Company: Avaya, Basking Ridge, N.J.

Agency: R/GA, New York

Market: Telecommunications management

Quick chase: Faces always draw a crowd, which is why this banner ad for telecommunications concern Avaya featuring two salespeople is so inviting. It asks readers to guess which one gets the job done. The female sales rep is known as the maestro who, using an Avaya product, always manages to make contact with her clients. The male sales rep, known as the racer, hasn't been so fortunate. The banner is engaging enough to induce people to click on to the landing page, where they're greeted with a series of case histories. As a rule, case histories are effective because they make the promise of a reward more attainable.

Clue: But you can sometimes have too much of a good thing. Four-page case histories will exhaust readers' curiosity.

Company: Simonton Windows, Parkersburg, W. Va.

Agency: Point to Points Communications, Cleveland

Market: Home builders

Quick chase: The surest way to win the hearts of customers is to demonstrate that you feel their pain. Simonton Windows, which makes hurricane-resistant windows, uses a suffering point in this smartly conceived ad targeting home builders. The ad features a high-maintenance customer named Alexis Stanforth, described in the text as "homeowner, perfectionist, a woman intent on driving you insane. It seems Alexis has a few things to discuss with you. A few things that, in her words, `aren't quite right.' " But homebuilders who use Simonton products can rest assured that the windows probably won't be on her list. The conversational-sounding copy also addresses other homebuilder concerns about late-arriving shipments and last-minute design changes.

Clue: Hell hath no fury like a customer scorned.