Ultramercial Advertising Model Brings Success to Honda
LOS ANGELES, June 15 -- When ad agency RPA wanted their client Honda to gain more leverage and more measurable success from its online advertising last fall, it turned to Ultramercial, the ad firm that pioneered the online commercial that viewers choose to watch as "payment" to access premium content.
RPA launched this attention-for-content solution across five different Ultramercial network sites with six different carlines last October, and they are continuing with various campaigns through Q3 2006.
Ultramercial's unique positioning of the advertiser as the "good guy," who essentially grants free access to normally-paid content, has brought Honda great dividends. Since launch, click-through rates and average viewing times have exceeded Ultramercial's already-high Q1 2006 averages of 6.85% click-through and 43.2 seconds average time spent with each commercial.
"The level of viewer engagement that this format generated was exactly what we were looking for," said Edmund Purcell, Management Supervisor, RPA. "We were also very pleased with the measurable increase in traffic that beat our expectations, directly attributable to Ultramercial."
The incentive to opt-in was generated by granting free access to premium content the viewer would normally have to pay for in an honest, upfront exchange of value. This included a Site Pass at Salon.com, where a regular subscription would cost $35 a year; a 14-day free trial at Rhapsody (usually $9.99 a month); a Day Pass into TheStreet's premium RealMoney site, regularly $24.95 a month; and a session pass into ABC's exclusive LOST photo galleries.
Ultramercial's opt-in model meant that 100% of all Honda impressions began with the viewer's choice to engage through the use of a start button. Once started, viewers interacted with and finished each ad at their own pace.
"This level of premium content sponsorship is a big part of what made this campaign a success," said Paul Grusche, SVP Sales & Marketing at Ultramercial. "Our publisher partners bring the kind of compelling content for which viewers are very willing to provide their attention and engagement."
Honda made full use of Ultramercial's large ad format, by designing optional interactive activities after video spots, such as a Ridgeline themed "Concentration" card game. This encouraged viewers to engage further and learn more about Ridgeline's features. These optional activities, inside each of the six creatives, also extended standard run times for each commercial, to an average of 50 seconds.
Honda is continuing the campaign through June 30th on various Ultramercial network sites.
About Ultramercial, LLC
Ultramercial, LLC markets its patents-pending business model and ad unit that grants Internet users free access to premium content after choosing to watch and engage with its full-screen multi-page commercials. Ultramercial, LLC is privately held, headquartered in Palos Verdes Estates, California with offices serving New York and Detroit. The company maintains contracts with a network of online publishers and advertisers. Information is available at http://www.ultramercial.com/. Ultramercial is a registered trademark of Ultramercial, LLC.
