Founded in 2005, Greystripe is a rich media, mobile advertising agency with an impressive product line that enables brand advertisers to reach a quickly emerging mobile audience and garners publishers advertising revenue by serving ads through the industry’s first ad-supported gaming platform. Some of the most unique aspects of the network is that it gives publishers the luxury to integrate ads when and where they want them while consumers get access to high quality-games and applications free via their mobile devices. Greystripe currently delivers ads to more than 900 game titles from 200 publishers and supports more than 1,400 mobile handset units.
DMB’s Contel Bradford recently spoke with Michael Chang, Greystripe CEO, to get his perspective on the mobile advertising phenomenon and the secret to the agency’s success.
What distinguishes the Greystripe advertising network from what other firms have to offer?
It is a number of things, first and foremost, it is Greystripe’s complete focus on selling to brand advertisers. Because of this we care a lot about the user engagement with the ad and not just the “click” like other mobile networks. In order to create the best mobile ad experience we are the only ad network that has the technology to serve Flash ads on the iPhone. Our propriety, patent-pending technology allows us to transcode existing Flash ads initially developed for the PC Web and deliver them in a mobile context. Basically what that means for our audience is that the ads are simply fun.
Please explain to our readers how your company was able to successfully incorporate rich media ads into the iPhone.
Greystripe has developed patent-pending technology that takes Flash ads and transcodes them to run on the iPhone [which does not natively support Flash]. Our transcoding technology works on both existing 300X250 IAB Medium Rectangle Flash ads and Flash ads that are developed specifically for the iPhone. As you know, the vast majority of ad agencies and brands create their best online ads in Flash so this product makes it a no brainer for the online digital media ad buyer to get their ads into mobile. We have also created a number of ad features that are specific to the phone, like taking advantage of the phone’s accelerometer, the dialer and location targeting.
How has this integration helped increase clickthroughs and conversions?
The fact that our ads are full screen contributes to our high CTRs, as users never miss the ads. We are working with incredible brands like Axe, Universal Pictures, Burger King, Kia and Radio Shack.
How do Greystripe’s mobile advertising solutions benefit online advertisers and developers?
Benefit to publishers: We are well known for having the highest eCPMs at 100 percent fill of any mobile ad network. By creating engaging ad experiences beyond simple banners and allowing online ads to extend to mobile, Greystripe is garnering a larger portion of brand advertising budget from PC media buys.
Benefit to advertisers: Our Web-to-mobile strategy allows advertisers to seamlessly integrate mobile campaigns into Web-based campaigns. We do this by supporting standard IAB Flash ads so brands do not need to develop new ads for mobile, and by integrating with the third-party tracking and reporting systems that advertisers are already using. Our system creates zero friction from brands to enter mobile.
What is your outlook on the future of mobile advertising?
Beyond all of the hype, I feel strongly that mobile advertising, in particular mobile brand advertising, has a bright future. The mobile phone has become a true media device with iPhone users downloading on average over 40 apps for example. And as we know, where there is media and audience, there are ads.
What role will Greystripe’s ad serving technology play in the continuous integration of rich media and mobile applications?
Our ad serving technology will allow in-application mobile advertising to scale. Because advertisers can use the same rich media creatives and creative tools for both Web and mobile ads, there’s no reason for digital ad campaigns to not include mobile. Our goal as a brand-focused mobile ad network is to continue to push the envelope in making the ads fun for the consumer and at the same time making the formats and features scalable for maximum reach.
