Cathay Pacific weighs up rich media campaign results

The tool, which analyses the interactivity of viewers with rich media adverts, illustrated that 99 per cent of viewers watched the entire ad without closing it. According to Cathay Pacific interactive marketing manager Irene Ma, this kind of post-campaign evalution is of real importance to its media planning.

"We would recommend that companies that are serious about spending their online dollars wisely should not overlook the performance of rich media," said Ma. "And Dart Motif can bring the missing piece back into the picture.

It helps us to optimise the frequency of our rich media ads, better plan our media budget, and apply our finding to new creative work."

The campaign - 'Home' - ran on Hong Kong portals in September 2004, as part of Universal McCann's online media plan for its client. Senior communications planner at the agency's Cathay Pacific Central Team, Catherine Hoh, pointed out that rich media and Dart Motif can add an extra dimension to a communication campaign. "Rich media helps to enhance the communication message - in terms of interactivity and visual deliverable - in a cluttered media environment and where integration of communication is critical," said Hoh. "Dart Motif intensifies our analysis on rich media ad performance beyond clicks and activities to comprehensive metrics, such as the ad viewing and interaction time."

Ma expects to continue the use of both rich media and Dart Motif in future campaigns, pointing to collateral branding benefits. "Cathay Pacific wants to maintain its leading position in all media, including cyberspace," said Ma. "Also, we believe that customers appreciate the fact that Cathay Pacific ads use advanced technology, which further enhances our brand."

The Cathay campaign marks the start of DoubleClick's regional rollout of Dart Motif.