Google: Advertising Products

Transforming Entertainment Advertising with Cross-Screen Ads

When advertising entertainment properties, traditional mobile banner ads were small, often ignored, and unable to provide the experiential depth required to engage audiences and capture excitement. These limitations resulted in low click rates and missed opportunities for ticket sales or trailer views. As Creative Lead working with a small team, I designed Cross-Screen Ads – a versatile template system beginning with an eye-catching animated banner that, when tapped, expanded into a rich, full-screen interactive experience. This solution was specifically designed for entertainment content across both mobile and desktop platforms, with Disney•PIXAR’s Monsters University serving as our demonstration implementation.

Challenge

Traditional mobile banner ads lacked impact with their small, static format, causing users to ignore them and resulting in poor click-through rates
Entertainment clients needed a more compelling post-click experience that could work consistently across multiple formats (mobile web, in-app, desktop)
The industry needed a reusable, modular template system rather than creating one-off solutions for each campaign

Solution

We designed a comprehensive, modular ad template system with four key reusable components:

1. Advanced Swipe Navigation Module

Delivered an intuitive, gesture-based content exploration system that seamlessly integrated images, videos, and interactive hotspots, keeping users engaged while preserving brand messaging through thoughtful idle-state features.

2. Dynamic Messaging Module

Created an intelligent date-aware system that automatically evolved promotional messaging throughout a campaign’s lifecycle, transitioning seamlessly from “Coming Soon” to “Now Playing” without manual updates.

3. Thermometer/Audio Bar Module

Designed a versatile visual indicator that brought entertainment content to life through animated progress tracking, perfect for representing audio, goals, or other measurable elements with customizable visual treatments.

4. Persistent Navigation Module

Implemented a consistent, intuitive navigation framework that maintained user orientation and provided quick access to critical functions like content galleries, theater locations, and ticket purchasing across all expanded states.

Click the Thumbnail to Enlarge

This flowchart illustrates the user flow and interactions within the proposed mobile ad template. The visualization highlights the intended user journey. The wireframes emphasize the structure and functionality of each screen before visual design was applied.

Design Process

Template Architecture Development

Modular Framework Design

Created a flexible template architecture with pluggable modules
Cross-Platform Compatibility

Designed infrastructure “glue” to allow consistent functioning in both mobile and desktop environments
Component System

Developed the four core modules with customization options
Asset Specifications

Defined clear requirements for graphic assets needed for each module

Collaborative Prototyping

Working closely with a developer, we created an interactive prototype that demonstrated the full user experience. This collaborative approach ensured that:

The modular system architecture was technically feasible
Animations and transitions performed well across devices
The template could accommodate various content types
The Monsters University implementation effectively showcased the system’s capabilities

Technical Documentation

We developed comprehensive specifications for each module and template implementation, ensuring the system could be accurately implemented for any entertainment property and extended over time with additional features.

Impact and Deliverables

As a team, we successfully delivered:

A complete, reusable template system with four pluggable modules and cross-platform compatibility
Full Monsters University ad implementation across multiple formats (engagement lightbox, mobile web ads, and Admob ads for various devices)
Comprehensive tracking for all user interactions

Click the Thumbnail to Enlarge

This flowchart visualizes the final user experience of the mobile ad template, showing the rendered screens and how they combine to create an engaging and intuitive mobile ad format.

Motion Prototype

Key Takeaways

This project demonstrated the power of modular template design in digital advertising. By creating a system of reusable components rather than one-off solutions, we enabled:

Experiential Continuity

Consistent user experiences across platforms and devices.

Faster Implementation

Faster, more cost-effective solution to advertising entertainment properties.

Flexible Format

Extensive customization options without requiring complete redesigns.

Increased Engagement

Offers audiences richer content and more value, resulting in significantly longer brand exposure times.

Ready to create experiences users will love? Contact me and let’s bring your vision to life.

Let’s Connect

Google: Advertising Products

Transforming Entertainment Advertising with Cross-Screen Ads

Challenge

Solution

1. Advanced Swipe Navigation Module

2. Dynamic Messaging Module

3. Thermometer/Audio Bar Module

4. Persistent Navigation Module

Click the Thumbnail to Enlarge

Design Process

Template Architecture Development

Modular Framework Design

Cross-Platform Compatibility

Component System

Asset Specifications

Collaborative Prototyping

Technical Documentation

Impact and Deliverables

Click the Thumbnail to Enlarge

Motion Prototype

Key Takeaways

This project demonstrated the power of modular template design in digital advertising. By creating a system of reusable components rather than one-off solutions, we enabled:

Experiential Continuity

Faster Implementation

Flexible Format

Increased Engagement

Ready to create experiences users will love? Contact me and let’s bring your vision to life.