us if it’s obvious that an ad has been made using an ad template, does it look like it’s lower quality, will it represent the brand well. They worry that they can’t be creative or that all the ads will look the same. Well, if you want 100% control then you would never use a platform and your team of designers would painstakingly create each individual ad, in every shape and in every language.
An ad platform is for people who don’t want to spend the time or resources to do this and want to optimise the creation process so that they can create cross-device, multi-format ads in minutes and focus their investments on other things such as media purchase. We’re not reducing quality, we are simply increasing efficiency.
Ad platforms are not limiting as a good service provider will have a stunning library of styles to choose from and the ability to create specific templates to suit a brand’s wishes. The ads will be as good as your assets, so if you have beautiful pictures and clever messaging, then that’s what the results will be. Take a look at some of our other posts showing the variety of ways you can customise an ad to suit your industry.
If you want to find out more about our survey, ad platform or how you can optimise your ad creation, talk to our team