Announces Rising Stars Mobile Contest, Encourages Ideas That Drive Brand Creativity In Mobile
New York, NY – To rally the marketing and media industry in a creative movement across smartphones, tablets and other connected devices, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) launched a formal call-for-entries to its new Rising Stars Mobile contest. Announced at the IAB “Mobile in the Mainstream…and as the New Main Screen” in New York City, the competition encourages agencies, marketers and publishers to effectively delve deeper into the mobile arena. The winning submissions – which will be named the first-ever IAB-endorsed mobile ad formats – will be selected based on their potential to propel brand creativity on mobile devices at scale.
“We call upon experts across the marketing and media landscape to submit their most innovative ideas for the next wave of mobile ad formats,” said Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO, IAB. “Smartphones and connected devices are everywhere and if we are to tap into mobile’s full potential, we must deliver engaging experiences that serve marketers and resonate with consumers – all within the palm of their hands.”
This contest is part of the IAB’s larger Rising Stars initiative aimed at broadening the creative canvas across the interactive advertising spectrum. It kicked off in September 2010 with the launch of the Rising Stars Display competition. After a months-long review phase, the IAB announced the six winners in February 2011. By June 36 top-tier advertisers – including GM, Home Depot, Kraft, Procter & Gamble, Unilever and Universal Pictures – had already implemented one or more of the six new display ad formats to tell their brand stories.
“If the success of Rising Stars Display is any indication, Rising Stars Mobile is likely to be a real motivating factor in revving up mobile interactive advertising with blue-chip brands and publishers,” said Peter Minnium, IAB Consulting Director and head of the Rising Stars program. “These prospective ad formats are sure to be great enhancements to already established mobile advertising guidelines from other organizations like the MMA.”
A cross-disciplinary panel of judges that will include agency creative directors, media executives and adoperations specialists will lead the IAB Rising Stars Mobile selection process. The mobile ad unit submissions will be evaluated on the following criteria:
User Experience – How well does the ad format positively impact the user experience?
Branding – How well does the ad format provide a canvas for brand creativity?
Functionality – How does the ad format take advantage of mobile user behaviors and technologies?
Page Integration – How does the ad format enhance the relationship between the ad and the mobile publisher content?
Adoption – How easily could the ad format be widely adopted across the mobile ecosystem?
“With brand marketers saying they plan on increasing their mobile ad buys over the next two years, there is no better time to develop the first IAB-endorsed mobile ad units to help advertisers better integrate this rapidly developing platform with their traditional ad campaign strategies,” said Anna Bager, Vice President and General Manager of the Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence. “This initiative is part of the Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence’s core objectives and we are thrilled to start the submission process.”
Submissions for the new mobile ad units will be accepted until October 15 and the selection process will span the remainder of 2011. In 2012, a set of Rising Stars Mobile ad units will be chosen and subsequently evaluated in-market based upon consumer and business adoption, with new IAB-endorsed mobile ad units named by the end of the year.
To submit prospective mobile ad units and to learn more about the criteria, please go to: http://www.iab.net/risingstarsmobile
To find out more about the Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence, please go to: http://www.iab.net/mmcoe
