Gustav Goosen, Sales and Operations Director at The SpaceStation says that this new format gives advertising agencies, clients and brands the largest in-page online canvas they've ever had in the local market. "The Portrait ad integrates a multitude of engagement opportunities into a single execution, with the added ability to drive the client's social media activity. And it offers 'content like' engagement without taking the user away from the browsing stream," says Goosen.
Recent Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) stats in the US reveal that the Portrait Ad format has increased American advertisers brand lift by a whopping 236%. They also show 24 seconds more video play time and 47 seconds more engagement time. That is 2.28 times the average US industry engagement norm.
The Portrait Ad, positioned on the right of the screen, is a large canvas divided into 3 or 4 sections where advertisers are able to place customised and interactive content including video, slideshows, product catalogues, social media and polls. The beauty of this format is that advertisers don't have to create new content, they can simply use existing adverts, leverage their online shopping offering or re-use their existing marketing campaigns like Facebook, all within one interface.
Designed to captivate its audience, the format only allows one advert per page, so the advertiser gets 100% share of voice, plus, because the ads are fully interactive, consumers do not need to navigate away from the page to explore its features. In February this year the IAB bestowed their 'Rising Stars' Award on this new format - an award that recognizes new creative ad units that help transform online brand marketing.
Mike Luscombe, CEO of The SpaceStation says: "An immense amount of development time has been invested in the Portrait Ad, with 24.com's tech and design teams working closely with The SpaceStation's AdOps. We wanted to ensure we could give South African marketers similar new formats to those being introduced right now in markets like the United States." Luscombe adds that The SpaceStation is delighted to be able to offer this type of innovation across leading websites in the local market.
The Portrait Ad is immediately available on the 24.com lifestyle network, which includes Food24, Health24, Parent24, Wheels24 and Channel24. For more information, visit http://www.thespacestation.co.za or contact them at az.oc.liamecaps@ofni.
