Mobile rich media advertising is attracting a wide array of brands and retailers this holiday season for its ability to engage consumers, increase brand recognition and drive sales.
 
With Nokia recently tallying up more than 70,000 mobile video views from a recent campaign for the Lumia 925, RadioShack, Samsung and ampm are taking notice of the potential in mobile rich media and have committed to campaigns for the holidays. Tapjoy powered the Nokia campaign and is working with the other marketers on their holiday campaigns.
 
"Rich media allows the consumer to deeply engage and interact with an advertiser instead of just static banners or videos," said Shannon Jessup, vice president of sales at Tapjoy, San Francisco. "They can design a car, scroll through product galleries, [or] play an interactive game to learn more."
 
"It is an opportunity to bring the consumer all the way from 'awareness' down to 'purchase' all in a single native unit," she said. "Rich media gives you limitless possibilities in types of creatives you can use."

Nokia, RadioShack, Samsung and ampm were not available for comment.
 
Enriching ads
Unlike standard text or display ads, which are just read or viewed, rich media ads invite users' interaction. For example, Tapjoy's rich media ads also offer users rewards for engaging with the ads.

The Nokia Lumia 925 campaign resulted in a video completion rate of about 73 percent, compared to the industry average of 40 percent.
 

Another view of the ad

Users had to watch the entire Lumia 925 video to earn rewards.

They did not earn rewards if they visited the Nokia Web site or viewed a gallery of Lumia 925 images, both which they were invited to do at the video's end. However, Tapjoy said giving users that option increased their engagement.
 
Advertisers only pay for completed actions and reward users for advertisement engagement in Tapjoy's performance-based model.
 
"Rich media is immersive and engaging," Ms. Jessup said. "The consumer drives the action and chooses what to do and how they want to engage with the ad versus simply being shown a banner ad or a static image. Instead of just a video pre-roll, the user can watch a video, scroll through product images, options, find a retailer or buy through mcommerce."
 
Increasing engagement
Other marketers are also seeing success with mobile rich media.

Tic Tac saw a 7.94 percent engagement rate with its October Shake, Share and Care rich media campaign. It featured a pink banner ad that read ?Shake share and care? and asked consumers to ?Tap here now."

When clicked, the ad expanded to the whole screen and said ?Shake it up for more,? with Tic Tacs moving around the screen when consumers shook their phone. If consumers tapped a Tic Tac, they would be directed to Tic Tac?s Facebook page (see story). 

In October, Chrysler also showed strong engagement with its rich media ad for its new four-door Fiat 500L, which leveraged finger swiping (see story).

Ms. Jessup said she expects more brands and retailers to run rich media campaigns and more consumers to try out the ads.
 
"So not only are consumers choosing to seek out ads, they get to choose which ad to engage with - the ones that resonate with them the most. Brands want that connection and attention from the consumer," she said.
 
Final Take
Kari Jensen is staff writer on Mobile Marketer, New York