Facebook starts testing new "immersive" mobile ads
After unveiling the concept at the Cannes Lions advertising festival back in June, Facebook is today testing&nbsp;the (currently un-named) new type of mobile advertising. PepsiCo owned&nbsp;drink Gatorade, men's online retailer Mr. Porter, French retailer Carrefour&nbsp;and Michael&nbsp;Kors&nbsp;are&nbsp;the first companies&nbsp;to test this new "immersive advertising" feature. The new ads will give advertisers the ability to create fully-branded, interactive destinations within Facebook, featuring full-screen video, products information and other content. As&nbsp;the new ads will live exclusively within Facebook and&nbsp;not on advertisers websites, they will have the benefits of native apps,&nbsp;such as reduced loading time. &nbsp;&nbsp;
Gatorade and Mr Porter are among the brands testing Facebook's latest mobile ad platform – 'immersive advertising'.

Facebook doesn't describe the new immersive advertising opportunity as an ad format – but an “experience” that will enhance existing ads.

The network says the mobile proposition is fully open to customisation by advertisers to create mobile ads that do whatever they want.

“Marketers can link to a creative canvas from various ad formats and customise this surface with the content that drives their business objectives, including videos, photos, text and offsite links,” according to Facebook adding that it has only just started delving into the possibilities.

Testing is said to be at an early stage with a small number of advertisers, but there are no metrics to share as yet.

Immersive advertising was unveiled at Cannes this year by chief product officer Chris Cox as a way for advertisers to create rich media content on mobile.

Kelly Graziadei, director of ads product marketing, Facebook, said: "In June, we shared our vision of a creative canvas for marketers to develop immersive experiences with native speed and responsiveness on Facebook. We recently began testing this product through campaigns from leading marketers such as Gatorade, Michael Kors and Mr. Porter. We look forward to seeing how marketers use this surface to create compelling experiences for people and drive key objectives, including brand affinity and direct response."

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