- Realistic View on Mobile Advertising in Canada (Dec. 2011)
- Eye Tracking & Click Mapping ‘Google Places’ (Oct. 2011)
- Eye Tracking & Click Mapping ‘Google Places’ iPhone App (Jan. 2012)

During the search for a new President, IAB Canada initiatives will go forward as planned, and Gignac will actually continue to consult for the organization on a variety of projects beyond the transition — including continuing in her role as lead representative for IAB Canada in its involvement in the Digital Advertising Alliance Of Canada (DAAC) and with respect to IAB Canada’s administration of the DAAC’s Canadian Self-Regulatory Program For Online Behavioural Advertising, which is slated to go live at the end of Q2 2012.

“When my personal circumstances changed, the decision to step down was actually quite an easy one to make, given IAB Canada’s current position and prospects for future success,” says Gignac. “Based on the generously-volunteered expertise of our ever-expanding Membership; the myriad of possibilities for new growth that the Board has developed through its recent Strategic Planning exercises; and of course, the extraordinary capabilities of IAB Canada’s Staff and all of the partner resources that they direct on behalf of the industry, I have nothing but complete confidence in IAB Canada and the vastness of its opportunities going forward, and look forward to continuing to assist the organization in achieving them in any way that I can.”

Gignac leaves her role as President of IAB Canada having directed virtually all of the organization’s major initiatives and growth to date, with just a sampling of her achievements including:

- The building of the IAB Canada organization itself, from a single-person operation in 2004, to a current staff of six, with PQ and Western Regional Chapters also in full bloom and more growth to come;

- The ushering in of Canada’s first set of Universal Online Ad Standards and Ts +Cs, as well as the development of the industry’s first Digital Salary Guide For Publishers + Agencies and Student Guide To Canadian Colleges + Universities Featuring Interactive Courses + Curricula — both of which were global firsts as well;

- The breakthrough creation of the industry’s first One-Day Course In Interactive Marketing + Online Advertising (which Gignac will also continue to teach for IAB Canada in both Custom, In-House and Public forums up to and after September 2012), and the subsequent development of IAB Canada One-Day Courses in Social Media, Mobile Marketing, Paid Search and SEO;

- The expansion of IAB Canada’s research practice from two initial Cross-Media Optimization Studies (CMOST) to a total of nine currently, along with multiple Canadian Media Usage Studies (CMUST) and numerous Internet and Mobile Revenue Surveys;

- The development and programming of IAB Canada’s wildly-successful MIXX Canada Full-Day Conferences + 6-city Roadshow Events — all of which have sold out each year since their inception; and,

- The nurturing of the industry from just $170 million in annual Online ad revenues in 2004; to $1.2 billion in 2007, $2.2 billion in 2010 — and, if ZenithOptimedia’s predictions for Canada are correct — past the $3 billion mark, which will likely occur on her watch later in 2012.

Gignac has also often acted as a conscience for the Digital ad industry — providing a platform within MIXX Canada for visionaries such as Alex Bogusky and Jeff Rosenblum to inspire its players to raise the bar on standards for both the products that they manufacture, as well as the methods used to promote them. She also dovetailed a number of philanthropic endeavours with key IAB Canada initiatives, including partnering with eyeReturn Marketing to allow five key Canadian charities to access free ad inventory as part of IAB Canada’s PSA Program For Late Creative; designating MIXX Canada as “carbon neutral” and offsetting the waste created and energy utilized from its events through plantings with Tree Canada; and most recently, by allowing IAB Canada Members to show off their Digital marketing expertise in programs developed for and donated to the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC).

“IAB Canada and indeed the entire Canadian Marketing community have been incredibly fortunate to have benefited in so many ways from Paula’s dedication, commitment and extreme passion for all things Digital,” says Carolyn Cramer, General Manager, Canada for Tribal Fusion and Vice Chair of IAB Canada’s Board of Directors.

