Mazda Debuts New Vibrant Online Ad Technology to Promote its Full Range of Cars

LONDON, August 11, 2011 -

- With Photo

Mazda, the Japanese car manufacturer, today announced it is the first UK brand to use the new advertising toolbar solution from contextual ad leader Vibrant - with an online campaign to run until the end of September 2011. The campaign was devised and planned with Vibrant by Mazda’s media agency Mindshare.

The Vibrant Ad Bar is a new concept in display advertising, offering advertisers a branded solution on websites - that can also host social functions. The campaign uses the innovative advertising tool as an extension to the brand’s current In Market Retail activity for their range of cars.  Mazda is the first brand to advertise with the Vibrant Ad Bar, a user-initiated dynamic ad unit at the bottom of the screen which enables consumers to request a brochure, local dealer information or test drive.

Mazda will be using the Vibrant Ad Bar exclusively on HonestJohn.co.uk, a site which delivers guidance and real-time information to consumers seeking reassurance and independent, practical advice on buying, selling and maintaining a motor vehicle.  HonestJohn.co.uk has been a premium Vibrant publisher partner since 2005; the site averages 4.5M page views and 1.2M unique users monthly.

The new Mazda campaign uses the Vibrant Ad Bar to rotate through four executions to highlight the Mazda3 (fuel efficient compact dynamic car), Mazda6 (family car), Mazda MX-5 (convertible sports car) and Mazda2 (small, sporty model).  This ad initiative supports a broader online display campaign through Vibrant running across a range of automotive sites.

Dana Twelftree, Business Director at Mindshare, says, “Vibrant offers the latest innovations in contextual advertising, positioning Mazda as a contemporary brand and the first to move into this new context to connect with consumers. The Ad Bar and contextual display ads allow Mazda to position their brand across the right content, and raise awareness at the right time and with the right message by appearing in content relevant to their target audience.”

Martin Forbes, Senior Vice President, Corporate Operations at Vibrant, says, “Mazda is leveraging our innovations in contextual advertising to drive a new level of engagement with its audience.  By using the Vibrant Ad Bar, together with in-text and display, there is a potent mix of branding and product messaging to its consumers in a wholly relevant environment; taking advantage of our network of 6,000 premium publishers worldwide.”

The contextual advertising initiative delivers on Vibrant’s “context everywhere” strategy, which enables brands to have ownership of voice and engage consumers with ads that are contextually relevant - across content, in display, in-text and social ad units.

Editor‘s Notes

• Vibrant was ranked 3^rd, in the IPA’s annual Online Media Owner Survey published in April 2011.  The independent survey, carried out in February 2011, collates responses from digital planners, strategists and buyers in media agencies of the levels of service media owners. www.ipa.co.uk/Content/Specific-Media-tops-IPA-Media-Owner-Survey

About Vibrant

Vibrant is a world leader in contextual technology aligning billions of words across the internet with relevant video, information, tools and advertising.  With over 6,000 premium publishers, reaching more than 238 million unique users per month (comScore, May 2011), Vibrant gives top brand marketers the opportunity to deliver highly targeted advertisements within premium Web content and offers publishers premium editorial tools to re-circulate users throughout their websites.  Vibrant works with top brand advertisers such as Microsoft, General Motors, Unilever, Sainsbury’s and Hewlett Packard.

The company was founded in 2000 and has offices in London, New York, Boston, Detroit, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Paris, Hamburg, Munich and Dusseldorf.   Vibrant’s rapid growth has been recognised by the Inc. 500 and Deloitte Fast 50 lists, and in the UK: Media Momentum 2006, 2007 and 2008 and Sunday Times Tech Track in 2004 and 2005.  For more information, visit www.vibrantmedia.co.uk or www.hyperlinkevolved.com or ww.facebook.com/vibrantmedia or twitter.com/vibrantmedia.

Note to Editors:

A picture accompanying this release is available through the PA Photowire. It can be downloaded from www.pa-mediapoint.press.net  or viewed at www.mediapoint.press.net  or www.prnewswire.co.uk.

Further information: Helen Mussard, Senior European Marketing Manager, Vibrant UK: +44(0)207-239-0102 / helen.mussard at vibrantmedia.com ; Lorette Nettar, PR, Vibrant UK: +44(0)7968-521-684 / lorette.nettar at vibrantmedia.com