Interactive advertising
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Interactive Advertising is the use of interactive media to promote and/or influence the buying decisions of the consumer in an online and offline environment. Interactive advertising can utilise media such as the Internet, interactive television, mobile devices (WAP and SMS), as well as kiosk-based terminals.
Interactive advertising affords the marketer the ability to engage the consumer in a direct and personal way, enabling a sophisticated and dimensional dialogue, which can affect a potential customer's buying decisions particularly in an e-commerce environment.
Perhaps one of the most effective implementations of interactive advertising is so-called Viral marketing. This technique uses images, texts, web links, Flash animations, audio/video clips etc., passed from user to user chain letter-style, via email. A notable example of this is the Subservient Chicken, a campaign by Burger King to promote their new line of chicken sandwiches and the "Have It Your Way" campaign.
Interactive advertising is also assuming other avatars, such as online directories for brands. These directories presently perform a complementary role to conventional advertising, helping viewers recall and compare brands primarily seen on television. Response is mediated usually through forms and click-to-call technologies.
In early 2008, Pay per play advertising launched online. This type of advertising uses audio ads to get a website visitor's attention. Now, advertisers have one more way to interact with the senses of their target demographic.
Agencies and Designers
As the internet has expanded so has the interactive advertising industry, and most - if not all - of the major advertising players have a dedicated interactive business. These range from the global advertising agencies (Agency.com, AtmosphereBBDO, AKQA, Avenue A/Razorfish, Digitas, Ogilvy Interactive, Tribal DDB, and now RMG Connect - offers both off-line and online solutions, etc.) to specialized agencies such as imc2. Interactive media is also developing rapidly from out-of-home applications into location-based applications at public spaces such as shopping malls. US based Reactrix Systems, Inc started with its interactive floor projection systems providing "advertainment" in 2002 and Dubai based BrandPlay/Multisell Group is operating a regional wide interactive digital marketing network within malls in the middle east, utilizing floors and walls as interactive mediums.