Dominique- Sebastien Forest, Vice President, National Digital Solutions, TC Media and Chair of IAB Canada’s Board of Directors agrees wholeheartedly: “Without a doubt, Gignac is both a leader and an entrepreneur of the highest calibre, and IAB Canada has been privileged to have her direct the organization and the industry for the past eight years,” says Forest. “And in service to that legacy, IAB Canada’s next job is to begin the search for a new President, and work with Paula to create as smooth a transition as possible to the new President, on behalf of both IAB Canada Members and the industry as a whole.”

Candidates wishing to apply for consideration in the search for IAB Canada’s new President should Download the Candidate Specifications Package, and submit their application as per the directions within, by May 7, 2012.

The IAB US Global Mobile Anthology Report presents highlights of research from 17 countries worldwide, and shows among other insights:

- Canada is in third place (at 45%), and ahead of the US in terms of Smartphone Share of Total Mobile Subscribers; and,
- Canada is in fourth place (at 49.9%), and ahead of most European countries in terms of Percent Mobile Media Users

A sample of significant findings included in IAB Canada’s detailed Mobile In Canada Report show:

- The four top, monthly Mobile Internet activities are using downloaded Apps (85% of Smartphone subscribers), browsing (76%), Emailing and accessing Social Networks/Blogs (MobiLens Canada, Dec. 2011, comScore Inc.);
- The most-accessed Mobile Internet Content on a weekly basis is Weather (18% of Mobile Internet users), followed by Maps, News and Sports and Entertainment News (MobiLens Canada, Dec. 2011, comScore Inc.); and,
- Tablet penetration rose to 10% among adults by Fall 2011, and is highest among males (12%) and the 35-49 age group (14%) (Media Technology Monitor (MTM) Fall 2011).

“The main take-away for Canadian Advertisers from these two Reports, is that the Mobile medium is alive and well in Canada and across the globe, and as with the Internet, Canadians are early adopters of many of the most marketing-friendly features of the medium,” says Steve Rosenblum, Research Director, IAB Canada. “Also as with the Internet, Mobile therefore represents a huge opportunity for Advertisers to amplify their marketing messages across platforms whose use is growing by leaps and bounds each year.”

Download the IAB US Global Mobile Anthology and IAB Canada’s Mobile In Canada Reports NOW!

As is the case now, overall strategy and major initiatives for IAB Canada will continue to be developed by IAB Canada’s Board of Directors under direction from IAB Canada’s Member-companies within national Councils which include Publisher, Agency, Mobile, Research and Emerging Platforms; as well as national Committees which include Social Media, Video, Ad Networks/Exchanges, RTB, Search and Ad Ops.

The focus of IAB Canada’s new Western Regional Council will be driving awareness of the importance of Digital within Western marketers’ toolkits, and also of the deep Digital expertise possessed by Western-based IAB Canada Members. This will be done through the development of formal and informal educational and networking events; and the highlighting of Western Regional research, case studies and whitepapers that show how tactics including Display, Video, Search, Social, Mobile, Gaming, Data and Analytics can be successfully applied to regional marketing and advertising programs.

“Western Canada has always been an important part of the total Canadian marketing and advertising ecosystem, but has reached an important inflection point in the Digital arena in the last few years, as reflected by both the long-standing vigor of Online Publishers including Bell Media, Black Press, Postmedia, Rogers, QMI Sales and Shaw Media, as well as more recent allocation of resources to the area by companies including Casale Media, Yahoo! and Facebook,” says Paula Gignac, President, IAB Canada. “The West is also home to a host of both large and small and tremendously innovative Agencies, plus digitally-savvy Advertisers including Futureshop, Best Buy, Nintendo, EA, Sasktel and Telus.”

“It’s exciting to get IAB Canada’s Western Regional Council into full launch mode and benefitting from the closer collaboration and numerous services that IAB Canada provides, including learning from within IAB’s global network,” says Trevor Carr, CEO, Noise Digital. “We also look forward to working with Colleges and Universities across the three provinces, including UBC, Simon Fraser University, Emily Carr and BCIT and the new Centre for Digital Media which they have formed, as we build the next generation of Western Regional talent.”

For more information on IAB Canada’s new Western Regional Council, or to join IAB Canada, please Contact Us!

