Ad-wise, more proof that bigger's better

Ad-wise, more proof
that bigger's better

ABC.com finds major boost in brand awareness

By Marty Beard

    There is indeed a sure formula for getting people to notice your online ads: Fill them up with rich media and make them so big and intrusive that people can't ignore them.
   Sure you'll annoy, but your message will sink in.
   The latest to this increasingly popular theory of web advertising is ABCNews.com.
   The online version of ABC News says that a recent campaign for Clarinex that deployed the full-page “introduction ad” format boosted brand awareness and message association, in addition to increasing the likelihood that consumers would ask their doctor about the allergy drug.
“What we are trying to do at ABCNews.com is offer prospective advertisers opportunities that will grab our users’ attention and communicate their messages in the most impactful way,” says Jim Keplesky, ABC Internet Group’s vice president of sales.
    The introduction ad format is pretty much unavoidable. It pops up the first time that someone visits a site for the day, takes up a full page, and blocks homepage content for a few seconds before dissipating. The unit is served just one time per user per day, and users can skip past the ad by clicking on a button.
The Clarinex campaign on ABCNews.com also included banners, and that reinforcement contributed to its overall effectiveness, says Keplesky.
Dynamic Logic studied the ABC-Clarinex campaign and determined that the lift in brand awareness that it created was 11 times greater than the norm among online ads. The campaign generated message association that was nine times greater than the market norm.
The Clarinex campaign led to a 12 percent lift in behavior intent, or consumers’ interest in asking their physician about Clarinex. That’s a lift about six times greater than is typical.
Even though some high-profile web sites, such as women’s network iVillage, are steering away from ad units that resemble pop-ups, ABCNews.com plans to keep using the introduction ad format, in part because it is demonstrably effective.
    Similar ads can be seen at other news sites, such as MSNBC.com.
   Additionally, the site plans to add more rich media offerings for advertisers in the near future, such as the so-called expandable banner, which lets ads balloon upwards in size for a few seconds before they collapse into a a 468 by 60 or 250 by 250 static unit.
   The expandable ads also work by letting site visitors glide their cursors over them to read more information. With a mouse-over, the expandable banner can increase from 468 by 60 to 486 by 300.
ABCNews.com is also planning on selling advertisers Eyewonder video ads and a format it’s calling the “Bigger Impression,” which measures 250 by 250.

-Marty Beard is a staff writer for Media Life.

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