@Home Will Experiment with Rich Media Ads

@Home, a provider of high-speed Internet access via the cable TV infrastructure, is teaming up with seven name-brand advertisers to test the effectiveness of rich media advertisements on its high-speed Internet access platform.

The trials, which @Home will conduct using methodology from market research firm IPSOS-ASI, will measure how well advertisements can translate to viewers when beefed up with interactive and media-rich features.

The trials will test advertisements from Intel, Bank of America, Johnson & Johnson, Levi Strauss, AT&T, First USA and Toys R Us. Spending was not disclosed.

“Research has already proven that rich media, interactivity and larger ad sizes result in better online communication in a narrowband environment,” stated Suzanne Brisendine, director of Intel’s PC Advertising Program. “Intel believes interactivity in the broadband environment will be even more powerful, and now is the time for marketers to master interactive communication.”

“By being able to capture and measure the efficacy of these ads, we hope to be able to quantify the value of broadband advertising,” added Susan Bratton, director of advertising for @Home Network. “This program will demonstrate that rich media advertising and interactivity on the Internet can increase consumers’ brand recollection as well as purchase intent.”

Users will be able to test a video game in the Toys R Us ad, apply for a credit card on an ad for First USA or view product shots from Levi’s.

Analysts say that cable access providers will be in a prime position to attract users hungry for media-rich, high-speed Internet access, should the convergence of PCs and television become a reality, according to CNET.

Market research firm Forrester Research predicted in a recent study that 16 million U.S. households will use high-speed Internet access by 2002.