According to eMarketer, approximately 10 percent of Digital media ad impressions are already being bought via Real-Time Bidding within Ad Exchanges, but this figure is projected to ramp up to almost 30 percent by the end of 2015. And while basic Display (banner) advertising is currently the dominant format available through this ecosystem, increasing volumes of Rich Media, Video and Mobile inventory are being added on a daily basis.

Real-Time Bidding environments promise Advertisers and their Agencies easier ways to find very specific audiences in both Online and Mobile environments, plus decreased waste in the media buying process; for Web Publishers, benefits include better control of and yield from unsold inventory, transparency into the actual demographic and behavioural make-up of their users, and a better understanding of Agency decision-making processes and priorities.

“South of the border, Real-Time Bidding has moved from the ideation stage to significant ad spend in just two short years,” says Paula Gignac, President, IAB Canada. “In Canada, however, while experimentation within the ecosystem is now underway, more education and development of Canadian talent is needed in order to assist all parties in capitalizing on its promises — and that’s where IAB Canada’s new RTB Committee will come into play.”

The group, who will be lead by Chair James Aitken, Managing Director North America, The Exchange Lab, will bring together veteran IAB Canada Publisher/Ad Network Member-companies including Google, Microsoft Advertising, Yahoo! and AOL; as well as similarly-established Agency Members including Media Contacts, Media Experts, OMD, Starcom Media Vest and Zenith Optimedia; plus, a host of new IAB Canada Members including Acuity, MediaMath and Pubmatic, who are all already working within the space either in Canada or across the globe.

Aitken comes to his role as IAB Canada’s RTB Chair with extensive experience in the space, having led IAB UK’s Ad Networks Committee for three years. Aitken is intent on bringing the advantages of data-driven media buying to the fore-front of the Canadian ad industry in order to provide confidence in how the tactic can be used both to serve more relevant ads to Consumers, and also drive more ROI for all parties concerned.

“Real-Time Bidding will have a transformative effect on both media buying and selling in Canada,” says Aitken. “The goal of IAB Canada’s new RTB Committee is to make sure that that effect is as positive as possible, by giving Canadian companies information on both the changing landscape of companies providing services and opportunities in this area, and the shifting mechanics involved in implementing RTB for maximum gain.”

For more information on IAB Canada’s new RTB Committee, please contact Julie Ford, Director of Councils, IAB Canada, at 416-598-3400 ext. 25, PLUS, register for IAB Canada’s full-day RTB Event on May 22, 2012, today!

“It’s such an honor to have been elected Chair of the Board of IAB Canada,” says Dominique-Sébastien Forest, Vice President, National Digital Solutions, TC Media. “It’s a thrilling and thriving time for the Interactive and Mobile industry, as Digital solutions — more than ever before — are becoming core to the marketing mix. In my career, I’ve had the pleasure to work with a variety of companies and help them leverage Digital change and innovation in order to create new growth opportunities, and that’s exactly what IAB Canada is all about. I’m looking forward to working with the IAB Canada Board, as well thought leaders from across Canada as we strive to help the greater Canadian marketing community do the same. And with so many new companies on board for 2012, we have a huge pool of business professionals that the industry can look to for deep individual expertise as well.”

Marie-Josée Lamothe, Vice-President, Chief Marketing & Communication Officer, L’Oréal Canada, who is one of the two new Advertiser additions to the IAB Canada Board agrees and adds: “As a global leader in Digital innovation, L’Oréal understands the strategic importance of integrating Interactive into our media mix. Working with IAB Canada Publisher, Agency and Advertiser Members, my goal is to help shine more light on the myriad of best practices and policies that are already available to assist the industry in achieving Digital success — and as the acknowledged leader in Interactive advertising research, education, standards and policy — IAB Canada is the perfect partner for L’Oréal Canada as we seek to do that work.”

Michael Lorenzi, Director, Brand Development, Tim Hortons, also recently elected to IAB Canada’s Board echoes Lamothe’s sentiments: “I very much look forward to working and networking with the Interactive leaders that the IAB Canada Board and Membership represents. I have a passion for Digital Marketing, and that coupled with a Client perspective, will allow me to better communicate the persistent pain points of Advertisers to Publishers, Agencies and Service Providers in both the Online and Mobile environments; and conversely, will allow me to better understand these matters from other perspectives.”

