AOL launches new ad platform with M&S

Blackberry and Marks & Spencer are the UK launch partners for AOL’s new interactive display ad format Project Devil.

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The new display ad formats are interactive and let advertisers include multimedia functionality such as video streaming and 3D images in their creative.

AOL claims the new ad format is the result of its acquisition of video ad network Goviral which it purhcased in in January for $74m.

Rob Blake, AOL’s VP of advertising in Europe, says that the new ad format lets advertisers run high impact campaigns as it serves users with only one
ad per page.

He adds: “Project Devil treats advertising as content, giving brands the chance to build creative that complements the editorial on the page, instead of competing with it, something which is central to AOL’s strategy.”

M&S is using the ad format to promote its summer fashion range as part of an integrated campaign which features Danni Minogue and veteran model Twiggy.

Meanwhile Blackberry manufacturer RIM is using the new ad format to highlight its Blackberry TorchTM device as part of a campaign brokered by media agency Starcom Mediavest.

John Baylon, digital trading director at Starcom Mediavest, said, “The display landscape hasn’t changed much in the past 10 years and we believe that Project Devil is the beginning of an exciting new era for the online advertising industry.”

The new ad format is currently live on the UK version of AOL’s celebrity channel Eleven.

This story first appeared on newmediaage.co.uk.

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