Banners as Destinations.

There’s a tendency to think of banners as ‘ad units.’ To me this is selling the medium short. Instead, we should be thinking of banners as web sites.

Consider: one of the key measures of a banner’s success is the time the viewer spends actively engaged with it. We have the potential to maximize that time with a type of banner we call “rich media.” These are banners that ask the viewer to do something (roll over, click, take an action of some sort) and then reward those viewers with an interesting, fun or innovative experience.

In a recent survey for the travel industry, Eyeblaster found that people were more than 2.5 times more likely to click on a rich media banner than on a static banner.

Last week, we launched an expanding banner for High Liner’s new Pan Sear Selects. The banner featured multiple videos, downloadable recipes, shopping list and coupon, and a newsletter sign-up. Viewers interacted with the banner almost ten times longer than average – which only proves that if we think of banners as a means to deliver an experience, consumers will respond. You can see the banner here.

The thing to remember is that anything we can do in a web site, we can do in a rich media banner. Today’s links are a case in point: first, a banner for Mentos teeth whitening gum that actually takes control of your web cam to make a video – all within the banner space.

Second, a banner for Smart which allows the viewer to create their own version of the car, then post it for the next banner viewer to see.

Of course, the onus lies not just with us to think of banners this way, but with our media partners and clients too – by looking to place banners on the web sites that support rich media. When we do, we open up a great many more creative and business opportunities.