IAB Canada’s 2012 Board of Directors includes:

Paula Gignac, IAB Canada – President
Dominique-Sébastien Forest, TC Media – Chair
Carolyn Cramer, Tribal Fusion – Vice-Chair, VP Publisher Council
Dawna Henderson, henderson bas kohn – Board Liaison to Agency Council
Peter Vaz, M2 Universal Digital – VP Emerging Platforms, Mobile Councils
Adam Kardash, Heenan Blaikie – VP Policy Council
Jay Aber, The Aber Group Inc. – VP Marketing Council
Jeff Lancaster, Outrider – VP Search Comte.
Martin Lundie, Ernst & Young – Treasurer
Brian Fitzpatrick, MindShare Canada
Veronica Holmes, Zenith Optimedia Canada
Marie-Josée Lamothe, L’Oréal Canada
Michael Lorenzi, Tim Hortons
Eric Morris, Google Canada
Paula Presley, Yahoo! Canada
Bryan Segal, comScore Media Metrix
Joe Strolz, Microsoft Advertising
John Szczygiel, Bell Media/Sympatico.ca
Alfredo Tan, Facebook
Dana Toering, AOL Canada
Chris Williams, Media Contacts

In addition to finalizing the national Board, the Québec Regional Council includes:

Samuel Parent – Vice President, IAB Canada, Regional Director, Québec Council
Nathalie Boucher, Olive Média – Chairman, Québec Council
Patrick Tapp, Jobboom – co-Vice-Chairman, Québec Council
Sylvie Robitaille, Sympatico.ca – co-Vice-Chairman, Québec Council
France Brunelle, Casale Media – VP, QC Publisher Council
Geneviève Guay, Carat – VP, QC Agency Council
Philippe Roberge, Intact Assurances – VP, QC Advertiser Council
Malik Yacoubi, Cossette – VP, QC Mobile Council
Nicolas Darveau-Garneau, Google – VP, QC Video Comte.
Alexandre Hénault, Mediative
Stephen St. Pierre, Human Equation

IAB Canada also added three new staff in 2011: bringing Kelly Tulett in as Director of Marketing; Julie Ford in as its Director of Councils; and moving long-serving Québec Council Regional Director, Samuel Parent into the position of Vice President. Tulett comes with 15 years in brand strategy and development experience for Clients including The Tomm Group, Danier Leather, HBC and The Northern Group, as well as Digital marketing experience with Rogers. Ford has over 10 years of experience in Digital, is a Certified Webmaster with business development skills from her work with Ad Network Rydium, and has deep Agency expertise from her Client-facing role as Media Strategy Director at henderson bas kohn. Parent has 15 years of experience across both traditional and Digital channels, and has Publisher-side experience from his previous roles as GM, Internet at Corus Québec, and most recently, as Director of Sales at Mediative. His Agency-side expertise is drawn from his past Media Planning + Research Specialist roles at Cossette and MBS in Montréal.

“We’re extremely happy to have added these seasoned professionals to our organization,” says Paula Gignac, President, IAB Canada. “What they have in common, is direct and deep expertise in Interactive; the ability to see and operate from both buyer and seller perspectives based on previous Publisher-, Agency- and Client- side experience; and, an acknowledged commitment to delivering the highest level of customer service to the stakeholders they work with, and for. You simply couldn’t ask for a better walking-talking reflection of IAB Canada’s tri-partite organization as well as the mission statement of the association, in the resumés of these three people, and indeed from all of IAB Canada’s staff.”

So what challenges and opportunities will 2012 hold for the Canadian marketing and advertising industry with respect to Interactive?

Gignac sees the one of the most important agenda items for a variety of players within the industry, as registration in the Canadian Self-Regulatory Program For Online Behavioural Advertising (OBA). While details re: program are still being finalized with the Digital Advertising Alliance in the U.S. (DAA), Webinars detailing the step-by-step process for initiating compliance under the Transparency, Education, Choice and Accountability tenets of the program, and in conjunction with the guidance given in December 2011 by Canada’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC), will begin in late February or early March 2012.

