Following my Tuesday rant about Full Page Banner Ads being hailed by their creators as imminent saviors of web advertising, several of our readers asked me for FPBA's contact info, so here it is:
http://www.fpba.net. If you contact them, please let me know if they're really as great as they say they are.
That said, on to a somewhat related subject. I've often written about different
rich media ad formats in the past, including interstitials, Superstitials and the like, and someone always asks - "is there really anyone out there actually using these things?"
Good question.
The answer is yes. And it seems that movie studios are leading the charge. Take the latest announcement from Universal Pictures, for example.
On Friday, Universal said they've partnered with the
Mplayer Entertainment Network as they have several times in the past, this time to promote their summer release of Jurassic Park III. Their target - tech-savvy entertainment enthusiasts.
Designed to create awareness of Jurassic Park III and drive traffic to the film's official website, the campaign will use Unicast Superstitials, which lately find their way into this column almost
weekly; and Eyeblaster, which is a funky pop-up variation that uses existing rich formats, such as Flash, video or DHTML.
The Jurassic Park III Eyeblaster concept takes advantage of the full
page, as the shadow of a pterodactyl swoops across the screen several times, accompanied by ominous sounds. Immediately after the dinosaur disappears, a rectangular banner materializes, touting the
movie and delivering a call to action that encourages viewers to visit the movie's site.
Sounds fun and engaging, doesn't it?
Hans Theisen, SVP of Ad Sales and Operations for the Mplayer
Entertainment Network said Mplayer is always "elated" to work with Universal because "They do a wonderful job of integration with our content."
Judging by the above statement and the fact that
Universal keeps coming back to Mplayer, this type of advertising is paying off for both sides. Will this latest attempt work? I'll keep you posted, but at least we know these technologies are
actually attracting major advertisers.