Instant messaging (IM) is now a mainstream communication platform for Web users, according to new data collected by America Online and Opinion Research Corporation, and the new usage figures are prompting the world's largest Internet Service Provider to aggressively market the Instant Messaging client as a unique opportunity for marketers. The second annual instant messaging survey, which covered all IM platforms, queried 4,500 respondents in the top 20 U.S. markets. It found that 59 percent of Internet users use IM, 43 percent of employed IM users use it at work, 29 percent of IM users say they send as many or more IMs than e-mails per day, and 20 percent of IM users send mobile IMs or SMS text messages through a personal mobile device. The survey also notes that IM now has deep penetration among all age groups. Ninety percent of online 13- to-21-year-olds are using IM, followed by 71 percent of online 22- to-34-year-olds, 55 percent of online 35- to-54-year-olds, and an astonishing 48 percent of online over-55s. Strong usage has prompted AOL to develop unique marketing innovations for the IM client, which remain free to both members and non-members. Its newest product, which AOL Media Networks Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Michael Barrett calls "the secret sauce" of the AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) marketing program, is called AIM Expressions. AIM Expressions is a service that was only available to AOL members, but with the launch of 5.9 in September, all AIM users will be able to participate. However, Expressions is a subscription service, priced at $1.95 a month, or $9.95 for annual subscriptions. For marketers, AIM Expressions is a new interactive sponsorship opportunity that offers users the choice to decorate their AIM message window and client page with brand-related images or artwork, called "skins." "Skins" are customizable; advertisers can choose to include links to related Web sites, downloads, or game pages. Sponsored Expressions will also be free to all AIM users, requiring no subscription to use. In addition to "skins," brands also can create personal avatars, called "super-buddies," which act like interactive buddy icons during conversation. For example, for the M&M's Expression, users can choose from one of several different colored M&M super-buddies, each with their own distinct characteristics and idiosyncrasies. The sponsorship was developed by AOL's creative department in conjunction with interactive shop Beyond Interactive, and the client. According to Barrett, AIM Expressions can be "a powerful opportunity for marketers, because long after a campaign is over, [the expression and the character] are still part of the library of AIM Expressions." He added that any user who wants to take on another user's Expression can do so by simply clicking on the skin. Sponsored Expressions are also free to users. Because AIM Expressions is completely opt-in, Barrett said there's no danger of bombarding users with messages. "[AIM Expressions] is hand-raiser, permission marketing," he said, noting that "if consumer appeal is low, consumer adoption will be low." Barrett conceded that AOL is still selling advertising that skews to a mostly teen/young adult audience. He said AOL has yet to incorporate targeting into its inventory offerings; dayparting to workers during the day and a younger crowd at night is currently the best example. For the future, he said AOL will look into targeting by IP address, industry, and geographic as well. Barrett also added that AOL will be working with its recent acquisition, interactive marketing firm Advertising.com, on new strategies, but would not go into specifics. "To be honest, we were as excited as we think marketers will be with the information [from the survey]," Barrett said, adding that AOL will continue to work on new offerings for marketers. The AIM client currently offers three other advertising opportunities as well. The first is the text on the AIM Today start page, which offers content sponsorships to news and entertainment news providers. There is a banner on that page, and then there is the actual banner on the AIM client page, which contains users' buddy lists. This was recently video-enabled for ads of up to 30 seconds in length, and is frequency-capped at one per session, per day. ESPN, MTV, NBC, Ford, DaimlerChrysler, and American Express have bought 30-second spots. Takeovers are another sponsorship opportunity, according to Barrett, and are customizable. For example, for the "Garfield" movie launch, there were pawprints in the background of the AIM today page. AIM Expressions "super-buddies" are currently in beta. The product launches full-time in September with AIM 5.9. Current AIM Expressions advertisers are Nike, M&Ms, Chicklets, Snapple, the Wall Street Journal Online, and movies "A Cinderella Story," "The Punisher," "13 Going on 30," and "The Last Samurai."
Thirteen months after its official launch, a major portal -- MSN -- has signed on to use DART Motif, DoubleClick's rich media advertising product. According to the MSN Web site, Motif has been added to the list of available third-party, rich media advertising products. The move means MSN's advertisers will be able to choose from in-page, expandable banners, and floating flash ad formats. Motif has been on the market since July 2003, but has struggled to gain acceptance from online's Big 3: America Online, Yahoo!, and MSN. It gained what analysts have referred to as "partial" acceptance from AOL, meaning AOL accepts non-expanding banners and nothing else, but struggled to penetrate the major ISP market, which is dominated by smaller third-party, rich media providers like Eyeblaster, Unicast, and PointRoll. According to Jupiter Research analyst Nate Elliott, who broke the news on his analyst Web log this week, the move marks a major step forward for DoubleClick. "This starts to give Motif some credibility," Elliott said. "Without portal acceptance, a rich media tool is essentially unusable," and the reason, he said, is very simple. According to Jupiter Research, the top four online sites claim 38 percent of all usage minutes and 49 percent of all ad spending. "Most advertisers can't afford to skip half the market." Sarah Fay, president of interactive shop Carat Interactive, and a DoubleClick client, echoed Elliots sentiments. "Motif has to get the support of the bigger portals in order to make it a viable product," she said, adding that Carat has been partnering with DoubleClick in the development of Motif, in addition to using it. Fay noted that the new partnership doesn't give DoubleClick an advantage, either. "Not that it isn't a win; we see it as more of a requirement," she said. "In the long run, we have a global deal with DoubleClick, and obviously, we're betting on the DoubleClick horse," with the hope, she said, that "eventually [all of their offerings] will be rolled into one." "From the start," Jupiter's Elliot noted, "DoubleClick's biggest issue has been site acceptance, and getting a couple of the portals on board should do wonders for this product." However, he pointed out that Motif has yet to gain "full" acceptance from AOL. To do this, Elliott said DoubleClick needs get Motif's expandable banners and floaters approved, but AOL's partial acceptance shows that the company is committed to finding a solution to that problem. So why does portal acceptance take so long? According to Elliott, "[Portals] have a million different pages coded in a million different ways, they've got lots of producers who need to approve the formats, and they have to do all that testing," he said. MSN's acceptance of Motif has come at a good time for DoubleClick, which may face stiff competition once aQuantive unit Atlas DMT unveils its rich media platform later this year. Elliott noted that Atlas may have already sidestepped the ISP acceptance problem by scooping up Ad4ever, a small rich media company, earlier this year. "Ad4ever still has current acceptance on the big three," Elliott said, "which is a good sign for Atlas." He noted that while this does not guarantee them acceptance, it could help facilitate the process. According to MSN Director of Advertising and Marketing Eric Hadley, "DoubleClick's DART Motif is an innovative and efficient solution for executing rich media and we're pleased to certify our key properties for DART Motif campaigns."