Medialets

Automotive and Entertainment may lead the way in frequency of mobile rich media campaigns, but increasingly more advertising categories are embracing mobile’s exceptionally rich environment. Among recent mobile success stories is Sotheby’s International Realty, who announced last week that their Medialets-enabled rich media creative generated strong results, driving leads to its network of affiliates with an impressive 2.6% Click-through Rate. (more…)

In 2010 we saw massive growth in the overall number of smartphone users. There was a sharp increase in the availability and interest in mobile application ad inventory, and recent surveys show that 38% of respondents are comfortable with seeing ads on their phone. “Mobile” is a very hot word within the halls of ad agencies these days.

Agency executives and creatives no longer see mobile as a campaign side-dish now that they have a better understanding of how mobile fits into the larger advertising spectrum right along side with—and oftentimes ahead of—online, broadcast and print. But education is still needed in order to exercise the full power and potential of mobile rich media for their clients.

Since Medialets launched in 2008, we have been working closely with publishers, agencies and advertisers to develop cutting-edge rich media creative for mobile. To address the growing demand, we also recently launched Medialets Create™, a program that provides creative agencies such as Ogilvy, AKQA, and Razorfish, with the knowledge and tools to build high impact mobile rich media experiences.

But it’s not just creative agencies that will benefit from a better understanding of mobile creative. Marketers, planners, buyers, publishers—really everyone in the advertising ecosystem—can drive greater value from their mobile campaigns by adhering to a few simple but important practices:

1. Start with Results – Think about the client’s goals, how you will achieve them, and how you will measure them. In this way, mobile isn’t any different from campaigns across other mediums, but the creative path by which you attain the desired results can be even more explorative and exciting.

2. Ask how mobile will complement the broader campaign – While mobile rich media ads allow brands to engage consumers in ways and places not possible with other mediums, it’s critical to understand how the mobile component meshes with the online, print or broadcast portions of a campaign. Campaigns that apply consistent and appropriate creative and messaging across all touch points are most successful.

3. Consider the context – It’s important to remember that since the ad will appear on a mobile device, rather than a desktop, television, or road sign, the consumer could be anywhere and doing just about anything when the ad is presented. Engage your audience with the most important aspects of an execution in ways that don’t necessarily require copious amounts of time or effort to take in while on the go. Also, consider utilizing the unique capabilities that today’s mobile devices make available, such as touchscreens, accelerometers, and location-based services.

4. Know your Device – iPhone, iPad, and Android devices each have their own set of unique qualities that allow for various ways to approach technical and creative executions. Aspects of a device such as the dimensions and resolution of the screen, overall device performance and hardware feature set, even the way(s) in which a user typically holds a given device in their hand(s), should all help to determine how the advertising experience is designed and executed.

5. Know your apps – It’s about more than just knowing what genre of apps a campaign will run on. Investigate how the app itself utilizes device features such as video, audio, and orientation changes. These user experience considerations may inform decisions about how to make an execution fit within or even play off of an app’s unique characteristics.

6. Determine how “innovative” your execution actually needs to be – Rich media ads on mobile will generate much higher engagement rates than static. But not every rich mobile execution needs to be a first-to-market opportunity or necessarily even utilize cutting-edge, mobile-specific features to be 100% successful. Focus on the same fundamentals of campaign success that made your client choose you in the first place. Utilize device features with intention, and only when they support and reinforce the underlying “big idea” of an execution.

7. Medialets was the first company to introduce ad creative that tapped into the native functionality of mobile devices so it probably comes as no surprise that we encourage agencies to consider taking advantage of distinctively mobile capabilities such as shaking, dragging, tilting, etc. Users (and brands) have historically responded well to rich mobile executions that involve these unique, visceral interactions. But the upcoming generation of mobile ads should look to incorporate features that put even more focus on the overall results of an execution and its ability to meet the brands goals. Incorporating more practical interactions such as setting calendar reminders, enabling ecommerce, utilizing mapping/location-based services, and integrating social communities will drive deeper engagement and ultimately prove to more effectively enhance a brand’s relationship with the consumer.

You can see many of our mobile rich media ad creatives at the Medialets Showcase.

***This article was orignially published in Mobile Marketer’s Classic Guide to Mobile Creative