Advertising on the digital tablet platform is a new area and offers a completely revolutionary way for consumers to interact with brands.  It has only been around for less than one year but already advertisers are seeing the benefits of taking part in this brilliant medium.

That said the successful advertisers are the ones thinking about this medium as an opportunity to do things differently. An opportunity to start over with limitless options, uncompromising creativity, and offering a solution that is contextual and relevant.

These advertisers seem to be only a handful amongst the greater ad-environs, and there seem to be a large number of advertisers / media companies who think they can get away with selling the old-school method. As an avid tablet user myself, when confronted with an un-contextual, non-interactive ad in one of my favourite apps I’m immediately turned away. Tablet ads that are rich, interactive and offer “context” and “content” are far more enjoyable and I actually find myself engaging with them unknowingly.

A report published by Alex Wang of the University of Connecticut outlines the increasing demand from consumers to control their media experience…

“Digital formats now allow readers to interact with and navigate through magazine content. On one hand, publishers are able to retain the design fidelity of a print magazine and add the interactivity dimension that captivates reader attention and creates a more engaging experience. On the other hand, advertisers can enhance the engagement of their advertisements because of this digital solution.”

What I liked about this quote (and also the entire paper) is that it identified one of the key differences between tablet advertising, traditional advertising and online advertising – the value of design, interactivity and retaining the fidelity of traditional print advertising – which makes it so appealing in the first place – and also throwing in a mix of HD multimedia that until now, only TV could provide. Tablet advertising is the sweet-spot between the quality and standards of print and TV, and offers what the web has struggled so hard to do for the last decade… engage the audience.

The key to creating a successful digital tablet advertising campaign (in my mind) is first and foremost to throw out all the pre-conceptions you might have about digital advertising… There are no standards in this space, there are no file size limitations (within reason of course) and there is certainly no compromise to creativity and fidelity. What I would suggest is this – keep it simple and keep in contextual. The days of gimmicks are over, the days of invasive one-way brand communication just won’t cut it. Brands need to open a two-way channel with their consumers, they need to provide a clear message and articulate a clear intention, and most of all that need to offer context to content.

Source:
Digital Ad Engagement:
Perceived Interactivity as a Driver of Advertising Effectiveness
Alex Wang, Ph.D.
University of Connecticut – Stamford

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