Media teams always face questions, but two are fairly consistent. From the publisher side, it’s “What’s the coolest thing you’ve seen lately?” From the client side, it’s “How can we be more efficient with higher dollar ad units and still have brand impact?”

In recent months, we’ve seen multiple sites revamp to offer up only big ad units on the theory that bigger is better. However, with a heavy direct response campaign, it’s harder to justify the high CPMs for these larger 300×600 ad units.

Well, I think I’ve figured out a way to manage both of these questions after sitting through a recent presentation from our SheKnows.com friends, Tara Schmitt and Jessica Reinert.

The epiphany came when I noticed how OfficeMax used a 300×600 unit on SheKnows.com. It really struck a chord with me. The idea? One unit has essentially become two with the creative they currently have running. And, in some instances, it could potentially be the only unit on the page, giving birth to what I would call a “faux-block” (totally made that up, folks). In this particular situation, the faux-block would look like a high-impact roadblock with two ad units.

OfficeMax’s unique use of the 300x600 ad unit opens the door to new thinking about how traditionally high CPM ad units can work for direct response campaigns.

Why do we like this and why would I consider this for a DR campaign? A few reasons:

• While it does garner a higher CPM, there is the ability to creatively introduce what looks and feels like two or more ad units.
• The unit would serve through one tag, which means all of the tracking would have a one-to-one relationship. When there is a true roadblock or takeover, there is generally a one-to-many relationship, meaning there are multiple ads on the page, but only one opportunity to capture the click, since no one user is going to click on all ads served up.
• This usage allows for multivariate testing (offers, messaging, etc.). If you dynamically change the various offers within the creative to the best performing mix, you could expect to boost overall performance.

While this may be very basic stuff, my geeky DR side is screaming “WOW! What a fabulous idea!” I think creatives will be happy with this, too, considering that they would FINALLY get to use some cool rich media on a direct response campaign. Clients will be happy to see greater efficiencies with higher dollar ad units

In this world where we are consistently looking for new ideas and struggling to see how models evolve, this was one little light at the end of the tunnel moment that sparked an idea that I’ll carry to my clients. While it may not be the coolest new kid in school, sometimes the cool factor lies in functionality that truly fits the client’s need.

At the iMedia Agency Summit in Austin yesterday, Yahoo! spoke about some innovations with their Smart Ad program that have sparked our curiosity.

Essentially, the platform is built to utilize the multitude of information that Yahoo! has available about the consumers who visit the site and network partners. They are referring to it as the DNA behind the targeting to ensure that the right ads, right messaging, right color palettes, right offer, etc., are all nicely bundled and reaching the right consumers at the right time throughout the Yahoo! network.

What’s so innovative about that? Yahoo! says it’s a much-awaited advance in targeting, allowing for many, many creative iterations to be deployed at the drop of a hat, er…online cookie. With so many variables, this new Smart Ad will allow for the creation of hundreds of thousands of ads on the fly. It definitely doesn’t mean that the creative team members will be blurry eyed sitting in a dark room making these hundreds of thousands of ads.

What’s our early take on the new Yahoo! approach? We think it sounds smart, and it has been done by quite a few publishers and agencies, to a degree, through what we’ve all referred to as dynamic ads. Now, this takes dynamic ads just a bit further by encompassing all of the variables that could change within the creative. We’re very interested in this from a costing standpoint: will it allow them to open up the media placement as a run-of-site deal (meaning that media houses will benefit from the efficiencies)?

What does it not really account for? We have to wonder while the targeting and tailoring of the ad to the consumer is definitely there, do we sacrifice the contextual targeting? Or, will Yahoo! take it that one extra step and still allow us to purchase without the ROS layer and use the service across selected properties, content and sections? Also with the vast amount of data points for providing results, will there be a stable enough base of impressions and clicks across the multiple iterations of the creative to provide a sound direction in terms of results? We think it’s great to have a fit for all; however, at what point is it actionable? Word on the street is that the “buy in” on this action is somewhere in the early six figures.

While many questions remain unanswered (this is fresh off the presses here at iMedia), we’re looking forward to the chance to sit down with Yahoo! and hear more about this intriguing possible advancement in ad targeting.