Ad Council Spreads Rich Media Ad Campaign

Rich media units created for the Ad Council by Pasadena-based Interpolls will allow viewers to sign-up for the non-profit organization’s newsletter while simultaneously watching three of its recent public-service video clips.

Created for a minimal fee and distributed for free by Interpolls, the goal of the new units is to build awareness of, and support for, the Ad Council among members of the advertising and creative communities and to make it easier for would-be subscribers to the newsletter to take the plunge, said Interpolls President Peter Kim.

The units allow viewers to expand the size of the video screen by rolling their cursers over a corner of the on-screen player. “You can watch the entire clip and it can be expanded to cover the full banner area,” said Kim. But even when the clip is at full size, a small, clickable section that says “Subscribe to our newsletter” remains visible.

“You can watch multiple videos and sign up for their newsletter through that single creative execution,” said Kim. “So, in essence, through this single ad format the Ad Council is able to achieve multiple goals: increase brand awareness, distribute the videos and collect sign-ups for their newsletter.”

Work on the project began in October and took about a month, he said. Interpolls is providing the ad hosting, serving and tracking in addition to the rich media technology. The ads are appearing on Ad Age and other industry sites.

Last year, Interpolls helped the Ad Council develop a campaign to fight underage drinking. Another campaign, which launched in January 2005, focused on terrorism preparedness.

In a statement announcing the campaign, Ad Council SVP of Interactive Services Barbara Shimaitis said the organization sees “a clear benefit in using rich media to achieve multiple goals… all within a single creative execution.” She praised Interpolls, saying the company’s “expertise and technology makes this possible.”