Chris Etts

Sidelines

Let's face it: people hate ads. Advertising has become a cat-and-mouse game between ads and users. New ad formats are focused on tricking or forcing users to consume ads, but it doesn't matter how an ad is dressed up - as a banner ad, a pre-roll video, a native placement—users always see ads coming. And when they do, they run in the opposite direction – developing banner blindness and using AdBlock to remove ads. Advertisers are spending over $75B per year targeting their audience online, but getting diminishing returns as users tune ads out. People don't want ads: they want content about topics that interest and entertain them. And that's exactly what Sidelines' Imprint gives them: Content created by Sidelines' own network of experts and influencers on subjects that users actually care about. Imprint creates a fun and non-invasive ad experience by packaging this user-generated content, along with the brand's promotional assets (images, videos, infographics, social posts etc.) into a customizable unit that adopts the look-and-feel of its host page. The UGC is in form of posts - discussions about topics related to the advertiser's message - that create natural context for the brand's promotional assets. Algorithms powering Imprint generate targeted placements for these units, and collect data to automatically optimize them. As a result, Imprint engages its audience 10 times more than the average ad - users spend between 80-160 seconds engaging with an Imprint (vs. < 15s with regular ads) - and delivers 30-50% better performance metrics across viewability, interactions, and message recall. With Imprint, Sidelines is changing the foundation of digital advertising by putting user experience first. By engaging the user through great content and leading them organically to advertiser's message instead of forcing ads down their throat, Imprint delivers significantly better metrics and value to the advertiser. Simply put: Ads suck, Imprint makes them awesome.