DoubleClick Releases Overview of Rich Media Market Trends

New report examines what types of marketers are using rich media, best practices for branding and response, performance measurement and more

New York, NY, 9/26/2005 - DoubleClick, a leading provider of digital advertising technology and services, today released a white paper titled “The Evolution of Rich Media Advertising: Current Market Trends, Success Metrics and Best Practices.” The paper examines several key issues in rich media, including which industries are the leading adopters of this vibrant form of online advertising, how marketers are measuring audience engagement and brand impact, and what new emerging technologies, such as online video, have them most excited.

Advertising Info

The paper also includes a case study about how a leading digital marketing agency utilized DoubleClick’s rich media solution, DART Motif, to do drive brand awareness for a leading CPG. DoubleClick commissioned research from Nielsen//NetRatings AdRelevance and Dynamic Logic for this white paper, and included data from other sources.

“Rich media is here to stay, and the industry has only just begun to drill down into its remarkable capabilities and numerous applications,” said David Rosenblatt, CEO, DoubleClick. “As a central player in the rich media revolution, DoubleClick strives to provide insight to both buyers and sellers of rich media, to enable them both to profit from this engaging advertising opportunity.”

The complete white paper is available for free on DoubleClick's web site. Highlights include the following:

Advertiser Adoption and Ad Volume by Industry

• In terms of adoption by mainstream advertisers, 39% of web display ad impressions for Fortune 500 companies in 2004 were categorized as rich media by Nielsen//NetRatings
• Automotive and Telecommunications companies dedicated over half of their total online impressions in 2004 to rich media; Entertainment companies devoted almost half
• In terms of volume, Financial Services are the top category of rich media advertisers, with almost 50 billion impressions in 2004
• Telecommunications is close behind with over 44 billion rich media impressions last year. Software and B2B companies, with smaller overall advertising levels, served only 5.5 to 6 billion rich media impressions

Publisher Perspective on Rich Media by Industry

• From the publisher perspective, Music/Streaming Media sites represent the top category of sites in terms of the proportion of their online ad inventory that is rich media, at almost 45%. Close behind are Sports/Recreation sites, which attract advertiser categories such as entertainment, financial services and automotive manufacturers, all heavy rich media users
• Sites that tend to be information-intensive with task-focused audiences, such as Financial Information sites, Employment sites and Information Directories, dedicate much less of their inventory to rich media
• Finally, the giant portals, inclusive of their web-based email services, dominate the rich media market in terms of sheer volume of impressions

Rich Media Reporting

The white paper also details the range of reporting available to rich media advertisers, though it cautions marketers not to get bogged down in too much detail. Rich media reporting can paint a much deeper picture of how consumers engage, or don’t engage, with advertising, beyond the standard impression and click counts for GIF or JPEG advertising. These advanced metrics include display time, interaction rate, expansion rate, average video view time, exit links or custom events.

Rich Media’s Branding Effectiveness

Given the highly engaging capabilities of rich media formats, the white paper also discusses how online marketers should consider using survey techniques, such as those offered by Dynamic Logic or Insight Express, to measure the brand impact of their ads. Dynamic Logic’s MarketNorms database shows, for example, that rich media significantly outperforms GIF and JPG format ads for driving consumer awareness and message association.

For additional details on all these findings, along with advice on best practices and the Digitas case study, please visit the research section of DoubleClick's website at www.doubleclick.com/knowledgecentral.

About DoubleClick Digital Advertising Solutions

DoubleClick Digital Advertising Solutions is an operating unit of DoubleClick Inc. that together with DoubleClick Email Solutions enables agencies, marketers and publishers to work together successfully and profit from their digital marketing investments. Its focus on innovation, reliability and insight enables clients to improve productivity and results.

DART Motif integrates the best of interactive design, ad serving and reporting into a sophisticated, flexible solution. Designed to work right inside Macromedia’s Flash, Motif offers a complete range of rich media formats and features, and its integration with the DART ad management platform allows clients to view campaign results in one report.

Since 1996, DoubleClick has empowered the original thinkers and leaders in the digital advertising industry to deliver on the promise of the rich possibilities of our medium. Today, the company’s DART and Performics divisions power the online advertising marketplace. Tomorrow, we will continue to enable clients to profit from opportunities across all digital advertising channels as consumers worldwide embrace them.

DoubleClick has global headquarters in New York City and maintains 21 offices around the world to serve its more than 1,500 clients.