Title | BANNER SWAP |
Brand | TIME OUT |
Product / Service | MAGAZINE |
Category | B04. Consumer Services |
Entrant | CHEIL HONG KONG, HONG KONG |
Entrant Company | CHEIL HONG KONG, HONG KONG |
Advertising Agency | CHEIL HONG KONG, HONG KONG |
Production Company | AIGENS TECHNOLOGY Hong Kong, HONG KONG |
Name | Company | Position |
---|---|---|
Paul Chan | Cheil HK | Executive Creative Director |
Shi Ping Ong | Cheil HK | Executive Creative Director |
Wilson Ang | Cheil HK | Creative Director |
Paul Chan | Cheil HK | Writer |
Wilson Ang | Cheil HK | Writer |
Tony Chan | Cheil HK | Writer |
Shi Ping Ong | Cheil HK | Art Director |
Ivan Au | Cheil HK | Art Director |
Toby Hong | Cheil HK | Art Director |
Aigens Technology | Aigens Technology | Digital Programming |
Jay Jeong | Cheil HK | Account Service |
Jam Lee | Cheil HK | Account Service |
Winnie Wong | Cheil HK | Account Service |
Time Out’s mission is to help its readers make the most of their time out. But in a busy city like Hong Kong, getting a new audience to read Time Out is a tough sell. So we switched our strategy…
In line with Time Out’s tagline, ‘Know Your City,’ this idea helps you stay in the know—on every site, every time you refresh, all over the worldwide web. Once the Time Out ‘Banner Swap’ was activated, every banner ad on every site that our users go to would then be instantly replaced with up-to-date Time Out content—effectively turning every banner ad into a branded medium for Time Out. This had never been done before.
People will always find time to check out their favourite websites. But on their favourite websites, there’s one thing we knew they could do without—annoying banner ads. So we created the Time Out ‘Banner Swap’—replacing annoying banner ads with up-to-date highlights on what’s happening in the city. Using ‘pop-up blocker’ technology built into Chrome browser, this empowered people to replace 1000’s of ads on all their favourite sites with things to see and do, restaurant reviews and more. The campaign aimed for a 20% increase in both online and hard copy readership.
Over 1 million annoying banner ads were swapped in the first month alone. That’s 1 million banners voluntarily replaced with branded Time Out content. Clickthroughs to timeout.com.hk increased by 370%. Even hardcopy sales increased by 28%. But the best result of all—no more annoying banner ads. You’re welcome!