“Real-Time Bidding, unified Social Media ROI measurement and CMO dashboards are all technologies and topics that will also gain substantial momentum in Canada in 2012,” says Gignac, “So we’re focusing on them under the umbrella of Real-Time/Human — Innovations In Efficiencies, Ideas and Consumer Experiences, at IAB Canada’s MIXX Canada Conference, in Toronto on March 27, 2012. Lastly, the ongoing rise in the importance of Mobile within the marketer’s toolbox will find IAB Canada and the industry working together to develop unique research promotion and development partnerships, in order to assist the Canadian marketing industry in optimizing Mobile to drive both brand and direct results.”

To dive deeper into the key projects executed by IAB Canada’s Councils and Committees in 2011, and what’s next in 2012, Download IAB Canada’s 2011 Year-End Report NOW!

In coordination with IAB USA, IAB Canada’s Ad Operations Committee, Video Committee and Mobile Council worked to ensure that North American Standards + Guidelines align as much as possible, while still providing for Canadian-specific differences where needed.

What’s New In The Online Ad Formats
Getting Ready For The Canadian Self-Regulatory Program For Online Behavioural Advertising (OBA)
In anticipation of the 2012 launch of Canada’s Self-Regulatory Program For OBA, and the requirement for Advertisers to provide Consumers with clear notice when the Websites they are visiting are supplying them with behaviourally-based ads, an additional 5k of file size has been added to all ad specs, in order to allow for the Self-Regulatory “Ad Choices icon” to be placed on OBA ads of all shapes and sizes (NOTE: To view an illustration of the “Ad Choices icon” as currently used within the US Self-Regulatory OBA Program, please see: www.aboutads.info.)

What’s New In Mobile + Tablet Formats
High-Resolution Mobile Ad Units
While maintaining several of the Mobile ad units originally-developed by the MMA in order to provide Advertisers with the greatest reach possible for their Mobile Display ad campaigns in Canada, IAB Canada has also added NEW! Mobile ad units for high resolution smartphones, in anticipation of the rapid changes expected within the Canadian Mobile landscape in 2012.

“Alongside the new Universal Ad Package for Mobile Phones, we’re introducing high-resolution Mobile ad sizes to highlight the rich creative options that Advertisers already have available to them,” says Julie Ford, Director of Councils, IAB Canada. “And while the guidelines currently apply only to a handful of phone models (iPhone 4+ and Samsung Galaxy, among them), six months from now, we expect more models will be able to feature these high-resolution ads, so we want to get everyone thinking about designing for them now.”

Tablet Ad Units + In-Stream Video Guidelines
IAB Canada has also laid out preliminary specs for Tablet Leaderboard, Big Box and Full-page ad units; and provided rudimentary Guidelines for In-stream (pre-roll) Video for Mobile + Tablet devices as well.

NEW! Partnership with ADOPS Garage On FREE! AdOps AdVisor Ad-Checking Tool
ADOPS Garage’s NEW! AdOps AdVisor Tool application created for, and FREE! for use by IAB Canada Members, allows Agencies and their design partners as well as Ad Operations professionals from both the Publisher and Agency sides of the business to pre-test Online Display ads; determine if they meet IAB Canada Standards; and if not, understand where problems within the ads exist, so that they can be quickly and easily remedied. Over a year in the making, and tested on more than 2,000 ads as supplied by IAB Canada’s Ad Operations Committee Members, ADOPS Garage’s AdVisor Tool tests Online ad compliance For Standard + Flash (swf) Online Display Ads (and third party tags) in terms of:

1. Ad Size, Weight
2. Ad Animation Time
3. Flash Version
4. Action Script Version
5. Compilation Engine
6. Compression Rate
7. CPU Usage of P3, P4 and Core 2 computer processors
8. ClickTag Type, Testing + Verification
9. ClickTag Insertion (AS2, AS3)
10. Audio On/Off
11. External Calls (HTTP or Java Scripts requests)
12. Creative Preview
13. Malware Detection
14. Cookie Detection

“We’re happy to be able to provide IAB Canada Members with FREE! access to the AdOps Advisory Tool, given how important the contributions of IAB Canada’s Ad Operations Committee Members were with respect to both shaping the technical requirements for, and volunteering their time in the testing of the application,” says Alexandre Henault, President, ADOPS Garage, “In the future, with IAB Canada’s Members assistance, we’ll look forward to adding a variety of new features.”

