Medialets

Note: This article was originally published in Mobile Marketer’s Classic Guide to Mobile Advertising.

Many verticals have embraced mobile advertising, but entertainment in particular has seen early and consistent success in tapping into the creativity and impact of the mobile environment. Discovery Channel is notable among entertainment’s mobile innovators, with standout work including the mobile rich media campaign supporting Season 4 of the popular series, Storm Chasers.

“We wanted to create a campaign that captured the excitement and spirit of Storm Chasers,” said Sal Candela, mobile director of PHD. “We knew from previous experience that Medialets could deliver a memorable and immersive campaign that met the campaign’s goals.”

Campaign goals
The mobile component was part of a broader mix designed to drive tune-in for the cable program, targeting adults 25-54 who are receptive to media content that involves sports, character-driven human-interest stories and hands-on technology fun.

Execution
Discovery Channel worked with media agency PHD. PHD enlisted Medialets to create, deliver and measure a rich media campaign that reached the target audience. PHD and Medialets had previously collaborated on a number of rich media campaigns, including the campaign for HBO’s True Blood. Mobile rich media creative was chosen to give consumers a first-person point-of-view of a storm. The creative execution initiated as banner that expanded when the user taps anywhere in app. The expansion launches a tornado that takes over the app screen, speakers and even vibrates. Then, the tornado wipes away everything in its on-screen path and cracks the iPhone screen. As the tornado fades away, the user is prompted to tap-to-watch the full screen Storm Chasers season 4 trailer. The trailer then plays inside the app to avoid disrupting the user experience.

Results
The immersive Storm Chasers creative delivered more than 5 million impressions across multiple apps. It was well received by users, generating instant buzz on Twitter and coverage in industry trades such as Mobile Marketer. The campaign was also recognized by the MOBI Awards, OMMA Awards and IAB MIXX Awards. The engagement rate for the campaign averaged 17 percent, exponentially higher than online rich media’s low, single-digit benchmarks. An Insight Express study was also conducted, giving additional insight into the campaigns success.  More than 60 percent of those exposed to the mobile campaign had a favorable opinion of Storm Chasers and would be willing to watch the program. In fact, after exposure to the mobile campaign, intent to view grew by 28 percent. Several of the brand attributes associated with Storm Chasers also grew; “is fascinating” grew 16 percent and “is a program I’m excited about” grew 19 percent.

View the full ad and learn more in the Medialets Storm Chasers creative showcase entry.

You can find this article and more in Mobile Marketer’s Classic Guide to Mobile Advertising.