The push-pull dynamic
Since online habits have changed, online advertising must change as well. Despite wide broadband acceptance, traditional 30k banners are still the limit for most publishers, making it very difficult to push the envelope. And although marketers should never be interactive simply for the sake of being interactive, it's when creative execs get to play in rich media -- incorporating a variety of tricks, Flash animation, streaming video, etc. -- that things get interesting. But to create effective rich media, it's crucial to understand the relationship between the banner and the user.

"I feel like Punch the Monkey was kind of the beginning of where we're at today as far as being able to use [a banner] as a two-way avenue," says Ken Martin, CCO of BLITZ. "When you look at the process one would go through to create this, I mean, really it's a permission-based approach versus a distraction approach. The distraction element is there to some degree, but you need to stand out some way."

The push-pull dynamic trusts users to click on the banner with the promise of a challenge or a reveal of information. "You're trying to pull them into a gaming-like activity that feels that they can engage with the brand without having to commit to go somewhere. It's that meeting point," Martin says.

"With an interactive banner, you have a tremendous opportunity to have that 'a-ha' moment, to give that control to the user and let them discover that 'a-ha' moment," Samari says.

The "a-ha" moment feeds consumers' sense of discovery, pulling them into an interaction with the banner and thus starting the conversation. "It's all about giving that control to the user and trusting the element of discovery is going to be much more powerful and lasting than if we were just to blast our message down their throat," Samari adds.

Postmodern advertising
Like today's 30-second TV spots, banner ads have to go beyond simply shilling for a product. "Try to come up with a textual narrative that kind of asks a question. It needs to be very brief, provocative," says Young, who believes the rich media of today is analogous to the point at which TV commercials started to get irreverent. As he puts it, "The way that you're saying something is as important as what you're saying."

Instead, he advocates something akin to postmodern advertising: self-referential and story-based. Because consumers are accustomed to seeing many banners on a page, only the ads that really play with their expectations and surprise them are going to get their attention. For example, Young recalls one of Apple's Mac-PC banners that ran along the side of The New York Times website, in which the Mac and PC characters responded to bad Vista reviews printed on the top 728x90 banner. "There's a story going on within it, but the fact that they're breaking it over these two banners is playing with the actual medium itself. It's a commentary on the medium itself, which is kind of breaking that fourth wall," he says.

Young says such ads serve a double purpose: "You get people's attention, but also, the message underneath is that this product is innovative or original or so savvy that it understands how done you are with regular banner ads."

But he offers a few words of caution: The most innovative ad units can also be the most annoying. BLITZ's Martin agrees, saying, "There's always this urge to do something a little bit more intense, a little more aggressive online." But you have to find a sweet spot, he adds. Be too jarring, and the user will suddenly find a very good reason to close Firefox.