What are the ad’s strengths?

The image used is very simple and grabs your attention. One reason it is able to grab your attention is that it uses a background that is natural for the eye to see. The text and foreground image are very contrasted in color. For an IT ad, it grabs your attention with the words it uses on the image. Everyone in IT likes to read about what CIO (Chief Information Officers) need to do and be ready to help implement the changes. A lot of time the regular IT worker can suggest something to them that makes a big difference.

What are the ad’s weaknesses?

When you click on the ad, the web landing page is harder to read. There is a lot more text and it is small. Trying to put too much info on the landing page that is hard to read. The text is on the right side of the screen which is not where is normally should be so it throws the reader off a little and has to refocus to get to what the perceived information location should be.

What is the ad trying to accomplish with its design?

It is hard to tell exactly what the design is trying to accomplish. One thing I thought of is that the design was trying to convey something simple for you to follow. The landing page on the other hand conveys a completely different message. These two together do not convey a cohesive message.

How has the design used:

This ad does break the quite a few of the rules of good design. It kind of works but it is not a strong statement. Composition is good with the contrasting colors and text. The layout is very simplistic and not a strong statement for the brand. The type of grid is almost everything in this ad is centered in the image.

What metrics will be used to determine if the ad is successful?

The metrics for this ad , I would guess, would be the number of people that filled out the form and downloaded the e-Book. I am not sure how many people will read this e-Book because it is 211 pages long. Yes I did download it. I doubt I will read more than about 30 pages of it. This company is a very complicated one after looking at it in more detail and what they determine to be successful is a very good question.