Advocating the Interstitial: How Transitional Ads Can Rewrite Your Direct Marketing Playbook
Another potential reason for the misdirected comparison to a TV commercial is due to the repetitive sales pitches that advertisers get from various ad sales executives. Maybe these sales people lack significant experience with the ad format or maybe it is because they are trying to get the advertiser’s TV budgets and apply them online. While I admittedly have used the TV commercial comparison in many sales pitches, I personally believe the comparison is incomplete and inaccurate.
Just because the ad is shown for a fixed period of time and then goes away hardly means there is no chance for user interaction. Whether the interstitial is timed or un-timed, the user still has the opportunity to engage the ad just like any banner or pop-up. The user knows right away whether they are interested in the advertiser’s message and will choose to engage or not. The difference; however, between banners and pops and the interstitial is that banners can easily get lost in a page of content and pop-unders can often go unnoticed due to the instinctive hatred of the ad format by most people. The interstitial appears during a time when it has the user’s full attention and are often complimented by big flashy ads that captivate the user for the full 10 seconds.
I suppose part of the controversy that goes along with interstitials is, in part, due to the powerful nature of the ad format. The ad captures the users full attention during which there is “dead time” and often times accompanies the ad with sound or rich media video. An example of how we are able to utilize this “dead time” occurs on the site Friendster.com (http://www.friendster.com). (Click on thumbnail for a larger image)
Once you are logged in, if you click “Meet People” on the top orange navigational bar, you will see exactly what I am referring to. The ad appears for about 10 seconds while you are waiting for your search results. The user is completely engaged by the ad without any distractions on the page. This creates a highly powerful tool for a marketer to get their message across.
It will certainly be interesting to see how interstitials are utilized in the future. There is certainly an element inherent to the ad format that allows brand advertisers to effectively utilize the benefits of the ad format. I believe; however, that until advertisers and agencies accept the ad format as a powerful direct marketing tool, the format will not gain mainstream acceptance.
Reader Comments.
No comments yet
Leave a Comment
Pages: « previous page 1 2
Tags: direct_marketing and interstitialArticle Sponsor
More Features
-
Loading ...
Latest News
- BlueKai Report Explains DMPs to Publishers February 10th 2012 ADOTAS - BlueKai released a report this week on the [...] more »
- Funding in Brief: $10M for Spongecell, $8M for Prolexic February 9th 2012 ADOTAS – Rich media ad company Spongecell has raised $10 million [...] more »
- Google AdMob Axes Minimum Bids, Targeting Fees February 9th 2012 ADOTAS - As of Feb. 15, Google will change its [...] more »
- Infographic: HootSuite Analyses Social Media Impact of Super Bowl Ads February 7th 2012 ADOTAS - So, it’s the Tuesday after the Super Bowl, [...] more »
- Facebook to Serve Mobile Ads in Coming Weeks February 6th 2012 ADOTAS – According to a Financial Times report, Facebook will [...] more »
- Survey: 39 Percent of Mobile Users Responded to Super Bowl Ads Via Mobile February 6th 2012 ADOTAS - During the Super Bowl yesterday, mobile ad network [...] more »
- Sponsormob Leads the Way Into RTB for Mobile February 3rd 2012 ADOTAS – For more than half a decade, Berlin-based tech [...] more »
Features
- Infographic: The Online Ad Industry Is Like the Stock Market February 10th 2012
- Mobile Search: More Intent, More SMB Opportunity February 10th 2012
- BlueKai Report Explains DMPs to Publishers February 10th 2012
- Attribution Online: Introducers and Influencers and Closers… Oh My! February 9th 2012
- With gTLDs, Global Branding Starts with a Name February 9th 2012
Spotlight
Sponsormob Leads the Way Into RTB for MobileADOTAS – For more than half a decade, Berlin-based tech firm Sponsormob has remained relevant in an industry characterized by [...] more...
Reader Favorites
Classifieds
- PS Technical Writer - SEO Data Analyst
- Interactive Project Manager
- Media Buyer
- PHP Software Engineer (Facebook Platform/Social AP
- SEO/Marketing Internship at Green Education Startu
Recent Comments
- HootSuite Social Media Management » More Apps, Open API, and the Solution Partner Program ~ News Roundup: [...] mentioned in our HootSuite’s Super Bowl XLVI Social Media Recap, adotas and MediaPost analyzed our
- News about Google Adwords issue #412: [...] ads for AdWords to adCenter and align with industry standards, adCenter has chang
- VB: What exactly makes an ad "high quality"?
- Survey: 39 Percent of Mobile Users Responded to Super Bowl Ads Via Mobile - ADOTAS | Mobile2 | Scoop.it: [...] background-position: 50% 0px; background-color:#222222; background-repeat : no-repeat; }
