(1) Rich media advertisements allow users to interact with ads through animation, video, games and other engaging elements. (2) There are several types of rich media units including in-page ads, expandables, floatings, transitionals and takeovers. (3) The objectives of a rich media campaign, such as awareness, interest, consideration, trial and purchase, advocacy or loyalty, will determine the best ad format and metrics to use. (4) Both branding metrics like ad recall and direct response metrics like click-through rate or actions should be considered when evaluating campaign effectiveness.

1. RICH MEDIA
OVERVIEW

2. Rich Media Definition
Rich media advertisements are defined as those with which
users can interact or engage, as opposed to solely view
animation
Includes such formats as transitionals and various over-the-
page units such as floating ads, page take-overs and tear-
backs

3. Types of Rich Media Units
Type Description
Standard IAB ad unit shapes that may include advanced rich media functionality, such as
In-Page embedded games, animation, video, registration forms or interactive marketing brochures,
and which may allow for larger file sizes
Similar to in-page units, but they expand in size when a user moves his mouse over the ad or
clicks to interact with it. Some publishers are experimenting with ads that automatically
Expanding
expand when the page loads, then retract after a small delay. These ads are sometimes
called “push downs” or “server-initiated expandables”
Ads that appear as a layer on top of the user’s current page; these are typically free-form ads
that can move across the page in a variety of shapes and sizes and which may “resolve” into
Floating
an in-page ad on the same page or a smaller floating “reminder” ad unit which continues to
float above the page
Also known as “between-page ads” or “interstitials,” these ads appears between one page
Transitionals
and another as a user clicks through a site
Takeover ads are ads that replace all or part of a publisher's web page with advertising
Takeover content. They're often designed to look as if they are breaking or otherwise interacting with
editorial content.

4. Formats | In-page(within ad unit)

5. Formats | Expandable and
Floating
Expandable
Floating

6. Formats |Transitionals
Transitionals/Roadblocks/Inter
stitials

7. Format | Take-over
Takeover

8. CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVE

9. Identify Objectives To Align With
Campaign
Increase visibility through break-through-the-clutter branding
(Awareness & Research)
Generate Awareness 
Pre-Shop
Drive Interest
 Provide rich content to inform or educate
Build Consideration
(Purchase Decisions)
Stimulate Trial &  Drive consumer to purchase on or offfline (e.g. direct
Shop
Purchase transaction or coupon)
Loyalty  Enable consumers to actively engage with through social
sharing and opt-in to belong to the brand (e.g. opt-in to email,
share on Facebook, Twitter etc.)
(Share & Converse)
Post-Shop
Advocacy

10. Rich Media Depends
onObjective(s)
DR as single objective
Multiple Objectives
Branding as single objective
 Most rich media campaigns have some aspects of BOTH branding and DR
 Creative should be constructed to prioritize that key performance objectives
 Combining branding and DR components diversifies consumer touch-points

11. Objective: Awareness
Best Practice Advice for Brand Awareness
Keep It Simple
If communicating a key message about the product or the
brand is an important objective of the campaign, then state it
clearly and elegantly and don’t ask too much more from
viewers
Maximize the amount of logo presence
Various research, such as Marketing Evolution’s “The Five
Platinum Rules to Online Advertising Creative,” has shown
brand awareness generally improves when the ads feature
the company’s logo prominently throughout as much of the
ad’s animation as possible

12. Objective: Awareness
 Use eye-catching and clutter-
breaking creative
 Employ page takeovers or
interstitials
 Maximize the logo
 Create a memorable experience for
the consumer

13. Rich Media Are Effective In Driving
Message Association
 Ensure the brand communication
is clear
 If ad includes multiple panels,
feature options within the banner
toput the consumer in control of
what they want to experience
 Keep the call to action
− Specific
− Easy to find/large enough to read
− Uses “rollover” (vs. click to
expand)
 Regardless of banner animation,
the option to rollover to expand
should always be available

14. Objective: Awareness |Nutro
Dog Food Example
 Provides information without
overwhelming
 A simple panel, no other interactive
element incorporated
 Creates an effective message
association “Real Results Are Seen
Not Said”

15. Objective: Interest And
Consideration
Best Practice Advice for Interest and
Consideration
Adding interactive features to rich media ads
(which can range widely, including quizzes, forms,
games, expandability and on and on) can have an
effect on interest and consideration

16. Objective: Interest And
Consideration
 Includemultiple activities (quiz,
poll, messages, videos, etc.) within
the ad
 Allow consumers to interact
andcreate a unique experience for
themselves:
- Interactive game to learn more about
the characters, storyline, etc,
- Ability to view multiple videos unique
to online (in addition to just the TV
promo)
- Personalize the message
- Include a quiz/poll questions with real
time results.

17. Consideration Example Iams Pet
Food
 Interactive elements that educate
consumers on natural ingredients
 All ingredients must be added in the
blender in order for the consumer to
reach the special offer
 Provides brand benefits and a direct
response mechanism through
coupon

18. Consideration
Example Friskies Cat Food
 Promotion integration for the new
iPad App
 A Live Feed of Cat vs. Human
leaderboard
− Leaderboard displays the number
of points earned by cats and
humans while playing the game
− Cats swipe the iPad to get the
Friskies treats, for each successful
catch, cats get points
 Drives consideration by landing
consumers on the website to
deliver deeper engagement and
education

19. Objective: Interest And
Consideration
Videos Enable Engagement In Rich Media Units
Strive for more than just recycled TV spots
Consumers prefer to see the online medium as
something more original, engaging, amusing
The best in-ad video campaigns integrate the
video into the overall creative to
tell a story, demo a product, or otherwise
communicate the brand message

