InSkin Media launches mobile ad format to help reduce ad-blocking
InSkin Media has launched a mobile ad format in conjunction with Tourism New Zealand to advance digital advertising; monetising mobile web content while delivering a satisfactory user experience. The smartphone ad format, PageSkin Edge aims to reduce ad-blocking with its lightweight design and less intrusive presence and to encourage a greater level of engagement; a balance needs to be struck between boosting publishers turnover and delivering a worthwhile and less frustrating user experience.

InSkin Media has teamed up with Tourism New Zealand to reveal its latest technology format to evolve non-standard digital advertising.

According to the company, the new PageSkin Edge smartphone ad format is purpose-built to more effectively monetise mobile web content and overcome ad blocking, while also returning outstanding engagement and viewability figures.

PageSkin Edge wraps around the top and right-hand sides of mobile web content, with an animated element that accompanies the reader down the right-hand-side of the page.

Matt Newcomb, InSkin’s general manager for Australia and New Zealand, said this approach is designed to enrich the publisher ecosystem with premium ad creative, while not intruding on the user experience.

“There’s no doubt that people are getting frustrated with their online experience, and you see that play out through ad blocking,” he said.

“This format addresses the challenges of balancing publisher revenues and user experience. It delivers high dwell times and interaction rates for advertisers, which increase publisher revenue while reflecting the IAB’s LEAN principles in being lightweight and ‘polite’, giving less reason to block ads and an enhanced mobile experience for the publisher and the reader.”

Newcomb also noted that mobile is driving online advertising growth and now accounts for nearly $2 billion of the online market, according to research by IAB.

PageSkin Edge marks InSkin’s arrival into the smartphone ad format arena, with the company having already partnered with local publishers to deliver ad formats for desktop and tablet devices.

With media from Mindshare and creative from Whybin\TBWA Sydney, Tourism New Zealand is running a campaign on InSkin’s premium publisher network across desktop, tablet and mobile to promote the country’s North Island.

Tourism New Zealand’s general manager for Australia, Tony Saunders, said the campaign is aimed at an audience that demands engaging content via interactive digital formats.

“Tourism New Zealand targets independent professionals and active [Baby] Boomers who are looking for unique experiences and we believe this extends to the advertising they engage with,” he said.

“InSkin’s Pageskin Edge format provides outstanding in-view times and viewability scores, while also showcasing a variety of holiday experiences in the North Island.”

Mindshare’s Maddy Nash said the campaign has enjoyed quality engagement and boosted brand dwell-time, with a 96.5 per cent viewability and an average in-view time of 48 seconds.

“Where mobile formats are typically known for low-dwell and higher-click, this InSkin campaign focused more on branding, while still managing a [click-through rate] of 1.69 per cent – a figure well above industry benchmarks,” she said.