Download the Online, Mobile + Tablet Ad Standards And Creative Specs For 2012 NOW!

For More Information on IAB Canada’s Ad Standards, please contact Julie Ford, Director of Councils, IAB Canada, at 416-598-3400 ext. 25.

Despite the fact that only 8.8% of survey respondents included Digital Video in 80% or more of their 2010 RFPs, Agency personnel nevertheless believe that Digital Video is more effective than both TV and Social Media; and cite Digital Video’s targeting abilities of as one of its most valuable attributes.

Pre-Roll Video ads were the dominant Online Video ad format used, with 97% of respondents utilizing them in 2010 media plans (both alone, and in combination with Companion ads adjacent to Video Player environments). And although In-Banner Video, User-Initiated Big Box Video as well as Overlay Video ad formats were also utilized 68%, 59% and 45% of the time respectively, Pre-Roll Video is expected to continue to be the dominant ad format used across all of Online, Mobile and Tablet platforms in the next twelve months.

The price of Digital Video continues to be a barrier to increased spend, especially in the absence of studies demonstrating best practices for driving return on investment (ROI) for Digital Video; and, without research resolving if and how Digital Video GRPs (Gross Rating Points) compare to traditional TV GRPs. Standards such as VAST and VPAID — designed to assist with the implementation and tracking of Digital Video campaigns — as well as education about these standards, will also be key to quickly accelerating Digital Video ad spend in Canada.

“The benefits of utilizing Video within the Digital media mix are many, and are now being brought to the surface by a variety of significant players in the field,” says, Paula Gignac, President, IAB Canada. “IAB Canada’s highlight of recent research from Microsoft Advertising that proves that Digital Video is equally or more effective than traditional TV advertising, is an example of one such study; this, coupled with IAB Canada’s recent MIXX Canada Full-Day and Roadshow case-study presentations, as well as IAB Canada’s own research partnerships with Casale Media and now BrightRoll Canada, proves that there is sound reasoning behind Digital Video’s meteoric growth in spend within the past two Canadian Internet Ad Revenue Surveys, and Video’s move to the top of the Digital toolbox, as an important instrument for driving Advertiser results.”

David Bellemare, Managing Director, BrightRoll Canada agrees: “Advances in technology, inventory quality and industry standards have helped Canada’s Digital Video market evolve into a trusted source of expertise for Advertisers seeking to reach target audiences with maximum impact. BrightRoll Canada remains committed to helping to grow Digital Video and educating Advertisers on its value. Our goal with this study is to foster and contribute to the growing body of industry-wide research that further demonstrates the category’s viability and validates the flow of ad dollars into the space.”

Download BrightRoll Canada’s 2011 Video Advertising Report NOW!

TORONTO, ON Oct. 17, 2011 – Already known for its ground-breaking Cross-Media Optimization Research Studies (CMOST), the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada (IAB Canada), today announced a new Case-study Partnership with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) that will focus on developing research exclusively within Digital channels.

The program, which is in keeping with IAB Canada’s corporate green commitment, enlists NCC as the client, in order to provide IAB Canada Members (and the greater Canadian ad industry), with full transparency on objectives, strategies, tactics and results, for all NCC Digital campaigns that run, utilizing IAB Canada Member-donated Digital marketing services and expertise.

“As a non-profit organization working for the direct protection of Canada’s biodiversity, NCC is already a great Canadian success story,” says Paula Gignac, President, IAB Canada. “Since 1962, NCC has helped conserve more than 2 million acres of ecologically-significant land in Canada, and yet like most charities and non-profits – and indeed, many other Canadian companies – has many more important objectives that it would like to achieve, but a less-than-optimum understanding of how Digital marketing could help realize these goals.”

