• by Skip Brand , November 5, 2013

One thing Eric Franchi, co-founder of  Undertone, and I have in common is our love for the IAB’s Rising Stars ad units. We both believe that these oversized rich-media units are a stellar vehicle for brand advertising at scale.

Undertone is focused on creating solutions for brands seeking new and innovative formats that allow them to stand out. Franchi notes, “We know that the typical consumer sees thousands of ads across the Web on a monthly basis. We’re facing the very real phenomena of banner blindness. That’s why we are fans of high-impact ad units, which run the gamut from Rising Stars to more customized units that we’ve designed to help our customers captivate consumer attention online and entice engagement.”

The Rising Stars are big, gorgeous and, most important, they’re IAB standard. That means that, in theory, they can be bought and sold programmatically.

“Today, programmatic means standard banners, RTB and performance campaigns. Although the idea of Rising Stars being transacted programmatically has been thrown around, it’s still just a theory,” Franchi offers. “In order for this to happen, there needs to be scale in supply and demand. This is a demand-driven business; if the demand is there, the supply will follow. I just don’t think the demand for clients buying programmatically has prioritized new formats yet.”

Franchi suggests that since this inventory is higher-ticket, it may remain the domain of the direct sales team. That wouldn’t be surprising; premium inventory often requires a higher touch to sell. But, he adds, “Rising Stars could become a programmatically sold standard, and the very custom units that companies like Undertone design and sell may never go programmatic. It will be very interesting to watch this play out.”

Franchi has been a champion for the newer mobile Rising Stars, as well. He notes, “Our clients are aware that their audiences are not just using smartphones, but also tablets and other devices. They need to stand out across all screens. Mobile Rising Stars take a significant step in that direction.”

Of course, the Mobile Rising Stars also address the impact issue on mobile devices. The majority of today’s standard mobile units are tiny and don’t give brands the opportunity to stand out or invite engagement. The Mobile Rising Stars, since they are generally larger and richer, offer tremendous functionality and deliver those opportunities to brand advertisers. They behave the way mobile ads are expected to behave, reacting to touches and swipes. Franchi offers a theory that because the screens are smaller, larger ads are needed to drive impact and engagement.

Clearly Franchi and I see the opportunities the Rising Stars offer to brands, even if I’m more bullish about the RTB possibilities. Why aren’t more of us pushing the envelope? How come broad adoption of these units seems to be taking so long?

The Rising Stars concept was introduced two and a half years ago, but Franchi points out that it has taken some time for winning units to be selected. In fact, a study released by Undertone about six months ago revealed extremely low awareness of the Rising Stars by marketers – the same marketers who are the buyers of these ads.

A lot can change in six months, though. “I believe that a great deal of progress has been made since our study, because we see more publishers using them,” Franchi says. “In fact, Rising Stars represent one of the fastest growing segments of our business. The momentum is there – but it has taken too long.” High-impact brand units like the Rising Stars are so desperately needed in digital advertising: we need better formats and better opportunities for brands. Yet, as Franchi points out, we’re still not quite where we need to be.

We’ll get there. With the help of leaders like Franchi and agency champions, awareness and adoption are certain to grow among marketers and publishers.