The IAB’s move to re-evaluate the file-size standard for display ads has been welcomed by some agencies because it will increase efficiency and lower costs for clients, while others think it is an old debate that no longer has relevance.

The current 40K standard has not been reviewed by the IAB for a number of years, in which time bandwidth has become faster and technology has improved. As such, some media owners now accept more than 40K, meaning creative agencies could have to build multiple variations of the same MPU in order to deliver the best possible ad for their client.

Dave Harrison, digital agency Spicerack’s founder and creative director, said, “I would like to see things become more standardised. Some media owners now have a file size limit of 50K for all display media and if an ad is submitted even slightly over that then the system will reject it, but others are more flexible and although they say they have a 40K limit, you could send them a 47K or 48K ad and it will be accepted.”

As the standard is not being monitored regularly and in line with development, Harrison believes it has forced creative agencies to take matters into their own hands. If an over-sized ad is accepted by a media owner, he said the agency will then continue to supply ads in that size because they know it has been accepted before.

But it means agencies are having to build multiple creatives in order to satisfy the demands of different media owners, which increases the cost for the client.

Jack Wallington, IAB head of industry programmes, said, “The fact that broadband speeds are dramatically faster than when the standard came into place means that we do need to look at it and address it.”

The standard hasn’t been reviewed sooner, he said, because there are ways of getting around the problem.

Digital agency Amaze uses polite loading, which allows the frame of the ad to be loaded at 40K, before the server “polite loads” the rest of the ad without affecting usability or speed.

Amaze CEO Natalie Gross said, “By using a third-party ad server, such as Mediamind, to ad serve any non-standard display creative, we can build ads to a larger file size, which can be served as a polite-load ad. This does have price implications in terms of increasing the cost of ad serving, but results in less creative hours and trafficking time, which often works out as the less expensive option for the client.”

The IAB has just updated the standard in the US, taking into account different ad types and formats.

“There are different file sizes for different formats, but if all the media owners and networks stick to those standards, it does simplify and standardise the market,” said Wallington. “We’re taking into account what the US has done to bring consistency to the UK and Europe.”

Gross said that if the IAB enforces standardisation across all display ad units, it will help the industry as a whole, but she reckons it will be difficult to get all publishers, networks and exchanges to agree to the ideal of a “one-size-fits-all” approach.

Nick Suckley, Agenda21 managing partner, doesn’t think file size standardisation is a particularly big issue any more, because although the spec is often ignored by creative agencies, as long as it is in the region, he said media owners aren’t generally that draconian about it.

However, he can see the benefit of having more stringent standards on a practical level. “If we’re getting different file formats from different publishers, there is more administration to deal with,” he said. “And from a creative point of view, the production costs are higher. If clients can save money from having standardised ads, that can only be a good thing, and it would be easier for us to deal with as well.”

Geoff Gower, AIS creative director, said although he agrees with the argument to some extent, the debate is out dated. “It’s not that relevant any more,” he said. “Yes, it would be nice if it was easier for us to work with one set of standards, but that by its very nature means we’ll continue to deliver the same type of ads. Sensible, forward-thinking brands should be looking at bigger, more flexible sponsorship and partnership models, rather than just buying more space and shouting at people.”

The IAB has so far surveyed media owners and networks and is in the process of getting the demand view. The results of the research will be revealed at the end of Q1.

http://www.nma.co.uk/news/display-ad-file-size-debated-as-standards-come-under-review/3033808.article

‘It’s exciting to re-connect with our old hunting ground, having been a member previously as a Profero board director. During that time we were heavily involved in the creation of the Creative Showcase, alongside the IAB, Glue and the Guardian. I was a judge on that panel over its first year.

I met some great individuals, many of whom are still heavily on the scene. They have helped shape the digital media landscape over the years, and we’re looking forward to contributing again in this evolving space as part of such a respected trade body.”

Dave has been selected to be part of the Display Steering committee for his significant experience across online media. His knowledge over 14 years across new ad formats, brand metrics and engagement models will be highly sought after across the IAB membership.

The online interactive campaign will evoke the Clarks First Shoe experience featuring the ‘crawling and walking’ stages that takes place in the early years of a child’s development. This online display campaign will be featured on a number of high profile parenting sites including Annabel Karmel, Netmums and Bounty.

Spicerack Creative Director Dave Harrison said, ‘We were honoured to work on this project, sharing the rich heritage of Clarks and using our digital media experience to demonstrate in a fun way a key milestone in a parent and child’s life.’

Quote from Michelle Evans, Digital & Direct Marketing Manager at Clarks International
We were very impressed with the creative ideas when we first met Spicerack. It has been a pleasure working with them and we are very pleased with the outcome.

Note to Editors:

Company Description
Selling more than 40 million pairs of shoes each year in some 50 countries, Clarks is the world’s number one casual shoe brand. The firm is a UK favourite, with a range of fashionable men’s, women’s and children’s shoes available through a large network of stores, department stores and the internet. Founded in 1825 as a sheepskin company, Clarks is still owned by descendants of co-founder James Clark.

Company Description
Spicerack (www.spicerack.co.uk) is an interactive creative agency operating from London and Bridgwater. Clients include L’Oréal Paris, Garnier and other FMCG brands (Client NDA protected). The company was founded in 2004 by Dave Harrison, previously Creative and Board director at Profero, where he was responsible for some of their biggest accounts, including Disney, COI, CNN and BT.

