Brands find higher engagement on rich media mobile ads

Eight months after the launch of its rich media mobile offering RM5, Snap Mobile, the mobile advertising arm of Pixel Media, says engagement levels on rich media ads are outpacing static mobile ads by as much as 10 times.Based on findings from more than 80 campaigns that ran on Snap Mobile’s RM5 mobile rich media suite, advertisers using native mobile functions found that 10% of users spend 15 seconds or more engaging with a brand when shown a HTML5 mobile rich media ad.The study also found that usage of full page mobile ads (commonly known as Crazy Ads in Hong Kong) grew by two times between the first and second half of 2013 while the usage of standard banner ads remained relatively stable.Snap Mobile said 68% of users surveyed preferred mobile rich media ads with interaction, engagement and calls to action, as opposed to static ads.“With over 80 HTML5 campaigns under our belt within an eight-month period, this re-affirms our belief that there has always been a pent up demand for HTML5 rich media ads,” Christine Lau, general manager of Snap Mobile, said in a statement.With projected mobile ad spend in Asia predicted to reach US$6.2 billion by 2016, Lau said clients are moving beyond static display images towards fully interactive and engaging formats.To date, major brands from Samsung, BMW, Audi, Dior, Canon, Estee Lauder Group, Omega, Lee Jeans, McDonald’s and LVMH Group have adopted HTML5 mobile rich media ads.Pixel Media announced the launch of RM5 in July last year, saying ads on mobile phone have largely failed to evolve alongside innovations in mobile devices.