New Ford Flex and Focus Features’ “Burn After Reading” Interactive Advertising Campaigns to be Shown in PointRoll’s “Demo Limo”
SAN FRANCISCO – PointRoll, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI) and leading provider of rich media advertising, and USA TODAY premiered the first expandable, rich media ad units specifically created for the Apple iPhone. The new PointRoll product, initially launching on the USA TODAY mobile site, will feature both the Ford (NYSE: F) campaign for the all-new 2009 Ford Flex; and NBC Universal’s Focus Features campaign for Joel and Ethan Coen’s new movie, the comedy thriller “Burn After Reading,” starring George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton, and Brad Pitt, which opens nationwide this weekend.
During CTIA, held at Moscone West in San Francisco, Calif. on September 10-12, 2008, PointRoll will provide live demos of the iPhone rich media ads and overviews of the technology at The Marriott San Francisco in Suite Salon 4 and on-the-go in the “Demo Limo,” to help members of the media attending the conference reach their destinations while viewing the new interactive ads that will be distributed on the USA TODAY mobile site initially and on the global PointRoll Web-based advertising inventory in the near future.
“The new Ford Flex marketing campaign is all about engaging consumers in the most relevant and technologically advanced way possible. Mobile is the most interactive way of engaging potential and existing customers, and we are excited to provide wireless devices with the same rich media advertising capabilities that we currently use online,” said Ford Communications Manager, Usha Raghavachari. “Our key focus is to give our audiences relevant information to help them choose their next vehicle and this technology helps us take this to the next dimension.”
“The launch of our new iPhone solution is a great opportunity to showcase PointRoll’s innovation, by extending user-initiated rich media advertising to a new environment,” said Max Mead, Vice President, Business Development & Strategy for PointRoll. “We’ve fine tuned our advertising technologies to enable agencies and marketers from leading brands to create personalized and original interactive campaigns on web pages viewed on the iPhone.”
The PointRoll mobile ads are fully expandable upon user initiation and provide many advanced features including video click-to-play, coupon downloads, integrated mapping technology directly linked to Google Maps, user-initiated click-to-call and more. PointRoll also provides its in-depth engagement metrics and analytics, allowing marketers to track interaction rates, brand time, and other key measures of activity. Without requiring users to download any applications or plug-ins to view the ads, PointRoll’s full-service production team enables marketers to extend their current rich media campaigns into the highly-effective mobile environment with ease.
“PointRoll is staying ahead of the industry to offer marketers first-of-a-kind expandable interactive ads on mobile devices,” said Jason Tafler, CEO of PointRoll. “PointRoll’s rich media solutions are all about personalizing the conversation between marketers and their customers through engaging campaigns, and we are proud to be the first to introduce these capabilities into the mobile channel via the iPhone.”
Mobile advertising is growing incredibly quickly. In the fiscal 2008 third quarter, Apple sold 717,000 iPhones and remains on track to reach its target goal of selling 4 million iPhones in 2008, according to RBC Capital Markets. PointRoll leads the rich media industry, serving more than 70 billion rich media impressions each year and calling two-thirds of the Fortune 500 its clients.
The Demo Limo will be provided on September 10th only, during regular CTIA I.T. and Entertainment conference hours.
About PointRoll
PointRoll, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI), is the world’s leading online advertising rich media provider. PointRoll’s superior rich media technologies and services enable brand marketers to connect with consumers by creating interactive online environments. Providing interactive features such as streaming video, polling, instant e-mail and data collection, PointRoll delivers measurable online advertising campaign results. PointRoll serves more than 70 billion rich media impressions each year – and serves two-thirds of the Fortune 500 brands. For more information, please visit www.pointroll.com.
About USA TODAY
USA TODAY is the nation’s top-selling newspaper. It is published via satellite at 34 locations in the USA and at four sites abroad. With a total average daily circulation of 2.3 million, USA TODAY is available worldwide. USA TODAY is published by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI). The USA TODAY brand also includes: USATODAY.com, an award-winning news and information Web site that is updated 24 hours per day; USA TODAY Sports Weekly, a magazine for enthusiasts of college and professional football and baseball; USA TODAY Mobile, offering up-to-the minute news and information on a variety of mobile platforms and devices; and USA TODAY LIVE, the television arm of the USA TODAY brand that brings the spirit and quality of the newspaper to television.
