Revitalizing Digital Display

It seems that digital display creative standards are on a pendulum...

• beginning of display - creative tried to distract from content (blinking, crawling over content, etc)
  
• the last couple of years - publishers pushed back and said that an annoyed customer meant a customer who left their site
• within the last few months though - publishers are starting to open themselves back up to big, bold creative
  

With this change, I have to ask... "yeah, but will they even see that rich media ad?" I've been hoping to see some traction on measuring time/exposure and last week I sat down with an ad network that had tested various models such as only charging if the ad had been seen by one user for 1-2 minutes during the course of the campaign. I asked why that model didn't stick -- "CPMs were in the pennies that way."

Surely there is some middle ground that generate revenue for the sites and helps digital ads stand out more.

Part of the issue is that we've accepted the focus on the short term measurements and we're less concerned branding and long-term intention drivers. I think the following could help us look at the branding impact (beyond pre- and post-wave studies) :

• Sites could stand to be more open to product integration. I know, I know... this is church and state in the traditional world, but digital blurs the line between user generated content and site generated content. I'd love to see the same courtesy extended to advertisers.
• Ad units need to be able to "read" if the user can see the full ad in their screen in order for it be counted as an impression.
  
• I get WHY sound isn't allowed on most sites, but doesn't this seem odd to anyone else? TV and radio have the ability to pull you in with sound even if you're driving or in another room. Would it not make sense that one ad on the digital page could have sound to help pull users into their message?
• It's been raised by others in the industry, but I'd love to see one ad unit per page-- perhaps the ad could even follow you as you scroll down the page?
  

The responsibility doesn't just lie with sites/networks...

• Media Planners/Buyers need to push for more information.
  
• Agencies need to take the time to tailor ads to fit the various needs of the consumer-- not just based on their mindset, but also based on their "in the moment" surfing habits.
  
• Creative needs to think beyond telling a story to creating long-term bonds with its consumers.

Thankfully, IAB has finally tried to take on this long-standing concern and will hopefully help turn many individual voices into a discussion that can yield results.