• by Ross Fadner , October 6, 2004

For years, marketers have heard everyone--from senior management to market analysts, the press, even consumers--tell them to "break through the clutter." As a result, more and more Internet marketers are turning to publishers these days to help make their branding campaigns more distinguishable.

Customized advertising solutions are certainly not a new idea--the major Web portals have been selling their prime real estate like this for years--but it's not just for the Web portals anymore. Smaller publishers are also catching on.

Timothy Mitchell, mp3.com director, said the music Web portal primarily sells on a "takeover" or one-advertiser-per-page basis, meaning that the same advertiser takes over all available ad space on the page. Each page is usually customized by an in-house creative team at mp3.com. "Advertisers love it," he said, adding that advertisers frequently come to them asking for ideas.

Pricing and length vary by campaign, but Mitchell said takeovers usually last between two and six months. Sony is currently the front page advertiser; its new Walkman for digital music is displayed in a banner and in a customized background that shows digital music bars in the brand's colors. There are also links to the Sony Walkman page.

Elsewhere, on America Online, which today unveils a new brand image as well as a $30 million ad campaign, strong usage of its AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) service has prompted the company to look into customized advertising initiatives on the real-time network.

These opportunities come in the form of AIM Expressions. For marketers, AIM Expressions offers users the choice to decorate their AIM message window and client page with customizable brand-related images or artwork, called "skins." Advertisers can choose to include links to related Web sites, downloads, or game pages. Sponsored Expressions will also be free to all AIM users, requiring no subscription to use.

In addition to "skins," brands also can create personal avatars, called "super-buddies," which act like interactive buddy icons during conversation. For example, for the M&M's Expression, users can choose from one of several different colored M&M super-buddies, each with its own distinct characteristics and idiosyncrasies. The sponsorship was developed by AOL's creative department in conjunction with interactive shop Beyond Interactive, and the client.

Web portal MSN also recently unveiled a new custom solutions program. More of a promotion, MSN designed the Creative Connection Program to shift traditional agency--and particularly creative department--attentions online. MSN is giving creative directors from three agencies free reign of the MSN site and its brand solutions resources to create custom campaigns for their respective clients. The agencies will be Deutsch with Revlon, Wieden + Kennedy for Sharp, and Taxi for Covenant House. The campaigns will start appearing on MSN this fall.