Why are Ad Agencies Obsessed With Flash?
If advertising involves making the right information as accessible as possible, why do so many ad agencies insist on using Flash to sell themselves online? The popular platform has its uses—YouTube won’t work without it—but it shouldn’t be the be all and end all of most online experiences.
Flash is eye candy that makes many designers and web developers forget the basics. Why bother structuring your website to provide much-needed information about your brand or business right away, when you can “wow” potential customers with animations and hard-to-navigate menus that take minutes to load? I guess relying mostly on pictures and text isn’t that sexy, even when “conventional” web design can lead to pretty awesome results.
The problems caused by Flash-driven websites are made worse by the Philippines’ sucky internet connectivity. Only large companies and the very wealthy can afford to pay for supposedly fast internet plans that are barely more reliable than residential counterparts. On a slightly unrelated note, even Rolex.com, a site that allows visitors to disable Flash for a faster browsing experience, still forces them to sit through a business-killing loading period.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzz....
The point is that—except in special cases—Flash should complement your site’s online experience, not drive it. I suspect ad agencies like using Flash for their own websites because again, it’s all about the eye candy. Whether they’re trying to outdo each other or make a flashy (hehe) first impression however, they end up with confusing websites that aren’t helpful to visitors.
Here’s a little experiment: pretend you know nothing about an ad agency and visit their site. Would you be able to quickly find out what the agency is about, what they do, and what they’ve done? Would you know right away how to contact them if you’re interested in their services? I rest my case.
(Cat-tastic image by kennymatic on Flickr)
7 comments follow (add one)
marocharim November 15, 2010 @ 10:57 pm
I shall now ditch the common theme we’re testing and I’m gonna create a Flash-only blog.
I don’t think Flash is all that bad; it can showcase the capabilities of an agency; it’s a great platform for creativity and other visual executions (in the absence of videos or belaboring over CSS and perhaps even optical illusions or heck, HTML 5). It becomes, in some ways, *the* portfolio for the agency.
That said, I do agree: the execution can be taken out of context (slow connectivity, people who don’t like Flash, people who can’t use Flash), Flash should complement a site, instead of drive it. Other than that, I think – on a personal level – that people can make cool sites and professional-looking portfolios without even having to use Flash.
Rico November 16, 2010 @ 12:21 am
Yes! I mean, what’s wrong with using Flash “just” as a player to showcase video ads?
marocharim November 16, 2010 @ 12:38 am
Well, like I said, it’s very probably a showcase. I mean, it’s hard to showcase the full brunt of a team’s talent if you use something as barebones as HTML (although you never know). Doing that for the entirety of the site? I’m not sold, but that’s just me.
Rico November 16, 2010 @ 12:46 am
I used to intern at one the agencies I linked to (eeeek!). One thing I learned from advertising work is that limitations actually help you become more creative, because you have to find a way to achieve the objectives within certain parameters.
So I know an agency can showcase talent even with a barebones HTML site. It’s just a matter of imposing your own objectives and finding ways to achieve them in the “right” creative way.
Hannah November 15, 2010 @ 11:05 pm
dude, we should have you on our show
Rico November 16, 2010 @ 12:22 am
No problemo, just make sure to get me for a topic that I know. Haha!
Mae May 31, 2011 @ 11:46 am
Ad agencies are all for interactivity, we talked to Japanese ad agency before and they showed us some of their work. They’re made in flash, it’s very cute and interactive, in a way it makes sense because if you do that in HTML, the experience won’t be that er fun, I think.
We also have to remember that the net, for some if not most, are still something new to them. They’re used in mediums where the user’s expected to just sit back and watch whatever it is that they want to present.