How Three Sweden designs impactful HTML5 display advertising

In telecom marketing, having impactful HTML5 display advertising is essential. One company at the forefront of telecom display campaigns is leading nordic telecom brand, Three Sweden.

Three Sweden has been a customer of the Bannerflow creative management platform (CMP) since 2014. At the heart of Three’s in-house strategy is its award winning in-house agency, Tre Creative Agency.

We spoke to Tre Creative Agency, Graphic Designer – and Bannerflow user – Ehsan Aslani about how he creates beautifully effective display campaigns.

What are the design challenges in telecom display advertising?

Ehsan Aslani: I would say it’s to stand out, but not to scream it out. To not have lots going on in a banner, or ‘flash’ the best prices but rather be elegant and distinct.

Plus, it’s important to recognise each media channel’s advantages and disadvantages. My philosophy is that display advertising is part of the bigger marketing strategy.

Therefore, I believe in crossmedia – rather than multimedia campaigns. This means you need a guiding red thread that permeates the whole tonality. At Tre Creative Agency we have developed a visual identity for Three Sweden, which does exactly that: we call it ‘Threeality’.

How does the Bannerflow platform help you?

Ehsan Aslani: Using the video widget, we went from using clear white banners right into our Threeality world. Using colourful and engaging video backgrounds, we purposely invite customers into our world of recognition.

We also usually try to keep our message simple and easy to understand – especially in the case of display advertising. After all, our creatives have only seconds to draw a viewer’s attention.

How long have you been working in Bannerflow?

Ehsan Aslani: Bannerflow has been my daily ad production tool for the past 3½years.

Are the assets for your display ads custom built or are they part of bigger ad campaigns?

Ehsan Aslani: They are part of bigger campaigns for Three Sweden, which feature a look and feel we have developed together as an in-house team. The design concepts we create are then adapted to different types of media and various channels, such as display.

How do you create impactful HTML5 display advertising?

Ehsan Aslani: I start every campaign with a single master banner, usually one in a difficult format such as one for a mobile device. For example, 320×160, 160×600, and so on. Basically the formats where the ratio of width to height varies greatly.

Next, based on sketches for the whole campaign from our Art Director, I then create concepts, seeing what works and what doesn’t.

When the master banners are all done, and the concepts are signed off, I then produce a master batch. This works as the foundation for the rest of the ad batches since we usually have several products within each campaign.

How many hours does it take to build a display advertising campaign?

Ehsan Aslani: Firstly, when it comes to the production of all the banners it depends on the size of the campaign. Secondly, we are in a very price sensitive line of business, so we also need the option to be able to act fast! So I would say that it can take anything from just an hour, to up to 1 week or more – depending on the complexity and my own nitty-gritty requirements.

When designing ads which other tools do you use? And how do these feed into Bannerflow?

Ehsan Aslani: Illustrator and Photoshop: I use these to design specific creative elements that can’t be designed in the Bannerflow app. I then import these elements into our brand library in Bannerflow.

I very rarely use pen and paper today as I’m more comfortable and fast working digitally. But I still use them occasionally, when I need to sketch and explain a concept for someone quickly.

What is it about the Bannerflow platform that makes designing ads smoother?

Ehsan Aslani: The ability to be fast and agile. Plus, the capacity to create a vast number of formats and sizes in just a few steps.

Beside the scaling feature in the app itself, I would also recommend the quick and helpful support team.

Which platform features or widgets are you looking to try out in your new ads this coming year?

Ehsan Aslani: Who knows!? Maybe we will use the countdown widget again, to highlight a campaign that the audience can’t miss out on!

What has your overall experience of Bannerflow been like?

Ehsan Aslani: It’s a professional and intuitive creation-tool. The platform also allows you to dive in numbers and stats for the live creatives you’ve published, which is extremely useful.

Next steps

The Bannerflow CMP is a key asset for Three Sweden and Tre Creative Agency. Not only does the platform meet the demands of the in-house agency but it enables the production of beautiful and high performing display campaigns.

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