Leading Auto Companies Launch Innovative Image Advertising Solution by Vibrant and Mindshare

LONDON--August 9, 2012:

Vibrant Media, the global leader in premium contextual advertising, and Mindshare, the global media network, today announce that Ford and Mazda have launched innovative campaigns using Vibrant Image, the contextual image advertising solution that identifies static images within brand-safe content across the Web and embeds small overlays within them at the bottom of the image. Mindshare brokered the deal with the new Vibrant format, launching with Mazda and now running on Ford's campaigns.

The latest campaign launched by Ford to promote the new Ford B-MAX will be running for two months from 6th August across premium auto and men's lifestyle sites and gives participants access to unique lifestyle experiences and days out.

As online advertising becomes more sophisticated, publishers and advertisers are continually looking to ensure their communications and sites are relevant to their audience - by enhancing the user experience and making sites work in the interest of the user, brand and publisher. Image is proving to be an extremely successful solution to the problem of 'banner blindness' for Ford and Mazda. In addition, Vibrant Image is a premium placement that is more contextually engaging than standard display ads. Brands find their audiences are increasingly consumed and engaged online through captivating imagery.

For publishers, Vibrant Image offers further increase page yield on previously unmonetized portions of every page.

The effectiveness of Image has been demonstrated by research conducted by SKOPOS for Mazda. The studies demonstrate that Vibrant Image helps increase brand awareness, brand favourability (in comparison to other solutions) and helps increase future purchase intent.

The main conclusions of the Mazda research are:

    
    - Brand awareness: 64% said it was clear who the advertising sponsor was;
    - Brand information: 54% said the ad provided useful information about the
      brand;
    - Website positivity: 10% uplift in positivity towards a website showing Image
      compared to other formats;
    - Brand positivity: 7% uplift in positivity towards an advertiser using Image
      compared to other formats;
    - Brand favourability: 42% of users more favourable towards a brand when using
      Image compared to other formats;
    - Purchase intent: Consumers are 14% more likely to respond or purchase product
      after seeing Image format, compared to other online formats

Martin Forbes, SVP & Managing Director Europe, Vibrant Media says: "Traditional ad models were brought online through pre-roll and display, but we create unique media placements that are designed for the interactive nature of the internet and deliver truly relevant ad experiences to users. We are delighted that Ford and Mazda have seen first-hand the benefits of using Image and the research conducted by SKOPOS validates our vision: Image delivering a truly relevant brand advertising experience for consumers."

Polly Chandler, Account Director: Online Display & Mobile from Mindshare says: "We are really pleased to be using Image as part of the new Ford campaign. In our view this new innovative format is delivering great results for Auto brands. It is enabling them to communicate with their customers through an environment that they have sought, helping to increase brand awareness".

About Vibrant

Vibrant is a world leader in contextual technology aligning billions of words across the internet with relevant video, information, tools and advertising. With over 6,500 premium publishers, reaching more than 250 million unique users per month (comScore, 2011), Vibrant gives top brand marketers the opportunity to deliver highly targeted advertisements within premium Web content and offers publishers premium editorial tools to re-circulate users throughout their websites. Vibrant clients include Microsoft, Unilever, Sainsbury's and Hewlett Packard.