Interactive
Advertising is the use of interactive media to
promote and/or influence the buying decisions
of the consumer in an online and offline environment.
Interactive advertising can utilise media such
as the Internet, interactive television, mobile
devices (WAP and SMS), as well as kiosk-based
terminals.
Interactive
advertising affords the marketer the ability to
engage the consumer in a direct and personal way,
enabling a sophisticated and dimensional dialogue,
which can affect a potential customer's buying
decisions particularly in an e-commerce environment.
Perhaps
one of the most effective implementations of interactive
advertising is so-called Viral marketing. This
technique uses images, texts, web links, Flash
animations, audio/video clips etc., passed from
user to user chain letter-style, via email. A
notable example of this is the Subservient Chicken,
a campaign by Burger King to promote their new
line of chicken sandwiches and the "Have
It Your Way" campaign.
Interactive
advertising is also assuming other avatars, such
as online directories for brands. These directories
presently perform a complementary role to conventional
advertising, helping viewers recall and compare
brands primarily seen on television. Response
is mediated usually through forms and click-to-call
technologies. (Credit:
Wikipedia).
