‘Rich media is not all it’s cracked up to be,” asserts Rudy Grahn, an analyst with Jupiter Media Metrix. “The biggest barrier is broadband access. Also, lots of rich media opportunities tend to be on
front pages of sites, which make ads less contextually relevant since they’re not near specific content.” Grahn adds that while rich media ads often generate higher click-through rates, higher
production costs often outweigh the benefits. Users must also have the correct media players.
Despite the negatives, users of rich media ads tend to find them very effective. “While the average
banner click rate is 0.3 percent, we’ve found the average rich-media ad response rate to be 1 percent,” says Steve Carbone, managing director of Grey e-marketing at Grey Direct in New York. “With rich
media we are more apt to pre-qualify users and only generate a database and traffic from the right people. BtoB and entertainment clients are using this technology to acquire names and receive
registration data without taking their targets away from the sites they’re surfing.”
“Although we don’t sell on click-throughs, it has become apparent to us and to our advertisers that streaming
is a more effective way to build a brand and generate a direct response than banners or buttons,” says Rob Drucker, a representative of media buying firm MediaAmerica in New York. “I’ve always held
that advertising is supposed to interrupt programming—’We’ll be back after this’—not lie on a page to be scrolled past. Our click-throughs continue to prove this theory out.” Karin Petersen, Media
Supervisor at Goodby, Silverstein, and Partners in San Francisco, says her agency has conducted awareness studies and found that rich media ads tend to create more awareness than other ad types.
According to Grahn, lots of tech sites are using rich media ads. “The companies I see using rich media advertising the most are high-tech clients like IBM and Microsoft and entertainment-based clients
like Warner Bros.,” agrees Carbone. “They are primarily running on CNN, CNET, CBS Marketwatch, and most destination portal sites.” Users of streaming ads in particular include “advertisers with
tech-oriented products who want to reach early adopters and broadband companies that want to reach heavy users of streaming media,” explains Drucker. Grahn adds that more traditional advertisers will
be coming online in the next year or two, and they will be trying all different formats and experimenting more.
“Any company can find a form of rich media advertising that will work for them,”
says Petersen. “It gets attention and allows more creativity. Since most of the additional costs arise from production and media costs tend to stay the same, you might as well run an ad that will have
the most impact.” We’re just scratching the surface with rich media. Indeed, rich media advertising is off to a fast start, and innovations—like those showcased in last month’s issue and on the
following pages—are sure to continue. — David Cotriss