The Rich Media Question: Road to Riches or Highway to Hell?
Net media overview from Individual Investor Online. Mention of RNWK in audio and video categories.
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The Rich Media Question: Road to Riches or Highway to Hell?
-- Sat, 3 Apr 1999 00:54 EST
Apr. 02, 1999 (INTERACTIVE PR & MARKETING NEWS, Vol. 6, No. 7 via
COMTEX) -- Is rich media the end-all, be-all of interactive marketing,
or is it simply a nuisance for marketers and consumers?
The answer: A resounding yes. "It is absolutely the holy grail,
but it's also a pain in the butt right now because people don't know
how to use it," says Gary Arlen, president of Bethesda, Md.-based
research and consulting firm Arlen Communications Inc.
"Rich media works!" trumpets a headline from Wired Digital, which
conducted a study with Millward Brown Interactive about the
effectiveness of the technological toys that incorporate graphics,
sound, interaction and occasionally e-commerce capabilities into Web
banners.
The study tracked three major online advertisers -
barnesandnoble.com, Intel and Novell - and found performance gains in
the areas of brand perception, brand loyalty, intent to purchase and
click rates.
Novell, for example, saw a 32% increase in brand perception as "the
leader for innovative networking product solutions," according to the
more than 2,400 users who responded.
As far as click rates, the three advertisers realized an average 340%
increase in user click-through with rich media.
So, advertisers, marketers and PR professionals should rush to pop
open their checkbooks and throw money toward developing these cool,
flashing gadgets, right?
Only if you're embarrassingly flush with money or if you're the type
who purchased more than a dozen 8-track tapes. That's certainly not to
say rich media isn't where the industry is headed.
"But you have to do your research. Who are you trying to go for?"
Arlen asks. If you're looking to entice business people who have T1
lines or college students who have access to high-speed access, give it
a shot.
"But if you're audience is, for the most part, dealing with a crappy
little ISP, it probably doesn't make sense at this point," Arlen says.
"A lot of consumers get very frustrated with rich media. Either it
slows them down a lot or, if they can't get it, they feel like they're
missing something."
And you, in turn, are missing an opportunity to make those people
your customers.
Another common-sense caveat that people tend to forget among the
hype: the creative still has to be strong, says Marc Ryan, account
executive with Millward Brown.
"[Rich media] definitely has more of an impact [than traditional
attempts] if you do it right," Ryan says. "But some people seem to
think they can put out a pretty, glitzy ad and their problems will be
solved. Perhaps more than ever, you have to do the job on the creative
side."
When evaluating whether you should give rich media a shot, it's wise
not to lump all modes together, advises Bill McCloskey, "Comet
evangelist" with Comet Systems Inc., and founder and chair of a rich
media special interest group.
He subdivides rich media into six categories, each with inherent
strengths and weaknesses.
Java: Java has the benefit of not requiring a plug-in, and it has
a reach of about 66%, according to recent market research. While it is
extremely flexible, the cost of development is high. New tools make it
easier, but it still requires a highly technical background to create
an applet properly.
Video: The reach of video can be 100%, depending on the type
you're deploying. Most operating systems have a way of displaying an
AVI file or MOV file, although they have to be downloaded. Streaming
video is the direction more firms are heading for their video
applications. But users need a plug-in and the three primary ones -
RealPlayer, G2 Player or Windows MediaPlayer - are not particularly
compatible with each other. Congestion on the Net can disturb the
experience and the level of interaction is typically very low. But,
once the hurdles are overcome, streaming video can be very effective
from a branding standpoint.
Audio: RealNetworks is the big player pushing audio into branding
techniques. It has essentially the same pros and cons as video. Like
Java and video, audio requires special server software to deliver it.
Vector Graphics: This rich media genre, of which Flash technology
is the leader, is a mathematical description of what an image should
look like and what animation should do. It's a highly compressed text
file, requiring relatively little bandwidth. And it's very effective.
"A Flash file can be extremely compact but splay very rich animation,
very rich interactivity and a very high frame rate that would be
impossible in any other type of technology," McCloskey says.
Shockwave: This early rich media format allowed users of
Macromedia Director to export files to be displayed on the Web. It
created extremely large files that need to be downloaded and require a
plug-in. The reach isn't good, it's expensive to deploy and it's not
very effective.
Cursors: McCloskey says he joined Comet because he believes
customizable graphic cursors (logos instead of arrows) are the media
with the richest future. With very low development costs and excellent
numbers in terms of effectiveness, cursors look to be a good starting
point for companies that want to dabble in rich media. Beware, reach is
still very low - only around 6% - but is growing rapidly, McCloskey
says.
But not all is rosy for rich media, at least in the short term.
"Right now, rich media can be a real problem," Arlen says. "It can
definitely cause more trouble than it's worth, but it doesn't have to
and it probably won't for very long."
Adds McCloskey, "Granted, there are some serious difficulties in rich
media gaining acceptance, but I think that's an educational thing.
Once people start to figure it out, I think it will catch on quickly.
Even the staunch detractors are starting to research it. I don't think
it will be too long now."
(Gary Arlen, Arlen Communications, 301/656-7940; Bill McCloskey,
Comet Systems, 212/231-2000, cometsystems.com; Marc Ryan, Millward
Brown, 415/538-8300, www.mbinteractive.com.)
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