Fletcher Martin Wins PointRoll's Beanie Award for Rich Media Ad

August 7, 2008 | 10:47 am

ATLANTA, Aug. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Fletcher Martin, an integrated marketing communications agency, has been awarded the Beanie Award for the interactive banner-ad game "Belly Flop Armageddon" designed to entice consumers into demonstrating their best belly flop online while introducing them to BioGuard.com, the nation's premier suppliers of pool and spa care products. Selected from over 800 campaigns each month, Beanie Award winners are part of an elite group and represent the most outstanding use of rich media technology through exceptional design, use of functionality or superlative campaign metrics. Less than one percent of all PointRoll campaigns are recognized with a Beanie Award.

In the game, players can position a diver to achieve the biggest belly flop splash possible. Points are accrued based on splash, pain and grace (or lack thereof). "We had a lot of fun creating this banner-game," said Brad Sarmiento, FM's VP of Interactive. "We decided to take things a step above the usual minimalist banner ad and develop 'Belly Flop Armageddon,' so consumers could have some fun with the BioGuard brand. It's always an honor when your work is so well received and recognized by your peers."

Fletcher Martin has been seeing great success with banner-ad-games in recent months. According to Forrester Research, click-through rates on advertisements that are part of a game are around 20 times higher than the 0.05 success rate of traditional banner advertisements at one percent. As a result, the total spend on interactive marketing is set to increase from $18 billion to $61 billion by 2012.

Other Beanie Award winners include Universal Pictures and Ignited for Wanted, and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and Moxie Interactive for Jumper.

Belly Flop Armageddon appeared on HGTV.com, DIY.com, and FineLiving.com and can currently be found in the Backyard Fun section of www.bioguard.com/us as well as on various online gaming sites.

About Fletcher Martin

Fletcher Martin is an integrated marketing communications agency owned by the executive management of the agency and MDC Partners, Inc., one of the world's leading marketing communications firms. Founded in 1979, Fletcher Martin helps clients disrupt their category or industry by providing insights and context to drive and change business. This disruptive change is led by the agency's unique specialty consulting capability. Compensation is performance-based, and plans are executed through advertising, interactive, direct marketing and public relations services. For more information, visit www.fletchermartin.com .