PORT is Alive and well: making appearances on CBS Interactive brands!

PORT : Prominence, Ownership, Response and Targeting. These are the key elements by which we hope to measure ourselves as it pertains to being able to deliver value to folks who advertise on the CBS Interactive Business and IS/IT properties. This had been a foundational element that drove many of the choices that were made in creating a the new design framework that has now been rolled out first to ZDNet and now to BNET.

Now that ZDNet has been out for a bit, we are starting to see more of these bigger premium implementation being delivered on the site. What has been interesting to watch, is that with each new campaign, the execution of the ad creative is getting better. As the client agencies as well as our internal central design team see these in action – we benefit from THEIR progress in learning new ways to push the envelope within the realm of possibility for these.

I would argue that everybody wins

• Our pages look cleaner with more premium Advertisements
• The Advertisers / Content sponsors get better visibility – and or shared voice via the larger presence on our brands
• The larger the creative – the EASIER it is for the end user to separate what is Host content – vs Ad Promotion

A look at the creative below – shows this PORT in action. Google is running a campaign to promote the benefits of Google Apps. In this case, they have also built it as a Cross Talk – meaning that the animation from the upper leader board art seamlessly and sequentially works with the corresponding Double tall MPU below.

All elements tied together with a matching site skin brings a very cohesive look to the entire experience. I would suggest that it is the strength of this creative that grabs the users attention which increase the likelihood for an end user to engage by clicking the Learn About Apps at Work. When the user engages the unit expands the “push down” to display the deeper body of content / vendor messaging. In this case the user is greeted by multiple video case studies of credible folks explaining the what and how they have depended on the Google app suite.

This is PORT in action. Now granted – this is also very strong ad creative, but it is the combination of these varied pieces that when grouped together become quite cohesive and create an environment where our advertisers can impress us all. While they have done this – our native site branding, navigational infrastructure and content narrative are left intact by blocking out real estate that is intended on being populated by these strong placements. (though I must admit a bit of ironic humor that it has been purchased on Mary-Jo Foley’s Microsoft blog!)