MAM
MSN, Unicast ally to provide rich media advertising options
REDMOND : Microsoft has announced an alliance with Unicast Communications, a leading provider of online advertising solutions, leveraging its support for Unicast’s Online Format Suite on the portal MSN. As an extension of the rich media vendor offerings on MSN, which started with Eyeblaster Inc. and PointRoll in September, the alliance solidifies the commitment MSN has made to providing advertisers with a wide and varied selection of advertising options.
An official release stated that the alliance combines the most-sought-after audience with a leading provider of standardised online ad formats.
Advertisers and advertising agencies now can place any of the rich media ads within Unicast’s Online Format Suite on the high-traffic channels of MSN, capturing consumers’ attention with integrated and consistent messaging across all their online and offline advertising initiatives.
MSN’s global acceptance of Unicast’s In-Between-Page ads (SUPERSTITIAL transitional ads), Over-Page units (TopLayer floating ads) and In-Page units (banners, skyscrapers and IMU units) also coincides with the rollout of rich media services in 34 international MSN markets.
MSN claims to have made a commitment to offer advertisers an unbeatable selection of rich media services and third-party vendors. The company says that its relationship with Unicast adds credence to that goal by offering advertisers a highly engaged audience of 300 million unique users worldwide as well as a more diverse variety of advertising options.
The release also stated that MSN differentiates itself from other Web portals by providing more control over the rich media advertising environment and its experience. Rather than relying solely on individual vendors to control the frequency of rich media ads, MSN used proprietary, network-focused technology to regulate ad frequency. This control mechanism helped to protect the consumer experience, prevent overexposure of an advertiser’s brand, and multiple rich media ad experiences from appearing simultaneously while consumers are on the MSN network.
The alliance will allow advertisers to use their offline assets, including television commercials, to create In-Between-Page ads that anchor their online campaigns, then extend those messages in Over-Page and In-Page units to achieve overall consistency and message reinforcement. This single-source solution is designed to eliminate the duplicating and time-consuming process of multiple negotiations and make online advertising a more efficient medium to operate.
The international adoption of rich media services on MSN began in November and is scheduled to conclude by the middle of December. Once the rollout to all countries and subsidiaries is complete, advertisers will be able to run dynamic rich media ads essentially anywhere in the world where MSN is available.
Brands
Faber-Castell India appoints Sunaina Haldar as director – marketing
With stints at Tata, SleepyCat and ADF Foods under her belt, Haldar is primed to redraw Faber-Castell’s brand story
MUMBAI: Faber-Castell India has poached Sunaina Haldar from ADF Foods, appointing her director – marketing as the German stationery brand looks to muscle up in a category that is rapidly reinventing itself around creativity and self-expression.
Haldar hit the ground running. “My first couple of weeks have been incredibly energising, understanding consumers, visiting markets, engaging with retailers and immersing myself into the world of Faber-Castell Group,” she said.
She arrives with considerable firepower. At ADF Foods, Haldar ran marketing across India and international markets for a portfolio spanning Ashoka, Aeroplane, Camel and ADF Soul. Before that, she was vice-president – marketing at direct-to-consumer mattress brand SleepyCat, where she helmed brand, content and performance marketing. Her résumé also includes a stint leading marketing, new product development and CRM for Tata SmartFoodz at Tata Consumer Products, no small proving ground.
Between corporate roles, Haldar also operated as a fractional CMO for early-stage startups, building marketing strategy and operational structures from scratch, a signal that she knows how to move fast with limited resources.
With 18 years straddling FMCG, D2C and the startup world, Haldar now takes the reins at a brand that has long owned the classroom but is clearly hungry for the living room. In a stationery market where the pencil has become a lifestyle statement, Faber-Castell has picked someone who knows exactly how to sell that story.
