Sidekick
If you want to get ample space for your brand without forcing users to leave the publisher page, Sidekick is the ad format for you. Sidekicks were chosen as one of six IAB Rising Star units, formats selected by experts from the IAB out of a pool of 36 ads. Sidekicks work by elegantly pushing the publisher content aside to give the brand center stage.
The results speak for themselves. Compared to a polite banner, the average sidekick delivers 60 percent higher dwell rate and 37 percent higher average dwell duration.
When Royal Caribbean wanted to promote its new cruise ship "Allure of the Seas," it needed an inspirational ad format that also delivered lots of information to prospective travelers. Sidekick was a natural choice, offering rich interactivity and opening into an entire microsite with hot spots to explore the ship plus videos to explore the ship's decks in-depth -- all without leaving the publisher's page.
Pushdown
Ever noticed where your gaze lands when a webpage loads? It's probably at the top of the page, making this the most strategic point on the publisher's webpage for advertisers. Pushdown banner leverage this focal point while expanding the canvas for the brand message.
Pushdown banners are loaded much like regular banners, but when the user triggers the ad, the banner pushes down the publisher's content, giving more space to the advertising message. Although they take up a large portion of the screen, it's a very subtle format, because the user need only scroll down to view the publisher's content.
Like the Sidekick, pushdown banners are a one of the IAB Rising Stars ad formats.On average, users are 164 percent more likely to engage with a pushdown as compared to a regular polite banner (as measured by dwell rate.)
Sports and beer go well together, but Buffalo Wild Wings took the pairing one step further. In its pushdown banner on ESPN, Buffalo Wild Wings showed what can be a great use of a piece of paper when you really want to have a nice cold beer. Timed during the football and college basketball season, this ad's physical punch line was well suited to the pushdown format.
