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Facebook Canvas' success depends on unique content paired with data

The launch of Facebook's Canvas ad platform opens up a wealth of new capabilities for marketers, but the winners will need to share interactive, innovative ads that tap consumer insights.

Campaigns from brands such as Gatorade and Coca-Cola have created interactive storytelling experiences with which consumers can interact, without a frustrating user experience. Brands should consider how to take advantage of the opportunity Canvas provides to create a unique experience, and then pair that innovation with intel on consumer demographics and data.  

?Facebook is in the best position to bring a scalable, custom native ad solution to market given the size of its audience across its O&O apps,? said Jennifer Lum, co-founder and chief strategy officer at Adelphic. ?The Canvas units will pose a threat to mobile rich media ad creation platforms once it rolls out support across FAN, and potentially LiveRail.

?It is important for advertisers to understand the audience insights and performance data that they will be able to access from the Canvas units, and the level of control they will have to optimize both campaign and ad unit performance,? she said. 

Drink up marketing
Coca-Cola created an ad campaign that introduced its aluminum bottle, targeted to Spanish-speaking users. Users were able to scroll through a unique visual experience of the brand transforming its original glass bottle into the new aluminum, as well as a time-lapse video of an artist creating a mural. 


Gatorade also shared an advertising campaign featuring tennis player Serena Williams, which created an interactive storytelling experience that users swiped through in a carousel format. The ads appeared in targeted users? news feeds on Facebook?s mobile applications, which interested users clicked on to interact with the ad story. 

Full page Facebook
The Facebook Canvas platform focuses on bringing full-page ads in carousel and interactive formats while minimizing load time and un-optimized experiences. Gatorade?s ad opens full page once clicked on and provides readers with a comprehensive history of Ms. Williams? accomplishments. 


Users were able to scroll through her accomplishments at will through the carousel format that paired high quality video and still images. 

Facebook?s original carousel ad launched showed 30 to 50 percent lower cost-per-conversion, and Procter & Gamble bet on the interactive ads to drive trial for its latest product innovation ? Febreze with Tide Original Scent ? by linking to Coupons.com on the last panel (see more). 

Better, faster mobile experiences at scale are also evident with Google?s Accelerated Mobile Pages project, with publishers expecting to see a strong presence in mobile search results ? driving reach, consumption and advertising opportunities ? even as initial challenges include page code restrictions and ad tech redundancies (see more). 

?As one of the very first brands to leverage Canvas, Gatorade built an immersive experience celebrating Serena Williams through full-screen video, photo carousels in a compelling and interactive style,? said Nate Mosack, director at Resolution Media. ?Whether it be a new product launch, an online catalog, or brand storytelling, brands have an opportunity to customize the experience to drive deeper engagement and action.?