The front page of most websites is packed to the gills with information. There are title graphics, menus, and navigation systems. If it’s a news site, there also are headlines and feature stories. If it’s a portal, there are links and featured items from all different content sections like news, music, and video that all converge on a single page. All that clutter can easily overwhelm a lonely banner ad vying for the user’s attention amidst all that content. That’s why a good creative can not only catch the user’s attention, but also communicate a message that may only be seen for a split-second as a user scans the sea of information.

It all starts with the message. PBS chose Viewpoint Creative, not the online marketing firm, but the creative agency that’s built campaigns for folks like HBO, the Sci Fi Channel, and Discovery, to develop rich media creatives for a campaign to promote the new show Jean-Michel Cousteau: Ocean Adventures. “What we first and foremost want to know is what the message is trying to convey for that particular show, the audience that they’re trying to reach,” says Viewpoint Creative Director Michael Middeleer. PBS’s message was clear: Cousteau is back. Visit the website, and tune in to the show.

The Cousteau name has been familiar to PBS viewers since 1977 when Jean Michel’s father, Jacques Cousteau, began exposing the mysteries of the world’s oceans to TV sets everywhere through the program Cousteau Odyssey. “I think PBS feels the Cousteau name would resonate,” says Middeleer. “They believe they have two generations of viewers who really knew that name, and so they were quite confident that that alone would speak volumes to their viewers.” Ocean Adventures follows ocean explorer Jean Michel Cousteau and his science team around the world as they examine some of the great mysteries of the ocean.

To emphasize the Cousteau name, Viewpoint designers placed the ‘Cousteau’ front and center. They also placed both the Cousteau name and all the rest of the important text against a deep ocean blue background to create the kind of eye-popping contrast that can get people’s attention.

Because most of the campaign consisted of rich media, the ads were able to move and expand, further drawing attention to themselves. “The challenge for any online advertising is to get the viewer’s eye to glaze over your ad and discover some sort of interest,” says Joseph Kiely, also a Viewpoint Creative Director and Designer. “With rich media and video playing, there’s a higher ratio of people interacting with those banners. More than likely, it’s all of the movement that’s going through the banners.”

The Cousteau rich media ads move and pulsate, and have a fluctuating waterline that drives the viewer’s attention. “The idea was first of all to get the messaging out there right away, but to do it with movement. And the contrast between the dark blue and then going to the bright white also is a wonderful way of grabbing attention,” adds Kiely.

The site, which fully launches June 2 and can be accessed here, features contextual links that will appear next to the video as it plays. Each link corresponds to the section of the video that is currently playing. Clicking on a related link pauses the video, letting viewers spend as much time as they want researching the science or geography of AIDS. When viewers are done, the rest of the video will be awaiting them.

“It seamlessly combines a compelling television program with rich Web resources to significantly enhance people’s understanding of a complex topic like AIDS,” Microsoft researcher Curtis Wong said in a statement. “It highlights the tremendous potential of Internet television with rich interactivity to deliver in-depth content to a global audience.”

If you thought using gorgeous busty babes and muscle head hunks to promote your reality show was the best and only idea, think again. When you’re talking about promoting a TV show like PBS’ upcoming Texas Ranch House, you might have better luck enlisting the help of those who know the range best, the cows.

Helping PBS realize their cow reality vision, they hooked up with Peel Interactive Media to find a way to get viewers excited about the show that brings a cast of adventurers back to 1867 to run a Texas Ranch House and see what these cowpokes can round up.

The Executive Producer over at Peel, Phil Gillman, explains their creative brainstorming to ADOTAS, saying, “The initial concept came from within the PBS creative and strategy teams. They had been brainstorming about possible viral campaign ideas to promote Texas Ranch House, and wondered ‘What about presenting it from the cow’s point of view?’ They contacted us and asked if it could be done, and I said ‘Sure, why not?’ and then proceeded to wonder what I had gotten us into.”

What they ended up getting into was creating an ad campaign and microsite—running 4/19 through 5/15—where visitors can literally see what the cows are seeing. As Gillman explains it, “We are seeking to promote PBS and Texas Ranch House with a website that presents the world from the point of view of Texas Longhorn Cattle, he says.”We are doing this with Blogs and ‘Cow Cams’ that show the view from the cow’s head. The whole concept was to create a set of content that would be educational, interesting and fun at the same time.”

In addition to the live streaming Cow Cams, the campaign, which hopes to reach a core demographic of 18-45, rural, urban and ex-urban/sub-urban, offers visitors two cow blogs straight from Silent H Ranch (From the Pasture and Member Cows), and an online contest where users can submit their favorite cow photos. As Gillman tells us, Peel used Flash, Flash Video, XML and Movable Type to get this campaign up and running.

To get the word…or should we say moo…out, Gillman explains, “We are running rich media ads. Likely sites are: screenhead.com, sploid.com, lifehacker.com, dailytexanonline.com, oudaily.com, dailyjolt.com, thebatt.com, ocolly.com,” he says. “Additionally we are looking for some [agricultural] sites to potentially run ads on as well. These are primarily to support the existing PR and viral components of the campaign. We are working with PBS to get out the PR.”

Visitors who need more than just a cow’s eye view can also visit the PBS site for the Texas Ranch House show where they can learn the ins and outs of the 17 and 1800′s, meet the adventurers, visit the Cooke Ranch, download a video podcast, and view further resources on all facets of the ranch life before the days of E!’s Filthy Rich Cattle Drive. Seriously, where do they come up with this stuff?

To watch the action packed world of bovines, tune in to the mootube.