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ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 5.03 - JUNE 2000
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Ads Are Animating the Internet Mondo Media usually sells one sponsorship plus one mini-ad per segment, sometimes both to one advertiser, as is the case with Reel.com’s involvement with Thugs on Film.The cost per thousand viewers (CPM) for a mini-ad alone ranges from $40 to $80; a typical ad buy brings 1 million to 3 million impressions per month. The click-through rate for Reel.com (the number of viewers who link to Reel.com while watching Thugs on Film)has exceeded 8% -- a very high level -- based on one month’s worth of data. "[The ads are] compelling, entertaining and allow for immediate click-through," Ledoux emphasizes.
Harry Bernstein, VP of corporate development at Reel.com, notes that the company’s relationship with Mondo Media has two prongs. Reel.com airs Thugs on Film on its site, which features both entertainment content and e-commerce, as well as running ads within Thugs on Film; the ads are seen by viewers of all of Mondo’s syndication affiliates. "We were impressed with the strength of the content and the strength of their affiliate network," says Bernstein. "We were interested in getting rich media content on our own site and to use [the Mondo Media series] as a vehicle to drive traffic to our site." Bernstein notes that traffic to Reel.com due to the Thugs on Film advertising compares favorably with other methods of customer acquisition. To date, many online advertisers associated with animation content are either dot.coms or entertainment companies -- which value the synergy between on-screen and online entertainment and branding -- but other consumer goods companies are also involved. In addition to Altoids’ activity, M&M/Mars’ Starburst brand was featured in an ad before Sho.com’s Whirlgirlseries last year, while retailer Tower has sponsored animated programming on Spumco.com. Karen Raugust is the author of several books and reports on licensing and entertainment, includingThe Licensing Business Handbook, International Licensing: A Status Report (both available from EPM Communications, New York)and Merchandise Licensing for the Television Industry(available from Focal Press, Newton, Mass.). She also writes about licensing, animation and other topics for publications including The Hollywood Reporter, Publishers Weekly andAnimation Magazine, and acts as a consultant to the licensing and entertainment industries. She is the former Executive Editor ofThe Licensing Letter. |
Note: Readers may contact any Animation World Magazine contributor by sending an e-mail to editor@awn.com.