“It’s our belief that by tapping into the deep expertise of IAB Canada Members through the donated services in our Case-Study Partnership Program, the Canadian advertising industry will get the transparent case-studies it needs to alert Advertisers  to the many ways in which Digital marketing can be used to drive results; Canada’s entire not-for-profit sector will get enhanced learning more relevant to their needs; and NCC will get the specific services it requires to continue to do the vital work that it does – a real win-win for everyone.”

Casale Media, the inaugural sponsor of IAB Canada’s NCC Case-Study PartnershipProgram, took up the challenge of focusing their efforts on heightening the awareness of the NCC brand Online. In order to run a scalable, targeted and fully-customized ad campaign, Casale ran the NCC campaign using the company’s proprietary Videobox ad units.

Results + Analysis

- Campaign Performance: The NCC Videobox ad campaign generated an open rate almost 8 times higher than Casale Media’s Network average click-through-rate for standard Display creative!

- Campaign Engagement: Not only was consumer engagement with NCC’s Videobox content off the charts, but consumer retention and interest in the content was extremely high. Nearly 10% of users who interacted with the NCC brand via the Videobox ad remained engaged for a full 30 seconds or more.

- Demographic Performance: Demographic performance analysis identified NCC’s key audience as adults ages 45-54 – a segment that outperformed the campaign average by 91%.

- Content Channel Performance: Education & Careers channels vastly exceeded other Network content channels in terms of performance (by more than 5X the average).

- Day-Part Targeting: Day-part performance analysis showed Early-morning (6:30am-9:59am), Daytime (10am-2:59pm) and Primetime (7pm-8:59pm), as those times when NCC’s best-performing audience was engaged with the Videobox ad.

- Audience Targeting: Given the Canadian focus of the campaign, Casale ran both French- and English-language Videobox ads.  The French-language Videobox open rate was 3X that of its English-language counterpart, and had an 11.44% Video completion rate for users engaging with the ad (vs. a 5.6% Video completion rate in English-Canada). Regional performance analysis showed total Quebec results as 21% above the regional average as well.

- Retargeting Performance: Analysis showed that re-targeting users who saw initial NCC ads within 7 days of visitation to the NCC Website, was the best time to drive “Click-to-convert,” “Cost-per-action” and “Cost-per-click” metrics within the cycle.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better partner for our first study than Casale Media,” says Paula Gignac, President, IAB Canada. “The specific results of the study clearly show how new tactics in Display advertising – and Digital Video in particular – can be used to build success for brands. But more than that, the study also shows how incredibly important it is to have qualified and experienced Digital advisors and technology partners at the marketing table from the moment Advertiser objectives are established, right through to the conclusion of the campaign – in order to leverage this experience and draw actionable conclusions from various reports and analysis.”

Julia Casale-Amorim, CMO, Casale Media Inc. agrees: “Our partnership with IAB Canada and NCC demonstrates the potential for customized Video advertising to drive both awareness and powerful engagement for brands Online. Casale Media’s Videobox removes the guesswork and complexity from Online Video, making it an accessible option for all marketers wanting to benefit from this powerful medium. We are thrilled to be a part of this important industry initiative and applaud IAB Canada for their efforts to develop original industry research, while at the same time benefiting such a worthy national cause.

“The expertise and resources that we’ve already had access to through this program will immediately help NCC to refine our Digital messaging and broaden our supporter base over both the short- and long-term,” says Teva Harrison, Coordinator of Monthly Giving with the Nature Conservancy of Canada. “Beyond the lessons we learned about identifying and reaching audiences, we also learned that it’s not enough to attract attention with our ad. In future campaigns we will also explore ways to optimize our offer and our Web landing pages with a more powerful ask, in order to leverage that attention. We built special French-language content for the self-identified French audience, and the response was phenomenal, dramatically exceeding the English content. As a result, we’ll definitely resource special content for the French-Canadian audience in the future.”

Download IAB Canada’s Casale Media/NCC Case-Study Report today, and view detailed campaign objectives, strategies and creative; as well as more detailed rationale and results.