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EyeWonder and Akamai Team on First In-Stream Ads Over Microsoft Silverlight for New York Magazine Interactive Campaign


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In-stream video ads from Olay, TRESemme and Continental Airlines give viewers control over the advertising experience by featuring interactive product placements

ATLANTA/CAMBRIDGE, MA . - EyeWonder, Inc., a leading innovator in interactive digital advertising technologies and services, and Akamai Technologies, Inc., the global leader in powering rich media, dynamic transactions and enterprise applications online, announced today that they delivered the first in-stream advertisements via Microsoft Silverlight for New York Magazine’s “Where’s Rogan?” interactive campaign.

The “Where’s Rogan?” series aired in eight weekly segments on New York Magazine’s Website at www.nymag.com/rogan/ and is a tongue-in-cheek expose of eco-conscious fashion designer Rogan Gregory, who goes missing during New York’s Fashion Week. During the Webisodes, viewers can control the advertising experience by interacting with product placement bugs and tickers from three advertisers involved with the project: Olay, TRESemme and Continental Airlines. During one episode, a ticker advertisement for Continental Airlines runs across the bottom of the screen. When a viewer clicks on it, a separate window opens to the airline’s main booking page, allowing users to book a flight while watching the video. Another episode features an Olay product placement bug which, when clicked, pauses the video to show the viewer a mini commercial. When the ad finishes, the video resumes playing.

“New York Magazine’s use of the Universal In-Stream Ad Framework (UIF) for this campaign highlights EyeWonder’s continued innovation in the video space,” said Chief Information Officer Ricky McClellen. “Viewers benefit because they decide which advertising they want to see and the length of time they want to see it without disrupting the video they’re watching. Advertisers benefit because their ads drive higher interaction rates, creating product awareness in consumers. Publishers are able to monetize their content and create new advertising space.”

EyeWonder integrated its UIF, an open standard platform that enables a “create once, play anywhere” ad solution to drive scale within the in-stream advertising industry, with Akamai’s open source code media player framework. This integration gives New York Magazine’s Silverlight-based video player the ability to deliver interactive in-stream advertising. The video player application impacts the way consumers experience video content and enables business models by controlling how and when ads are delivered. To support this movement, Akamai and industry leaders launched Openvideoplayer.com to facilitate open standards and best practices for video player applications that support a wide range of advertising technologies.

“New York Magazine’s project is a great inaugural example of the power of Akamai’s Media Framework, showcased through Microsoft Silverlight,” said Tim Napoleon, Chief Strategist for Digital Media at Akamai. ”The Media Framework enabled EyeWonder to quickly and easily develop a dynamic and interactive advertising experience that lent itself to increasing brand awareness for the companies involved. The ability to deliver a high-quality experience for consumers and brands is the ultimate goal of Akamai’s open Media Framework. We look forward to watching how users interact with the ads interspersed throughout the video as well as giving advertisers a vehicle to monitor how their ads are received"

“The ’Where’s Rogan?’ project is another great example of how the robust technology behind Silverlight can create unique online media experiences that engage audiences in a very powerful way,” said Brian Goldfarb, Director of the Developer Platform Group at Microsoft Corp. “This project, in collaboration with Akamai and EyeWonder, opens up new doors for advertisers to present their brands in dynamic and interactive ways.”

Viewers must download the Silverlight player plug-in to watch “Where’s Rogan?” episodes. The first installment aired October 27, and the final aired November 20.



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