MSN
MSN provides high impact advertising options
MUMBAI: MSN has announced that its new portfolio of free and premium web services extends the power of broadband to the advertisers. In addition, it provides additional opportunities for marketers to more effectively reach its online audience.
Fuelled by feedback from consumers, marketers, and ad agency executives, MSN now offers advertisers new high-impact advertising options. These include TV-like ads, via a new, free, streaming-video service, MSN Video. There are also new MSN home page ad products such as expandable ad space that provide advertisers with improved flexibility and greater potential for creativity; and Universal Ad Package (UAP) standardised ads. This makes it more efficient for advertisers to plan, create and purchase ad space.
MSN VP, chief revenue officer Joanne Bradford was quoted in a company release saying, ” The 50 per cent revenue growth we’ve experienced in our advertising business over the past year demonstrates how important online advertising has become and specifically how MSN has solidified itself as a top media property across all media.”
One of the products is Video on MSN, which arms advertisers with a new way to grab consumer attention online via the popular medium of streaming video. MSN claims that a variety of leading companies have embraced this advertising medium by purchasing 15-second video spots on a scheduled rotation, making it a model similar to television advertising.
The spots are integrated with MSN Video’s high-resolution news, sports, entertainment and other programming. Contextual ads are displayed on the MSN Video on-screen player to help tie the emotional impact of television with the instant interactivity of online. For example, following each video advertisement, the advertiser’s contextual ad remains on the MSN Video on-screen player until the next ad runs, enabling the advertiser’s message to stay top-of-mind without intruding on or detracting from the consumer’s experience.
Revlon’s media internet VP Kiki Rees supports the MSN initiative saying, “We are excited to have the Internet offer a non-traditional advertising vehicle with the emotional impact of television. MSN has succeeded in doing this with MSN Video, which strategically utilizes our existing television creative and provides Revlon with a medium that is relevant not only to our core consumer but to a broader audience, giving us a wider reach than ever before.”
In addition, MSN’s home page has been redesigned and optimised for broadband to provide consumers and advertisers alike with a dynamic and more streamlined cleaner environment. Along with its updated look and feel, MSN features a variety of ad products to suit different budgets and campaign goals. It also claims to offer a richer experience by providing more creative space, larger file weights, over-the-page formats and support for multiple flash style files; and easy application of standardised UAP sizes.
MUMBAI: Portal MSN India is celebrating six years of existence in the country. On this occasion it along with ad sales partner NDTV Media is offering a value add for clients by unveiling new advertising packages it has specially created for the portal.
The new online advertising packages feature special effects. The aim is to help brands ensure that their message reaches out a larger audience online. The company says that higher quality and enhanced graphics have been complimented with innovative newer online advertising tools. This allows advertisers a host of newer ways to promote their products.
Speaking on the same MSN and Windows Live India country head Jaspreet Bindra says that this package gives ad agencies the tools they need to help make the ad a more interactive experience for the user. It also allows for different creatives to be done for one product.
Bindra says that MSN’s package results in rich media of a better quality compared with what competing portals can offer. MSN has done innovations with clients. For instance it came out with an over the Page video ad innovation for Tata Racing. Basically the company wanted to take advantage of the interest in Formula One. MSN is also doing an ad innovation for eBay. Here if one clicks the ad it expands.
Talking about the relationship with MSN, NDTV Media CEO Raj Nayak says, “Nine months ago we approached MSN and told them that they needed to look at how they sell ads from a different angle. We decided to adopt a method that combines the way television and print are sold. We do not sell based on click throughs or page impressions.
“We sell on the basis of the period of time that an advertiser wants visibility for and daypart chosen. From 60 clients on MSN before we came onboard there are now 265 clients. We have managed to triple MSN’s revenues in six months time.”
MSN also came out with the unique concept of desktop TV. This is a section where video ads run daily. They have also done a deal with Indiantelevision.com for the desktop TV feature. In terms of dealing with clients selling in daypart means that once that time that one has bought the ad for elapses then the ad goes off the site. For instance a client can buy an ad for a month each day between 9am – 12 pm which MSN says is prime time. After 12 pm each time the video ad or banner goes off the site each day. The day is divided into six parts and the price for ads depends on the traffic MSN gets at that point of time on an average.
Bindra adds that MSN has configured the software so that video ads can run even on computers that do not have high bandwith. That is one of the factors that separates it from other portals. Also some video ads run after the user clicks on it while others start automatically once a certain page is opened. That is the choice of a client. MSN does not allow more than three ads on a page.
Nayak claims that the client drop of rate is only four to five per cent which means that clients find value in this way of advertising. “We have managed to get clients to change their way of thinking about how they advertise on the web. What we are doing marks a paradigm shift in terms of how the internet is being sold to clients.”
Another innovative way for clients to reach MSN users is through the Live Messenger. Here a Bot backend programme is created so that for instance one can chat with Munnabhai. There was a similar initiative done for Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna (Kank). Bindra says that the messenger icon can be made to look like a star. The same concept can be applied to clients like Coca Cola. Plans are in the pipeline to enable the user who clicks on a banner to interact with Live Messenger from the client.
Of course for films like Kank, Rang De Basanti MSN has aimed to give users a complete experience. So one could get among other things downloadable screen savers, stills from the movie, a plot synopsis based on the story-line, details of the cast and crew etc.
