TORONTO - (October 17, 2011) - Already known for its ground-breaking Cross-Media Optimization Research Studies (CMOST), the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada (IAB Canada), today announced a new Case-study Partnership with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) that will focus on developing research exclusively within Digital channels.

The program, which is in keeping with IAB Canada’s corporate green commitment, enlists NCC as the client, in order to provide IAB Canada Members (and the greater Canadian ad industry), with full transparency on objectives, strategies, tactics and results, for all NCC Digital campaigns that run, utilizing IAB Canada Member-donated Digital marketing services and expertise.

"As a non-profit organization working for the direct protection of Canada’s biodiversity, NCC is already a great Canadian success story," says Paula Gignac, President, IAB Canada. "Since 1962, NCC has helped conserve more than 2 million acres of ecologically-significant land in Canada, and yet like most charities and non-profits – and indeed, many other Canadian companies – has many more important objectives that it would like to achieve, but a less-than-optimum understanding of how Digital marketing could help realize these goals."

"It’s our belief that by tapping into the deep expertise of IAB Canada Members through the donated services in our Case-Study Partnership Program, the Canadian advertising industry will get the transparent case-studies it needs to alert Advertisers to the many ways in which Digital marketing can be used to drive results; Canada’s entire not-for-profit sector will get enhanced learning more relevant to their needs; and NCC will get the specific services it requires to continue to do the vital work that it does – a real win-win for everyone."

Casale Media, the inaugural sponsor of IAB Canada’s NCC Case-Study PartnershipProgram, took up the challenge of focusing their efforts on heightening the awareness of the NCC brand Online. In order to run a scalable, targeted and fully-customized ad campaign, Casale ran the NCC campaign using the company’s proprietary Videobox ad units.

Results + Analysis

- Campaign Performance: The NCC Videobox ad campaign generated an open rate almost 8 times higher than Casale Media's Network average click-through-rate for standard Display creative!

- Campaign Engagement: Not only was consumer engagement with NCC's Videobox content off the charts, but consumer retention and interest in the content was extremely high. Nearly 10% of users who interacted with the NCC brand via the Videobox ad remained engaged for a full 30 seconds or more.

- Demographic Performance: Demographic performance analysis identified NCC's key audience as adults ages 45-54 - a segment that outperformed the campaign average by 91%.

- Content Channel Performance: Education & Careers channels vastly exceeded other Network content channels in terms of performance (by more than 5X the average).

- Day-Part Targeting: Day-part performance analysis showed Early-morning (6:30am-9:59am), Daytime (10am-2:59pm) and Primetime (7pm-8:59pm), as those times when NCC's best-performing audience was engaged with the Videobox ad.

- Audience Targeting: Given the Canadian focus of the campaign, Casale ran both French- and English-language Videobox ads. The French-language Videobox open rate was 3X that of its English-language counterpart, and had an 11.44% Video completion rate for users engaging with the ad (vs. a 5.6% Video completion rate in English-Canada). Regional performance analysis showed total Quebec results as 21% above the regional average as well.

- Retargeting Performance: Analysis showed that re-targeting users who saw initial NCC ads within 7 days of visitation to the NCC Website, was the best time to drive "Click-to-convert," "Cost-per-action" and "Cost-per-click" metrics within the cycle.

"We couldn’t have asked for a better partner for our first study than Casale Media," says Paula Gignac, President, IAB Canada. "The specific results of the study clearly show how new tactics in Display advertising – and Digital Video in particular – can be used to build success for brands. But more than that, the study also shows how incredibly important it is to have qualified and experienced Digital advisors and technology partners at the marketing table from the moment Advertiser objectives are established, right through to the conclusion of the campaign – in order to leverage this experience and draw actionable conclusions from various reports and analysis."

Julia Casale-Amorim, CMO, Casale Media Inc. agrees: "Our partnership with IAB Canada and NCC demonstrates the potential for customized Video advertising to drive both awareness and powerful engagement for brands Online. Casale Media’s Videobox removes the guesswork and complexity from Online Video, making it an accessible option for all marketers wanting to benefit from this powerful medium. We are thrilled to be a part of this important industry initiative and applaud IAB Canada for their efforts to develop original industry research, while at the same time benefiting such a worthy national cause."

"The expertise and resources that we’ve already had access to through this program will immediately help NCC to refine our Digital messaging and broaden our supporter base over both the short- and long-term," says Teva Harrison, Coordinator of Monthly Giving with the Nature Conservancy of Canada. "Beyond the lessons we learned about identifying and reaching audiences, we also learned that it’s not enough to attract attention with our ad. In future campaigns we will also explore ways to optimize our offer and our Web landing pages with a more powerful ask, in order to leverage that attention. We built special French-language content for the self-identified French audience, and the response was phenomenal, dramatically exceeding the English content. As a result, we’ll definitely resource special content for the French-Canadian audience in the future."

About IAB Canada
IAB Canada (www.iabcanada.com), is the national voice and de facto thought leader of the Canadian Digital marketing and advertising industry, and is a not-for-profit association representing Canada's most well-known and respected Advertisers, Agencies, Media Companies, Mobile and VideoGame Marketers + Developers, Measurement Companies, Service Providers, Educational Institutions and Government Associations operating within the space.

About NCC
The Nature Conservancy of Canada is the nation's leading land conservation organization, working to protect our most important natural areas and the species they sustain. Since 1962 NCC and its partners have helped to protect more than 2 million acres (800,000 hectares), coast to coast. To learn more, visit www.natureconservancy.ca

About Casale Media
Casale Media (www.casalemedia.com) is Canada's largest independently-owned Digital media company. Since 2003, the company has been redefining the standard for Online media quality, ad delivery management and media optimization technologies. Casale Media's premium network, MediaNet, proudly provides advertisers with direct access to more Canadian content than any other network and collectively reaches more than 80% of the national Online audience across more than 3,000 high profile Web properties. Introduced in August 2011, CasaleX, the industry's first premium exchange with real-time bidding, is a highly controlled, brand safe media marketplace that provides publishers with maximum control, and advertisers with exclusively high-quality inventory. Founded and headquartered in Toronto, Casale Media is guided by its dedication to needs-based development and quality-focused culture.

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