20. Video Best Practices
 For video, include a “loading”
message that appears as the video
streams in
− Users with slower connections will
know the video is coming soon
 Use video player controls – pause,
play, and volume scrubber – for
optimal usability
 Set video to auto play upon user
rollover whenever possible
 Include compelling, relevant call to
action after video completes –
either on the final video frame or
with static “art card”

21. Objective: Interest And
Consideration Example FRESH
STEP
 In banner video drove education
and consideration around Fresh
Step and A&H
 Brand incentivized participation by
featuring pet video in the
commercial
 CTA drove consumers to YouTube
deepening engagement with the
brand

22. Objective: Trial And
Purchase
Best Practice Advice for Purchase and Trial
Employ functionality such as coupons,
sweepstakes and data collection
Consider fewer ad panels with concise content
and clean calls to action
Drive purchase intent by delivering locally
relevant product, pricing and availability

23. Objective: Trial And Purchase
 Include clear call to action for
coupon/sample/sweepstakeswithi
n the ad
 Educateconsumers and
qualifythem quickly for the offer
(e.g. enter email, share with a
friend etc.)
 Rule of thumb –how much
timedoes it take the consumer to
qualify for the coupon/sample?

24. Objective: Trial And Purchase
Example Tidy Cat Litter
 Main objective is trial/purchase
 Clear CTA, single panel
 Quick path to download coupon
 Email opt-in for post-purchase
conversation

25. Objective: Trial And Purchase
Example Fresh And Light
 Brand utilizes dual objectives of
awareness and trial
 Floating ad units are clutter
breaking
 “Save $1 now” provides consumers
tangible benefit in terms of saving
 Such CTAs can drive higher
conversion rates

26. Objective: Trial And Purchase
Spotbot Example
 Main objective is to get consumers
to download coupon
 A simple panel, no other interactive
element incorporated
 Consumers expand by rolling over
the unit and arrive at the coupon

27. Objective: Loyalty
Best Practice Advice for Loyalty
Rich media data collection functionality can also
be used to capture opt-in emails for remarketing
and lead generation
Offer interesting content/information to generate
interest in email opt-in

28. Objective: Loyalty
Example Campbell’s
 Collect data from consumers easily
− Include interesting information
giving consumers a reason to opt-
in for email
− Allow consumers to submit
information in ad-unit without
leaving the page

29. Objective: Advocacy
Best Practice Advice for Advocacy
Exponentially spread the brand message with
social sharing and send to friend
Integrate branded communities within rich media
units, which recruits users to join while mirroring
functionality of a social networking site
Create Widget Ads that enable consumers to their
blog or social network of choice

30. Objective: Advocacy
 Every media impression is a
potential advocate
− Enable sharing within the ad units
− Give consumers the control to
information
− Leverage viral distribution to
increase visibility of brand
message/offer

31. Objective: Advocacy
Example Scoop Away
 Brand created a strong message
association
 Funny video content made the ad
share-worthy
 Enabling sharing in-ad made the
experience frictionless while
making each impression a
potential advocate of the brand

32. Objective: Advocacy
Example Pedigree
• Includes an entertaining interactive
component , which encourages
sharing and delivers virality
− Allows consumers to create a
digital doggy avatar with dentures
− Consumers customize the
voiceover by typing the text
− Consumers can share their
creation on Facebook

33. METRICS

34. The Metrics Trade-off
Focusing on one key objective is more likely to produce a
higher impact for that one objective, but this usually comes
at the cost of the other
There are many uses for rich media and focusing on one
element (ex. coupon) is not always the right path when
trying to diversify consumer touchpoints
Branding Impact DR Impact
Branding Objectives Spectrum Direct Response

35. Metrics
Branding Impact DR Impact
Branding Objectives Spectrum Direct Response
Click-Through Rate Interaction Rate
Definition: Percentage of users who interacted with the ad-unit in some
Definition: Percentage of impressions that resulted in the user clicking
way
through to a landing page
Make it easy and persuasive. “Watch this video/Rollover for recipes”
Give consumers a clear reason to click by focusing on a strong call-to-
action within the banner or panel Give a preview in the banner of what’s to come in the panel
Entice users to click by startingan activity within the ad and finishingitat Keep it simple. Display advertising has a limited amount of time and
the site space to persuade
More intrusive formats such as floating units/page takeovers commonly
result in much higher CTRs
Brand Time Action Rate
Definition: the average amount of time user’s interacted with the ad Definition: Percentage of Interactions that incurred an additional
activity
Provide a tool to sustainuserengagementwithin the ad-unit such as a
product selector or data entry form Interactionis the first step toconversion, Action is the second;
users must have a clear and enticing course of action to say “yes” to
Theright feature presented to the right audience canresultin
Average Brand Timesof over 1 minute! Supply the user with enticing second-steps; such coupon download or
learning more

36. Rich Media and Branding
Effectiveness
In addition to the metrics discussed above for
tracking direct consumer interactions with the ad
units, online marketers often use survey techniques
to measure the brand impact of their ads
Metric Description
Online Ad Also known as “ad recall,” whether consumers remember seeing a company’s advertising campaign
Awareness
Unaided or aided The extent to which consumers think of or recognize a company’s brand, with or without prompting
brand awareness
Brand Favorability The extent to which consumers perceive the brand positively
Message The extent to which consumers attribute characteristics to a company or product that were the subject of
Association the ad campaign
Purchase Intent Likelihood that consumers will buy the advertiser’s product or service any time soon