Microsoft Advertising Wins Two IAB Rising Stars Awards

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I am thrilled to share that the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) just honored Microsoft Advertising today with TWO IAB ‘Rising Stars’ ad format awards for our “Filmstrip”; and the “Sidekick”,  which we created in conjunction with our partners at Unicast. Check out my blog from a few weeks ago about the three ad formats we submitted.

When we created these ad formats we believed they would change the way consumers interact with ads on MSN and our Microsoft properties … now, because the IAB has chosen them, they have the potential to change the way consumers interact with ads on any site and on virtually any device since they will become standards the IAB institutes for advertisers and publishers across the web.  

The IAB’s challenge to us was to shake up the antiquated formats in use today, ensure the ad formats are simple for advertisers to use, are device agnostic and allow creatives to do what they do best – be creative. No easy feat!

The early interest from our advertisers has been fantastic. General Motors will the first customer to use the IAB Filmstrip for their Chevrolet ‘Earth Day’ campaign. In addition, T-Mobile has signed up to use the Page Reveal for the launch of their new music program ‘Live Rising’ in support of their 4G Network message.

So, what do these new ad formats mean for advertisers and publishers?

• At first glance, the ads look like they’d only be a ‘custom creative execution’ but now they can be scaled to run across any property and fit on any size device.
• Freedom and efficiency! When we launch the Calypso Marquee, advertisers won’t have to resize assets based on various publisher sizes and site specifications, which can typically be a nightmare process.

These are just two of the biggest pain points we’ve heard time and again from advertisers and agencies. To receive an endorsement like this from one of our industry’s leading authoritative bodies proves we’re listening and taking action to fix our advertising clients’ and the ad industry’s biggest challenges.

More specifically, here’s what each ad format promises to deliver:

Filmstrip - the first ad unit to combine both how the ad is sequenced with what a ‘typical’ marketing purchase journey consists of into one unit. The ad is designed to dynamically change to match how a consumer is interacting with the ad based on their mindset, which is much more relevant to the consumer. The user can interact with the ad through scrolling, hover and touch (on a tablet or mobile device). Our video below does a great job of demonstrating the ad’s features.

Sidekick – submitted by our Unicast partners, the ad expands on the right pane of the page and when activated, pushes the publisher’s editorial content to the left allowing a large canvas to become EVEN larger. The Sidekick’s functionality is familiar to users but it offers a great deal more advertising space. In addition, this helps publishers optimize the empty gutter space to the right.

IAB Rising Stars Sidekick Video from Unicast on Vimeo.

You can read more about the selection process for the IAB Rising Stars Submissions here. I want to applaud all who entered the submission contest (36 entries in total). But, most of all, I want to thank my Brand Advertising team and our Creative Services Team (I like to think of them as our ‘creative secret sauce’ – although not so secret now!) for their hard work and dedication to this initiative. I also want to give kudos to our partners at Unicast on a job well done. I’m so proud to be a part of a team that is creating innovative ad experiences that we believe consumers will love and want to engage with.

Cheers!

Jenn

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