Discovery Communications Partners With Pointroll

Dig@Torial -- Custom Solution Marries Content and Creative; User Engagement Metrics Boosted

New York, NY – TK, 2010 – PointRoll, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI) and a provider of rich media marketing solutions, has partnered with Discovery Communications (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK), a nonfiction media company, to successfully launch Dig@torial, a solution for advertisers that integrates editorial content with branded advertising.

One of the products offered through PointRoll’s Publisher Solution Suite, the Dig@torial, is a customized solution that combines the impact of PointRoll rich media and video with the quality of publisher online editorial content and video.

The Discovery Dig@torial draws editorial and video content into an in-banner experience where users can interactively engage with both site and brand. Designed to connect consumers with Discovery content while providing marketers with the ability to integrate relevant product information, the Dig@torial increases user engagement and response.

The Dig@torial debuted across Discovery’s suite of websites including Discovery.com, TLC.com, AnimalPlanet.com, HowStuffWorks.com, PlanetGreen.com and more, offering clients deep integration opportunities across many subject verticals and genres.

According to a recent PointRoll benchmark study, rich media interaction and click through rates on Discovery sites exceeded the PointRoll average by more than 70 percent. Early results indicate that the Discovery Dig@torial executions deliver an additional lift in performance, outperforming non-Dig@torial/standard Discovery campaigns by an incremental 50 percent for both interaction rate and time spent metrics. Most recently, Discovery and PointRoll collaborated with Spark Communications and MercuryCSC to launch a Dig@torial campaign for their client, Montana Office of Tourism (examples below):

http://www.pointroll.com/PointRoll/AdDemo/CreativeManager/DiscoveryCommu...

http://demo.pointroll.net/content/demos/khuyen/Demos/manvswild/manvswild...

Discovery’s Dig@torial enables advertisers to:

• Integrate both article and video content including a wide range of relevant topics and categories on Discovery's network of sites to meet brand objectives and dynamically deliver existing or custom-created content in-ad. For example, unique to the Discovery Dig@torial is inserting a :15 video pre-roll within the ad unit.
• Create customizable, turn-key solutions across multiple formats including peelback and expandable units while compelling features including video, data collection, Google mapping and more allow advertisers to create interactive, dynamic, and high-impact messaging.
• Leverage category or sub-category ownership including a custom video playlist, topic ownership, or fixed ownership of content areas.

“This important partnership has broad implications not just for PointRoll and Discovery, but for the whole advertising industry as greater relevance and targeting are now in play,” said Jason Tafler, CEO, PointRoll. “PointRoll’s Dig@torial enables publishers and brands to make an impression, seamlessly fusing customized site content with branded messages to bring together relevant and engaging content that inspires users to interact and respond. Dig@torial offers an opportunity to combine existing content from premium publishers with immersive rich media to create a new channel for advertising.”

“Discovery Digital Media is dedicated to staying at the forefront of innovation to create the most engaging experience possible that is a win for both the consumer and the client,” said Brent Spitzer, Vice President, Discovery Digital Media Advertising Sales. “By partnering with PointRoll, we are able to leverage the strength of Discovery’s digital properties and marry brands across our suite of websites with relevant content that provides greater impact, deeper engagement and advanced interactivity.”

Source: PointRoll