More Than a 'Channel Change': PointRoll's Interactive Video Campaign Results Illustrate Why Video Alone is Not Enough

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa., June 14 /PRNewswire/ -- PointRoll Inc., leading developer of innovative rich media technology solutions that go beyond the creative limitations of existing advertising options, today announced the results of its month-long interactive video awareness campaign to key online and advertising industry audiences. The company provided technological muscle and service, developing the rich media ad units in collaboration with The Buddy Group, a PointRoll Preferred Partner.

"These ads were targeted at the world's most elite and difficult demographic to impress -- advertising and marketing professionals," said Chris Saridakis, Chief Executive Officer of PointRoll. "Yet through our collaboration with The Buddy Group we developed compelling rich media ads that showcased multiple layers of interactive video that connected with our audience."

The ads featured interactive video with a "choose-your-own-ending" option that housed multiple videos, send-to-a-friend capabilities and data collection functionality -- as well as the ability to download a PDF of the PointRoll and AccuStream iMedia Research Video Reference Guide from within the ad unit. For more information on PointRoll's video and rich media expertise, users clicked through to a highly interactive and fun "office" micro site at http://video.pointroll.com/ that featured the ad's quirky cast of characters, video outtakes, how the campaign was made and examples of ad executions highlighting PointRoll's interactive features.

"Through this campaign, PointRoll and The Buddy Group have shown that online video has grown up. Channels haven't changed -- they've transformed," said Saridakis. "Ubiquitous rich media video content must be matched with equally compelling opportunities for user participation. PointRoll and its preferred partners offer these and other rich media features -- most free of charge -- to any agency or advertiser seeking to create an unparalleled opportunity for connection and ultimately conversion."

Over the 35-day campaign, rich media ad units, featuring a cast of characters from an advertising agency-meets-"The Office" environment, provided a unique storyline through which rich media and interactive video components were highlighted. In doing so, it tallied impressive metrics that included an extraordinary amount of time-on brand as follows:

* Interaction Rate: 11.87%, 56% above benchmark * Panel Click-Through Rate (CTR): 2.87%, over double that of benchmark * Total Click-Through: 0.944%, 113% above benchmark * Brand Interaction Time: 54.3 seconds, more than twice that of benchmark * More than 1200 send-to-a-friend actions taken * More than 1300 downloads of the AccuStream iMedia/PointRoll Video Advertising Guide 2006 from the ad unit * More than 5300 viewers restarted the video

"Our collaboration underscores how the marriage between creative technology and targeted placement can foster interaction and deliver unparalleled results," said Pete Deutschman, Founder and Chief Buddy of The Buddy Group. "As The Buddy Group continues to leverage interactive video to reach target audiences, our work with PointRoll will empower advertisers and marketers with the interactive video tools they need to create a metrics-proven brand experience while driving sales and awareness."

To view the campaign and micro site, visit http://video.pointroll.com/.

About Interactive Video Options Available Through PointRoll and The Buddy Group

The Buddy Group is a PointRoll Preferred Partner. Together, PointRoll and The Buddy Group have developed a host of video options that are ready for creative deployment in rich media campaigns as follows:

* Choose Your Own Adventure Scenarios: Throughout a video story, the user decides between different choices to drive the narrative path of the story. This encourages a high level of interactivity, immersion and re-play by the user. * Relational Hot-Spotting: By clicking on elements within the ad unit, graphical descriptive elements change dynamically on other areas of the ad unit. The user can view drill-down information on-the-fly while continuing to view the video. * Green Screen Overlays: "Talking heads" filmed on a green screen interact with video, graphical or textual elements within the ad unit. This provides a multi-dimensional feel and allows the users to choose what information the talking head presents. * Zoom & Learn: The user can click on elements within the video to pause and drill-down into more descriptive videos on topical interests. * Pause to Play Experience: The user can pause the video by clicking on different elements to view descriptive pop-ups that present insider or "behind-the-scenes" information. * The Cinematic or Live Experience: These videos are delivered in a straightforward manner as would be seen in the movie theater in either a pre-packaged or live stream. To view this video, the user simply rolls over the ad unit.

To view the interactive video solutions, visit http://video.ads.thebuddygroup.com/.

The two companies have also pioneered a patent-pending process that allows for developing hot-spotted video while cutting development time by 75 percent.

About PointRoll, Inc.

PointRoll, a wholly owned subsidiary of Gannett Co., Inc. , develops innovative rich media technology solutions that go beyond the creative limitations of existing advertising options. PointRoll's groundbreaking products and superior service enable advertisers to connect with consumers by creating an interactive online environment that generates conversion. Alongside its unique, compelling offerings and service, PointRoll delivers comprehensive, real-time reporting capabilities that exponentially improve measurement, generating data that effectively illustrates how and why it maximizes return on investment.

PointRoll's proprietary technology platform, "The Boys," provide a full range of marketing solutions that include comprehensive service support and extensive data reporting capabilities. "The Boys" include: FatBoy(R) expanding ads, Tomboy(TM) universal 100K+, TowelBoy(R) snap-back units, BadBoy(TM) floating ads, and PaperBoy Local Delivery(TM). PointRoll works with more than 800 advertisers, and its technology is accepted by thousands of online publishers including Yahoo!, MSN and AOL. For more information, please visit http://www.pointroll.com/.

About The Buddy Group

The Buddy Group, Inc., headquartered in Southern California with satellite offices in San Francisco and New York, is an interactive creative agency specializing in online video, rich media advertising and interactive websites. Billing itself as "The Agency's Agency" due to its extensive behind-the-scenes work for ad agencies nationally, The Buddy Group has been the creative influence behind many interactive media campaigns unbeknownst to anyone but its clients. The Buddy Group offers its clients creative strategy; interactive design and development; video production and post-production out of its own production studio; and a host of other interactive creative solutions. For more information, please visit http://www.thebuddygroup.com/.