IAB Rising Star Units: Successful and Pretty

By Sara Tady on May 14, 2013

By now we’ve all seen and heard much about the six IAB Rising Star Units. It’s no surprise Centrons are eager to hit the ground running to bring these new, sexy ad units to our advertisers. Creative teams are busy building these out and publishers are working hand-in-hand with their web development teams to get them approved.

Historically speaking, if an advertiser wanted to make an impact, they’ve been somewhat limited to sliding billboards, interstitials and overlays. The new IAB Rising Star units are a perfect combination of splash and functionality. These ads are high impact and cannot be missed.

But how do these eye catching ads perform? According to one study conducted by the IAB, they are already outperforming the standard IAB units. Let’s be serious though – this is no surprise! Looking at one of Centro’s more recent “rising star” campaigns you’ll find the results mirror just that of the IAB study.

According to Emilie Lee, one of Centro’s Sr. Campaign Analysts: “Rising Star units are proving to be a successful form of interactive advertising. Our West Coast team ran fourteen portrait units within one campaign in the entertainment vertical, which averaged a 14.8 second dwell time and a CTR of .24%.” That’s a lot of engagement and a 10x click-through than normal banner ads.

According to the same IAB study, users spent 50% more time interacting with a rising star unit vs. standard IAB ads. Big name brands like AT&T, Jeep and Westin Hotels are all giving it a try. In February 2013, Undertone released a whitepaper stating that an overwhelming 92% of agencies and marketers ranked the units a 1 or 2 (on a 5-point scale – 1 being the highest) on their overall performance satisfaction.

These interactive ads are demanding both attention from the consumer and warranting premium pricing for publishers. Best part of all? It’s pretty advertising that is being proven to work.