Forward-Thinking Ads
via Website Magazine's 'Net Advertising Channel
Take a moment to wrap your head around the number
20.1 billion, because it represents the amount of revenue
Internet advertising reached in just the first half of 2013.
According to the Internet Advertising Bureau
(IAB), $20.1 billion demolishes last year’s first-half
ad revenue totals by 18 percent, proving that digital
ads are not only becoming more effective but
that the industry has room to grow. New and interactive
formats and emerging channels are just
two of the reasons the acquisition and awareness
tactic of advertising has seen such an enormous
surge in revenue, and despite its complexity, the
future of digital ads looks brighter than ever.
New and Innovative Formats
The first-ever banner ad (see Image A) was launched in 1994 by AT&T and received a massive click-through rate of 44 percent. Unfortunately, banner ads have become quite forgettable since the 90s. In fact, Solve Media reveals that you are now more likely to survive a plane crash than intentionally click on a display-advertising banner. Thankfully, the digital ad landscape has evolved right alongside the Web, and brands now have a plethora of innovative formats to choose from.
Bing, for example, recently started testing a
display-style ad unit in the search engine result
pages (SERPs), dubbed Hero Ads (see image B).
These ads currently only appear to consumers
on Windows 8.1 who are using Bing Smart
Search for certain brand-specific queries. The
unit itself displays calls-to-action for targeted,
popular search terms, helping move consumers
through the sales cycle. For instance, in the
Land Rover example, searchers are encouraged
to either request a quote, schedule a test drive,
locate a retailer or build and price a vehicle. The
goal of the format, according to Bing, is to help
consumers quickly find the most relevant information and complete the most common tasks
for the brand they are searching for, while providing
both a visual and interactive experience.
Aside from Bing’s new ad format, the IAB is
testing five new rather progressive units as part
of its Rising Stars initiative. The new ads are
video-centric, and therefore likely to drive deeper
engagement than their static or animated predecessors.
Wherever greater interaction can be obtained,
advertisers will follow — and they already
have. In fact, video display ads reached $1.3 billion
in revenue during the first half of 2013.
SUBSCRIBE FREE to Website Magazine - 12 Issues
The Rising Star “Full Screen” video unit, for instance, invites viewers to engage and then presents a canvas full of interaction possibilities. In Cadillac’s ad that leverages this format (see Image C), the luxury car company prompts viewers to click a call-to-action to customize the color of the vehicle from its video. The video makes the ad interactive, while the added content also brings a strong personalization element to the campaign.
The Digital Video Rising Star concepts were
released in February, and since then, have been
leveraged by 21 of the top 25 brand advertisers in
the U.S., including AT&T, McDonald’s and Target.
“The Digital Video Rising Stars deliver the
holy grail of sight, sound and motion within interactivity,”
said Randall Rothenberg, president
and CEO, IAB. “The fact that major brand advertisers
are already on board speaks volumes about the potential of these ad formats to thrust
digital video forward.”
Emerging Channels
Shaking up the advertising industry over the last
few years is the emerging channel of mobile,
which has brought new opportunities for brands
to reach their desired audience. In fact, the IAB reports
mobile ad revenues hit $3 billion in the first
half of 2013. The companies that intertwine this
rapidly growing channel into their advertising
campaigns are the ones that are sure to outshine
(and outperform) the competition.
That said, launching an engaging ad on mobile
takes a lot of work, as “banner blindness” is
even more prevalent when it comes to mobile.
Luckily, innovative companies like Zumobi are
leading the way when it comes to mobile advertising,
successfully launching interactive ad campaigns
that turn up exceptional results.
“It’s a real time of renaissance I think for mobile
advertising because of banner fatigue and also
because brands are really prioritizing the mobile
audience because they recognize that it’s a really
great engagement channel,” said John SanGiovanni,
cofounder and VP of product design at Zumobi.
“So from our perspective it has been an
incredibly exciting year in mobile.”
Among the top performing mobile ad formats is
Zumobi’s Paso Doble unit (wsm.co/pasodoblemobile).
The company says the format is an alternative
to pre-roll and believes that it will enable
publishers to integrate video ads like movie clips
and commercials into their mobile applications.
The unit presents an auto-expandable 320x180
ad that automatically plays to consumers visiting
apps on their smartphones. Once expanded, consumers
can tap on the video to activate a full
screen video and audio experience, or be directed
to an external destination. If not clicked on, the
ad collapses to a default 320x50 banner state. In
September, Zumobi was recognized as a Gold
winner of the IAB’s 9th Annual MIXX Awards for its part in powering the Chevrolet Technology
Series campaign, which leveraged the Paso Doble
unit (see Image D). The campaign yielded a 37
percent engagement rate as well as a clickthrough
rate of 11.2 percent.
Mobile, however, isn’t the only emerging channel
making a splash in the advertising industry, as
a report from BIA/Kelsey forecasts social media advertising
will reach $11 billion in the United States
by 2017. Most brands are aware of the large audience
and targeting tools that social networks offer,
but many have been hesitant to experiment with
social ads outside of Facebook. Though that is
sure to change as new advertising opportunities
arrive on networks like Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram
Learn more about the current state of social
ads at wsm.co/socialads2013.
The Future Looks Engaging
The Web is intertwined with the physical world more than ever, which puts digital advertising in a favorable position as an optimal way to target audiences and nurture prospects through the purchase cycle. To be successful, however, brands need to move past tradition, and opt for engaging and interactive campaigns.


Leave Your Comment
Login to CommentBecome a Member
Not already a part of our community?
Sign UpSign up to participate in the discussion. It's free and quick.