Besides engaging with a rich-media end card that included a "Catch The Flash" mini-game following a video ad, users were invited to tap as fast as they could to catch The Flash on the screen and could tap to watch longer-form video from the show and add the inaugural episode?s data and time to the calendar on their mobile device. The AdColony-engineered campaign, which averaged an overall engagement rate of nearly 40 percent, underscores the importance of developing mobile-first executions and targeting them accurately.

?The CW knew it was important to reach their potential viewers across media where they're spending their time,? said Mike Owen, chief revenue officer of AdColony, a division of Opera Mediaworks. ?With time spent in mobile apps skyrocketing, a high-impact mobile execution to drive viewership was a big part of their strategy.?

The campaign ran from last Thursday, Oct. 2 through Tuesday, paving the way for the show?s launch on Wednesday. 

The primary target was male viewers in the highest-indexing apps aged 18 to 34. A secondary target were the comic book and game enthusiasts seen as the Flash?s core fans, a DC Comics super-hero known as the world?s fastest man.

Consumers could find The Flash mobile video ad with the "Catch the Flash" end game within a multitude of iOS and Android smartphone and tablet applications.

Depending on the app, the ad would appear before, during or after in-app video content. In some apps it was seen as full-screen interstitial video. In others, it appeared as native, auto-playing video within the content feed. 

As consumers watched the action-packed video spot for The Flash, the video then resolved to a prompt for the mini-game, reading, "Tap to Catch The Flash: See How Many Times You Can Catch The Flash By Tapping on Him as He Runs By!" 

As the consumer tapped the screen to start, he or she saw a three-second countdown timer. Then the Flash zoomed across the screen in a city street setting. The consumer had to try to catch the Flash by tapping before he sped by. A score keeper at the bottom of the screen tracked progress.

 

After a few tries, the consumer saw his/her score and the screen resolve to a secondary call to action, giving the consumer the option to engage further. He or she could choose to tap a "Remind Me" button which allowed users to seamlessly add the show's premiere date and time to the calendar right on their mobile device. They could also tap a video thumbnail to watch even more preview video content from The Flash.

?The quick ad load times and the high-production value end card invited consumers to opt in to the brand experience in a unique way,? Mr. Owen said. ?It's also important to note that consumers never had to leave their original app experience ? the ad execution allowed them to continue what they were doing in-app once the ad experience was complete, whether it was playing a game, watching a video, reading a newsfeed, or listening to music.?

The engagement rates for the campaign were benchmark-shattering.

?The campaign has averaged an overall engagement rate of nearly 40 percent thus far, making it one of AdColony's highest performing interactive mobile video campaigns to date,? Mr. Owen said. ?This means nearly two out of every five users who encountered the ad played and interacted with the mini-game on the end card and often chose to engage with the other calls to action, like watching more video or adding the show premiere reminder to their calendars. 

?The high engagement is attributed to accurate targeting and to the touch-friendly, high-definition mobile creative execution itself,? he said. ?The Flash mini-game has zero barriers to entry and is very eye-catching and intuitive to play.?