overview of Interactive Advertising and Contextual Advertising

Interactive Advertising is the use of interactive media to promote and/or influence the buying decisions of the consumer in an online and offline environment. Interactive advertising can utilise media such as the Internet, interactive television, mobile devices (WAP and SMS), as well as kiosk-based terminals.

Interactive advertising affords the marketer the ability to engage the consumer in a direct and personal way, enabling a sophisticated and dimensional dialogue, which can affect a potential customer's buying decisions particularly in an e-commerce environment.

Perhaps one of the most effective implementations of interactive advertising is so-called Viral marketing. This technique uses images, texts, web links, Flash animations, audio/video clips etc., passed from user to user chain letter-style, via email. A notable example of this is the Subservient Chicken, a campaign by Burger King to promote their new line of chicken sandwiches and the "Have It Your Way" campaign.

Interactive advertising is also assuming other avatars, such as online directories for brands. These directories presently perform a complementary role to conventional advertising, helping viewers recall and compare brands primarily seen on television. Response is mediated usually through forms and click-to-call technologies.

Contextual Advertising

Contextual advertising is a form of targeted advertising for advertisements appearing on websites or other media, such as content displayed in mobile browers. The advertisements themselves are selected and served by automated systems based on the content displayed to the user.