New ad format lifts Howzit MSN above the stars

Howzit MSN is launching six new Rising Stars advert formats from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB). These formats are designed to offer higher engagement rates for advertisers and a better experience for the user.

These six powerful formats offer higher engagement rates for advertisers and a better experience for the end-user. By embracing the formats, Howzit MSN is making it easy for advertisers to launch richer, more creative digital campaigns at scale.

The IAB is the global trade association for digital advertising. The IAB Rising Star ad formats - chosen through proposals submitted in an IAB competition for the digital industry - offer the industry six creative canvases, which can be run across multiple publishers.

MSN – operated in South Africa by Kagiso Media under the Howzit MSN brand - was among the first to adopt these ad standards and implement them globally. Two of the new IAB formats were created by Microsoft Advertising - the Filmstrip and the Sidekick.

Says Howzit MSN general manager Marcus Stephens: “Rising Stars have proven themselves to be as friendly to the user as they are effective for brand advertisers. These new ad formats give brands great opportunities and efficiencies in advertising, providing them with the creative canvas to tell their brand stories and engage their audiences.”

Research by the IAB and IPG Media Lab into the effectiveness of Rising Stars ads found that users perceived these formats to be better designed, more engaging, and more enjoyable than most ads online.

The survey, which used eye-tracking and facial coding technology to measure interaction levels, found that users are two-and-a-half times more likely to interact with a Rising Stars advert. The formats also showed double the dwell time and brand recall of up to four times higher.  User click throughs were achieved twice as quickly with a Rising Stars ad.

The six new formats are as follows:

- The IAB Filmstrip is a powerful new canvas that combines five ads in one

300x600 unit.  It gives consumers a content-rich interactive experience that doesn’t interrupt their viewing.

- The IAB Sidekick, covering two thirds of the page when the user interacts with it, provides advertisers with a large canvas similar to the ones that are used in TV and print.

- The IAB Billboard is a huge 970x250 creative canvas that offers advertisers full rich media interactivity. Advertisers can choose how to use the billboard’s vast space for optimal interaction. 

- The IAB Pushdown canvas expands to 970x415 upon user interaction. When a predetermined time passes or the user closes the expanded Pushdown, the ad resolves into a 970x90 Leave Behind ad. The IAB Pushdown is perfect for high-definition content such as videos, photos, animations, and applications.

- The IAB Slider is an overlay unit on the bottom of a page which expands to reveal a full-page canvas for branded content. It never falls below the fold and never covers editorial content.

- The IAB Portrait’s 300x1050 canvas allows for lots of content and interaction right next to the editorial. It offers complete plug and play functionality.

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