The Layouts Series: Efficiency and ease for rich media production
Posted:
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Our customers are seeing an average 80-90% reduction in turnaround time for the production and approvals of their rich media creative. To get a first-hand view of the impact of Studio Layouts, I spoke with some of our campaign experts -- Maureen Carroll and Zeena Husami, DoubleClick Rich Media Campaign Managers for some of our largest clients. Here are their thoughts on the new tool.
Tell me about the process of building a rich media ad unit prior to Studio Layouts.
Zeena: Before Studio Layouts, the assets we needed from the creative agency were much more involved and complex (fully functioning Flash assets built by the creative agency). There was often some time-consuming back and forth just to ensure we received the assets in the exact format that we needed.
Maureen: Creative agencies would then hand off those flash files and other creative assets and we’d add in DoubleClick Studio components and custom events for tracking before uploading into DoubleClick Studio. Often times we’d have special instructions which needed to be communicated back to the Doubleclick production and QA teams, thereby delaying the start of post-production.
Zeena: Once in QA, the DoubleClick QA team would thoroughly test the unit to make sure it functioned properly on all browsers and the tracking fired as intended.
Maureen: Even for a QA-only campaign in which creative agencies built directly in DoubleClick Studio themselves, there might be several rounds of QA revisions due to functionality issues and/or spec requirement violations.
How long would this whole build process usually take?
Maureen: Creative agencies might spend several days developing the creative in flash (prior to asset delivery or publishing to QA). Then rich media post-production normally took at least 4-5 business days, and in some cases up to 9-10 business days if high in complexity and/or creative volume.
So what’s the process look like now, with Studio Layouts?
Maureen: Creative agencies would then hand off those flash files and other creative assets and we’d add in DoubleClick Studio components and custom events for tracking before uploading into DoubleClick Studio. Often times we’d have special instructions which needed to be communicated back to the Doubleclick production and QA teams, thereby delaying the start of post-production.
Zeena: Once in QA, the DoubleClick QA team would thoroughly test the unit to make sure it functioned properly on all browsers and the tracking fired as intended.
Maureen: Even for a QA-only campaign in which creative agencies built directly in DoubleClick Studio themselves, there might be several rounds of QA revisions due to functionality issues and/or spec requirement violations.
How long would this whole build process usually take?
Maureen: Creative agencies might spend several days developing the creative in flash (prior to asset delivery or publishing to QA). Then rich media post-production normally took at least 4-5 business days, and in some cases up to 9-10 business days if high in complexity and/or creative volume.
So what’s the process look like now, with Studio Layouts?
Maureen: Creative agencies can quickly produce a creative by uploading basic image assets, inputting video IDs and making setting selections. No flash development is needed on the part of creative agencies.
Zeena: Once they add the assets, they preview and publish the ad unit and we have a fully functioning rich media ad (including custom rich media tracking). Since Layouts uses a shell that has been tried and true, these creatives typically pass QA in their first round of testing!
And how long does it take, on average, for you to build an ad using layouts?
Zeena: For the most complex unit I’ve built, it took about eight minutes. For less complex units, it takes about three!
Maureen: And we’re seeing an average time savings of 4-5 days spent on post-production and revisions. As a result, creative agencies and advertisers have greater flexibility and are able to launch engaging rich media creatives within shorter timelines.
What are some of the other benefits you have noticed as you use Layouts?
Maureen: Layouts is a great way to get more value out of creative, repurposing creative assets for additional executions to extend a campaign’s reach with minimal effort. Layouts also come with a comprehensive set of custom metrics, providing advertisers with a deep understanding of a user’s interaction with their creative.
Zeena: Layouts simplifies the production of HTML5 ads too, so creative agencies can now spend their time focusing on the content of the ad (images, video, copy) rather than the tedious coding and testing on the back end. Additionally, these Layouts formats were built using best practices from the best performing rich media ads, so they typically perform above benchmark metrics because they are clean and engaging.
Zeena: Once they add the assets, they preview and publish the ad unit and we have a fully functioning rich media ad (including custom rich media tracking). Since Layouts uses a shell that has been tried and true, these creatives typically pass QA in their first round of testing!
And how long does it take, on average, for you to build an ad using layouts?
Zeena: For the most complex unit I’ve built, it took about eight minutes. For less complex units, it takes about three!
Maureen: And we’re seeing an average time savings of 4-5 days spent on post-production and revisions. As a result, creative agencies and advertisers have greater flexibility and are able to launch engaging rich media creatives within shorter timelines.
What are some of the other benefits you have noticed as you use Layouts?
Maureen: Layouts is a great way to get more value out of creative, repurposing creative assets for additional executions to extend a campaign’s reach with minimal effort. Layouts also come with a comprehensive set of custom metrics, providing advertisers with a deep understanding of a user’s interaction with their creative.
Zeena: Layouts simplifies the production of HTML5 ads too, so creative agencies can now spend their time focusing on the content of the ad (images, video, copy) rather than the tedious coding and testing on the back end. Additionally, these Layouts formats were built using best practices from the best performing rich media ads, so they typically perform above benchmark metrics because they are clean and engaging.
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Check back here tomorrow for our next post in “The Layouts Series”, focusing on the extended reach that Layouts can provide. And find more information about the product on the Rich Media Gallery.
Posted by Becky Chappell, Product Marketing, DoubleClick