What's driving the international market's rich media growth, the growing demand for online video and reflection on 2005.

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iMedia: What do you think has driven the international market's rich media growth? And, will this continue?

Trifon: We expect this trend of global rich media growth to continue in 2006 and well beyond, especially in Asia, where we’re putting out a new data center in the coming months. In Korea, broadband penetration even in the home exceeds 70 percent after having been less than one percent even in 1995, but rich media is in its nascent stages so this is a market that really bears watching.  

Statistics on new web users in the United States have to plateau, but overseas usage still has a ways to go. As broadband usage continues to increase domestically, and new users come online overseas -- and with new wireless platforms proliferating -- we think that globalization will be a trend that anyone watching rich media will see.

iMedia: What are some rich media tools clients should be utilizing more to maximize their ad dollars?

Trifon: We think that the rise in video will continue and that agencies will find more ways to leverage interactivity within video in 2006. 

We saw the use of video increase by a factor of seven between the first half of 2004 and the first half of 2005. Video, with its broader palette and visual depth, provides so much more range for creatives, pleasing those marketers interested in branding. At the same time, it provides so many interactive opportunities, with data capture, polling and seemingly more interactivity within units every day that can please marketers interested in direct response measures. Video is a great frontier for interactive right now, enabling advertisers to repurpose their broadcast assets, providing far more website functionality and making us smarter about what our reports actually mean since we can learn so much more from the interactivity within the units.

In short, our industry becomes far more complex and sophisticated through the well-executed use of video.

iMedia: Let’s talk about pre-roll ads then. You’ve been very busy in that segment, haven’t you?

Trifon: Pre-roll is a great opportunity, without question. User-initiated video is not as broad a segment, but it is extremely targeted. In the gaming arena, we worked with WildTangent to gauge how gamers feel about pre-roll ads, and whether they would agree to view an ad in exchange for no-cost game plays. Overall 78 percent of the respondents told us that they would watch a short video ad in exchange for free game plays even in mobile devices with games on them. In the 18 to 34 age range, this percentage jumped to 85 percent, and among 18- to 34-year-old males, 90 percent told us that they would watch a video ad in exchange for free game plays. 

The scope of this survey left little doubt about the conclusion that video ads are the perfect match for advertisers who want to target the fast-growing and demographically desirable gaming audience. The results support our multiple initiatives into the gaming market, where we’ve been focusing many of our efforts, and where we’ll remain focused in 2006.

iMedia: What have we left out?

Trifon: While this session has been about looking forward, let’s look back for a moment. 

Eyeblaster started as a technology company six years ago, and while we’re still a technology company, we provide so much more service to our clients now than ever before. One initiative we have in place now is dedicated simply to helping clients convert their standard banners into rich media banners -- and it has flowed purely from client requests. So, we’re obviously closer to our clients’ space than ever before through our added services. We even have as many people in account management than we do in development.

We’ve learned that, as the industry has grown/developed, there are agencies that want total control and are very tech savvy, while there are others that would prefer a turn-key approach. You can’t serve this industry well without being flexible.

I think that people in the industry who have never crafted a rich media campaign themselves are beginning to better understand the value -- as well as respect just how challenging it is, especially at the tactical level in agencies. Rich media can be complex, but it’s also beautiful and well worth it. As we strive to make it easier and more efficient, we see rich media becoming even more prolific. This would be great news not just for Eyeblaster, of course, but for our entire industry.

It’s a great time to be in the interactive marketing arena. As we look forward to 2006, I’d like to also look back on a great year and thank all of our clients and partners. 

Dawn Anfuso is senior editor for iMedia Connection.