Ad firm SteelHouse, which specializes in real-time offers and retargeting with video and display advertising, is streamlining the online ad production
process with a new product, A2 -- intended to make it easier for advertisers to use video and other rich media in online ads.
The new service simplifies the technical requirements for
integrating online video and other rich media into ad offers, principally by condensing the amount of code needed to configure the ads relative to other content.
According to SteelHouse
President and CEO Mark Douglas, it reduces the amount of time needed to create a professional-quality online video ad — or repurpose video ads from other sources, like TV — from four to
eight weeks to a couple of days. Plus, it circumvents Flash and HTML5, which in addition to their complexity, have compatibility issues.
Ads produced with A2 are automatically
compliant with Interactive Advertising Bureau standards and compatible with Macs, PCs, iPhones, iPads and Android devices.
In addition to simplifying the production process for video,
A2’s capabilities allow advertisers to include features like product carousels and offer deadlines and countdowns.
On the targeting side, it can deliver ads with special offers based on
location information, in the case of mobile users, as well as behavioral data. Social integration allows viewers to share ads via major social platforms, including Twitter and Facebook.
A2 is intended to complement SteelHouse’s existing portfolio of real-time behavioral commerce products -- which allow e-commerce merchants to target visitors, both on their own Web sites and
across the Web, with real-time offers based on a variety of data, including online behavior, conversion rates, average order values, and sales.