You will be familiar with the digital scene and relish working with international brands.

You must be comfortable with dealing with clients and managing your own projects.

You will be working in a small team, moving things forward as an integral part of an agency with ambitious growth plans.

The successful applicant should:

• be degree-qualified in a graphics discipline

• have a digital agency background

• be adept in designing with Flash and timeline animations

• be a team player and confident communicator

• have a slick portfolio of highly creative and polished projects

• possess meticulous attention to detail

• ideally have experience in forward-thinking technologies such as handheld, apps, web and social media

• be keen for career growth

Not asking for much, are we!

A competitive salary will be dependent on your experience. The successful candidate will also be offered free membership at our excellent on-site health club.

Please send a covering letter and CV to: iwannabepartof@spicerack.co.uk

No recruitment agencies please.

Location: M5 J23 – 30 miles south of Bristol

Hours: Full Time

Contract Type: Permanent

Salary: Negotiable

The initial point of entry to the list is via Twitter but it is judged on users’ wider social media profiles, on Facebook and LinkedIn for example, if they have logged into Peer Index and given permission for this. For more information about the methodology see the bottom of this page or visit the Peer Index website (http://www.peerindex.com/help/scores).

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This week’s opening remarks at the IAB’s Innovation Days — “The Future of Display” — were music to my ears. Amid the market drone on bidded media, audience buying and algorithmic marketing, Randall Rothenberg’s take on the commoditization of our industry played the room like a blast of fresh air. As the IAB devotes airtime this week to the future of display media, there was talk of changing the dialogue, or, as I see it, reverting back to the dialogue we were having before we got all loopy and lopsided on math.

Rothenberg pronounced that brand marketers are facing a “consumer pursuit crisis.” That, yes, display collectively (all types) may be seeing 40% of our digital spend. But consumers are moving into places that brand marketers are uncomfortable following them. How are we as an industry helping them hasten and close the loop on their pursuit? How are we helping them follow the consumer into the places they are increasingly going: social, brand integrated environments, applications, experiential and so on? That’s a key question.

Things like the IAB Rising Stars ad units are a boon to display participating in that consumer pursuit. One has only to spend an hour looking at the Billboards, Filmstrips, Portraits, Pushdowns, Sidekicks and Sliders to see the spark of engagement and creative opportunity. The list of “big brands” on board with the Rising Stars is long. And big brands play a big part in turning the tide on commoditization.

Echoing the perils of what I have recently dubbed “The Math State,” the description of the commoditized state in which we are doing business on behalf of our clients was spot on. So the whole question of how we as an industry are helping the consumer pursuit almost becomes “who’s to blame?” Just thinking about the dynamics of commoditization in our marketplace today makes anyone with imagination wince.

One, as Rothenberg noted, the entire procurement process focuses predominantly on commodity formats. And agencies are certainly directly contributing to this commoditization. The systems we use can really only measure — or even deal deeply with — commoditized formats. The booming DSP exchange spaces thrives entirely on commoditization and the new dynamics of media buying. Agency compensation structures incentivize what Rothenberg called “routinized buying.” That is the dulling of our strategic and creative chops that I recently have only half jokingly mourned. But this dulled, routinized state is the likely truth and consequence of the trading desk, at least when the desk is allowed to be almighty.

I will say, as Rothenberg spoke of “changing the dialogue” and a “creative revolution,” I felt exhilarated and perplexed. Philosophically, as so many of you do, I would agree with him. Big brands must lead the shift. As agencies, we must re-bundle internally — creating richer, more productive collaboration between strategy and creative — to produce big ideas that convert and yield business results. All true. But, looking around, who is really game to stand up, dust off the imagination, and DO these things? We are in an algorithmic haze, stirred by our self-imposed commoditization. How do we rally?

Rallying requires many things: Organizational change at the agency, a commitment to collaborative workflow and authentic support for innovation, not just lip service. With so many agency models and types, such uniform change may not be possible in our lifetime. Revolutionizing our systems to deal with our full scope of metrics and formats. We must be able to support marketers on resolving the consumer pursuit crisis and build upon our recovery. With systems plagued by blind spots and inadequacies, we cannot do so. Outward looking investment. Getting outside of our legacy agency introversion and really engaging with the ecosystem for the clients we serve. Premium media companies must be willing to take a chance — and work with brands to create strategic, powerful executions.

The platitude is that we are all in this together. Big brands conspiring with big media companies, supported by engaged, invested, collaborative agencies — whew, that’s a boatload of commitment. But we also need the muscle of thought leaders at every station of the industry — and tools that help us unleash the working relationship between strategy, creative and execution formats. I’ve always said that gone are the days when creative leads. Gone are the days when media leads. They must work equally as hard. Re-invigorating display ad units and giving us bold new options plays into that work.

Long-term, we can change our organizations, workflow, systems and collaborative mentality. But to truly de-commoditize, we have to dump the platitudes about working together. We have to hold each other to higher standards, one by one, literally, in every single business dealing. And, to get the juices flowing, and take some baby steps, why not use the cool new toys afforded us to release a little creative plus media joy?