Delivering a 99 percent increase on the measurable impact of traditional banner advertising on Fox Interactive Media sites, MySpace.com and IGN.com
rich media advertising has proved its worth for marketers to not only
get the clicks but to truly engage consumers in the online environment.

Recent Australian advertisers such as Disney (Narnia), Sony PlayStation (Folklore), Frucor (V-RAW), Ubisoft (AU Final Fantasy: Crisis Core) and Beyond The Rave have been experiencing the increased click through rate performance on MySpace and IGN.  

Looking at their recent rich media creatives vs std creatives they
have achieved a click through rate from the MySpace standard 0.02% to
0.06%. The standout MySpace campaign was for Beyond the Rave which
registered a 0.12% rate. Even more impressive are the results on IGN,
one of Australia’s strongest and most trusted brands in the world of
online gaming and entertainment, where rich media advertising raised
the standard click through rate of 0.15% to an impressive 0.3%.

Rich media advertising metrics will be further enhanced thanks to
the newly designed MySpace site which gives advertisers new advertising
opportunities and greater immersion potential. In particular, the new
MySpace splash page, where users login, now has massive takeover
potential. By allowing advertisers to take over the splash page, brands
will be given greater real estate and creative scope which will ensure
further engagement of Australia’s over 2.5 million [Nielsen Online, NetView, home and work audience data from panel measurement, Australia, May 2008] users while they are at the gateway of their MySpace experience.

The first Australian campaign, The Dark Knight, which
launched within the newly designed MySpace interface on the marquee
placement achieved a click through rate of 1.74% compared to the
previous standard 0.02%.

The demand for and success of rich media advertising is directly
correlated to the uptake of broadband across Australia, and in May
2008, according to Nielsen Online, the number of Australians that are
accessing the internet via broadband from home, exceeded 10 million [Nielsen Online, NetView, home and work audience data from panel measurement, Australia, May 2008] for the first time.

Industry expert Mick OBrien, managing director of Eyeblaster Australia
explains, What we have witnessed to date is a direct correlation
between broadband speed and the number of users on the net, as speeds
increase so does usage, and video advertising takes the dominant role
in online advertising.

For marketers it’s more than just clicks, as the web becomes
increasingly entertainment centric, in-stream video will ultimately be
the only medium that actually engages three of the five senses
simultaneously – sight, sound and touch.

Mick continued, Lasting impressions are made through
mediums that engage the senses, making a significant impact on brand
recall in the long term. Consequently, new ways of measuring ad
effectiveness have to emerge and be taken seriously – beyond the click.
In the context of online, publishers are shifting their focus to
provide engaging content to keep the viewer on the page for longer
rather than generate as many impressions as possible. This is what
these synchronised formats are achieving, and the metrics tell us its
working. Rich media is becoming increasingly more effective than
standard banners because of its inherent ability to measure user
interactions – much more than just a click through, and is reflected in
the spending pattern of advertisers.

Andrew Cordwell, director of sales, Fox Interactive
Media explains, The leading advertisers in the Australian market are
utilising rich media advertising across MySpace, IGN, RottenTomatoes
and AskMen because the advertising is delivering over seven times the
click through rate as well as allowing enhanced creative that delivers
further consumer engagement. This is set to continue and build with the
growth in broadband, according to Nielsen, now at over 10 million
Australians accessing the web from home via broadband.

Rich media advertising is available across the MySpace homepage,
user homepage, music homepage, IM expanding button, MySpace TV
homepage, IGN and channel homepages, AskMen and channel homepages as
well as the Rotten Tomatoes homepage.

Some of the features of the MySpace redesign that will be of particular interest to advertisers include:

• The Marquee Roadblock gives advertisers access to the front and
  centre top of the page, making the brand the headline. This high impact
  feature caters for the increasing demands for wide screen video,
  particularly from entertainment clients.
• The Marquee and skin, offers advertisers greater creative scope
  and branding opportunities and will be available in both static and
  animated versions.
• The Total page overlay will provide 2.5mb worth of additional
  content download, providing advertisers with the opportunity to create
  rich and engaging experiences on a massive canvas.

Examples of rich media advertising on Fox Interactive Media websites

God of War execution
http://adplatform.unicast.com/fuse/external/preview.jsp?placement_id=0&creative_id=65749

V-Raw execution
http://demo.eyeblaster.com/au/Examples/vraw/vraw_demo.htm

Bad Company Battlefield, Ea Sports
http://www.grupow.com/w_k/banner/alpha/alpha_triple.html – mouse-over the top banner.
http://www.grupow.com/w_k/banner/alpha/alpha_gold.html
http://www.grupow.com/w_k/banner/alpha/alpha_hawaii.html