The process of testing the new type of ads involved EyeTrack tests along with behavioral reactions of participants
Various formats available to advertisers with La Presse+
La Presse+ creative kit for advertisers
From the start, La Presse+’s advertising involved unique, tablet-driven ads that allowed for users to engage with the content of the products sold. Talk about making the finger happy! The La Presse+ team created a series of ad formats that were anything but static. The user could run her finger over an automobile and change the color, of swipe through a catalog of travel choices.
The team also knew that the advertising agencies were not ready to provide those type of ads. They had to invent them themselves, and provide a catalog of such choices for their advertising clients.
I spoke to Jean-Charles Rocha, who was involved before launch with his team at La Presse+ and now heads strategy and advertising sales for Nuglif clients (a subsidiary of La Presse overseeing commercialization, operations and implementation of the La Presse+ platform).
Following the theme of reach and engagement that has been the foundation of the La Presse+ product, the team knew that there had to be choices, each enhancing the engagement between reader and ad. Therefore, there are regular ads, extra ads and branded special issues (rich native content with extremely high engagement level).
But before the team could advance, there had to be research about all this innovative advertising, not only to record how the eyes moved on an ad, but also the reaction of the person seeing the ad. “Body language, emotions, became very important to us during the period of testing,” Jean=Charles told me.
As expected, interactivity made a tremendous difference in the way users engaged with the ads.
With no interactivity, the engagement was 3.4 seconds, with simple interactivity, 4.6 seconds, but video-audio increased it to 9.1 seconds and multiple interactivity to 9.2 seconds.
The idea was to continue the process of storytelling via the ads, to make sure that users not only engaged and enjoyed the traditional storytelling through news and features, but also with advertising. The innovative advertising proved to be a winner from the start, with 56% of respondents expressing satisfaction and saying they liked the ads a lot.
The Formats
Once the concept was developed the next step was to create units that would make production easy. The following formats were created:
Premium—Exclusive formats allowing the advertiser to stand out by positioning themselves on the first screen of each section (except section A – News).
Dominance—High impact formats that deliver maximum reader attention by occupying 50 to 100% of screen space.
Presence—Smaller formats that offer close proximity to other content.
With that done, it was back to the lab to create sample ads. Some 1,500 ads were produced, with 26 interactivities codes redeveloped. Then came tests with creative agencies, validating Creative Tool Kit and processing materials for delivery. Over 600 people were involved in the training sessions.
If interested
The newly formed consulting firm Nuglif is ready to offer its skills and experience for creative production.
For a look at the La Presse+ 's creative kit
http://troussecreation.lapresse.ca/en.
Coming up in the La Presse+ series
Tomorrow:
La Presse+: A Success story, part 4-the design details
Wednesday:
La Presse+: A Success story, part 5--the audience reacts
Previously in the La Presse+ series
La Presse+: A Tablet Edition Success Story in Montreal.
http://garciamedia.com/blog/la_presse_a_tablet_edition_success_story_in_montrea
La Presse+: A Success story, part 2—the concept and the technology
http://garciamedia.com/blog/la_presse_a_success_story_part_2the_concept_and_the_technology
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La Presse+ tablet edition gets a 30% rise in readership since axing weekday print edition
