>Hey Bill, I wonder just how many bicycle shops shown in the "one degree of seperation" ads are actually buying into .NET. My guess would be very few,
>what do you think?

That would be hard to gauge, as it's not designed for "direct buys". Those ads are trying to convey a message to certain targeted groups.

It's pretty fun to study advertisements. The questions to ask yourself is "What story is this ad trying to tell?" Don't look to hard at the text, just look at the photos. For an ad campaign this big, there's usually some sort of subliminal message being told.

There's a big story to tell in this ad. It's pretty effective. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to detail all that's going on here.

My latest copy of Wired magazine (Sept 2002) has this two page ad. In ads, the focus for the reader is normally on the left hand side of the page (I think ad rates are frequently split whether the ad is on the left or right hand side). The guy on the left is wearing a bright red shirt. So the natural tendency is to look to the left and the shirt "locks" you in to the left hand side of the page.

That person is intently studing the bicycle frame, holding the frame with the left hand and touching it with the right. The guy on the right is holding the bicycle gears with this right hand and touching it with the left. That's subliminal right there -- putting them together would make them "whole".

Especially with the guy on the left (the guy we naturally focus on), he is clearly intent on what he is touching. Notice that he is touching it with his fingertip!!

Remember Bill Gates and others pounding "Information at your fingertips"? Subliminal stuff...

There's plenty more going on here just in this ad but I gotta stop somewhere...

Bill Anderson