The New York Times Idea Lab (NYTimes.com/IdeaLab)
today launched TimesAction, a new series of advertising capabilities and
mobile rich-media ad interface definitions (MRAID), on its iPad
News App, to support further innovation, streamlined production and
specialized targeting opportunities for its advertisers.
The Times’s Idea Lab has also launched a variety of new custom
MRAID-enabled advertising units for iPad including:
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In-App Download: This capability allows for a user to purchase
and download any selection of media that is available in iTunes, all
within the ad unit. This includes music or video available in iTunes,
but also proprietary apps that advertisers might wish to promote to
users of The Times’s iPad app.
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Direct Coupon Download: Users can download a special offer,
ticket or coupon from an ad unit that saves directly to their iPad
Photo Stream, resulting in it being saved to the consumer’s other
devices, such as an iPhone.
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Calendar: Allows users to download and save information
directly into their iPad calendar to help them schedule appointments
and reminders tied to special offers or events.
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Panorama: Users can visually pan around a 360-degree
environment using touch and swipe motions. For example, advertisers
may use this feature to display a retail location.
A number of other Idea Lab custom units will also now be available
in-app for the first time, including Pleats, which offers
advertisers four distinct panels to showcase full-screen images in
expanded format through an XXL unit; Unveil, which allows users
to interact with a brand message by “wiping away” an initial image to
reveal another one underneath it; and Product Zoom, a
newsroom-inspired ad concept that can showcase a product’s finer details
through magnification as a user moves the cursor over the image.
“The launch of MRAID capabilities allows advertisers to simplify the
process of development, production, execution and targeting of
innovative advertising units on The New York Times on iPad,” said Todd
Haskell, group vice president of Advertising, The New York Times. “We
are seeing more and more brands that want to execute highly engaging,
unique advertising experiences on mobile. The introduction of these new
units cuts development time dramatically and reduces the complexity
associated with building an elaborate custom unit while offering
advertisers access to The Times’s unparalleled scale on the iPad.”
Demos of these programs, as well as a number of other mobile advertising
innovations, are available on request for agencies and brands as an app
download.
This project originated from The Times’s Innovation Challenge, an
internal contest that encourages employees to develop new prototypes and
designs for potential applications for The Times’s digital businesses.
MRAID is the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) Mobile
Marketing Center of Excellence’s project to define a common API
(Application Programming Interface) for mobile rich media ads that will
run in mobile apps.
About The New York Times Company
The New York Times Company (NYSE:NYT), a leading global, multimedia news
and information company with 2012 revenues of $2.0 billion, includes The
New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, NYTimes.com,
BostonGlobe.com,
Boston.com
and related properties. The Company’s core purpose is to enhance society
by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news and
information.
Copyright Business Wire 2013