AOL to Advertisers: Go to the Devil

Rollout of new ad platform at Advertising Week

AOL chief Tim Armstrong announced the roll-out of Project Devil, Monday, a new advertising platform that looks to revolutionize traditional notions of online ad creation and display. An announcement was made at Advertising Week 2010 and was backed by a large ad placement in Advertising Age. Already touting the success of its new baby, AOL research found that ads created with the Project Devil system outperformed standard display ads in consumer likeability and ad effectiveness metrics according to company advertising director Jeff Levick.  A ComScore survey of 1,500 people suggests Project Devil ads are more visually appealing, informative, engaging, and uplifting than normal banner ads.

Project Devil was designed with the Creative Consortium, a group of renown ad agencies and creative studios seeking to develop new esthetics in digital advertising. The project includes the participation of several founding partners, such as General Mills brands Cheerios and Pillsbury, Lexus, Macy's, Olay, Sprint, and Unilever's Suave Professionals.

The designers have taken into account the idea that people are more likely to look at advertising if they find the content to be visually compelling. That may not sound like an earth shattering revelation, but it underscores everything that AOL is trying to do. The ads generated by the system will reportedly be 4 times the size of a standard banner ad. Interior panels for various applications including video, Twitter updates, slideshows, 3-D rotation, quizzes, polls, and text messaging will be available and will allow users to interact with the content without having to navigate to another page.

Project research found that the new platform enhanced user engagement, with consumers spending an average of 18% more time on the Project Devil ad then with standard 300X250 display. With AOL investors ready to see whether the company’s management will be able to deliver on the turnaround they have hoped for, the success or failure of the new the ad platform could be the critical key to the company’s future. The devil, as always, is in the details.

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