When Gizmoz, Inc. announced the success of its new online ad format today it didn't send a Gizmo, just a traditional email.
Had it sent a Gizmo, users could have opened it to find a variety of
rich media content inside. The format, launched last year, sends rich media content inside a "smart envelope." Any rich media format, from Flash to Shockwave, can be used and the content can be
updated regularly so recipients can receive new information from an advertiser.
Gizmos can be sent via email or posted on Web sites. Sony, a recent advertiser, put it in chat rooms to promote the
film Final Fantasy because fans congregate in chat rooms. "There are multiple points of entry," says vice president of marketing David Sokolic, noting that the same Gizmo is seen wherever it is
placed.
The company mentioned three case studies in today's email, including the WB Network campaign, which has received high acclaim. The branding campaign to promote the network featured a Gizmo
that ran a sweepstakes on the left hand side and promoted individual WB shows such as Dawson's Creek on the right with links to pages promoting individual shows.
WB sent the Gizmo to a house list
and updated it regularly with new information. Gizmoz reports that 72% of recipients reopened their Gizmo after receiving notification of new content.
Mondo Media, an animation company, used its
Gizmo to send a sample animation, a long humorous program that poked fun at Pres. Bush. The company licenses its content to Web sites, so it used the Gizmo to show a content sample to potential
licensees. The Gizmo used a viral element to promote pass along. Within four weeks, viral growth of the Gizmo had grown to 300%.
Sokolic notes that Mondo Media's use of the Gizmo shows how the
format can be used to distribute entertainment. "The focus is on advertising today," he says, "but we can distribute music and films and hope to do more with that in the future. We see Gizmos as a
media messaging platform."
The third case study presented in the email was one sent by GreatFood.com, a division of 1-800-Flowers.com. It was an e-commerce Gizmo the company used to sell a
gourmet snack basket. When recipients click the "buy me" line on the Gizmo, they are taken to an e-commerce page where they can order the snack basket directly. The click through rate to the company's
Web site was 52%.
Unlike most forms of online advertising, Gizmo's aren't sold on a CPM basis. Advertisers pay a licensing fee to use the format for a specific amount of time and can send it to as
many people as they want for the same price.
The company sent out the email today to promote Gizmo's success. "We're getting impressive metrics," Sokolic says.