A high-quality television screen should make someone think that the picture isn't just crystal clear but actually happening in front of them. The creative partner wanted to recreate that feeling of augmented reality with water animation mesmerizing enough to make a user feel like they were underwater. The design team placed clear instructions on the ad, guiding users to let their mouse or finger play with the creative, creating a realistic rippling effect. However, there were subtle elements to the animation that elevated the experience and inspired interaction; when a cursor or finger was at rest, ripples pulsated from it, subtly but effectively indicating how to play with the creative. The effect of the light moving through the water gave users the sense that they were feeling and experiencing the same wonder as the scuba diver on the screen.

The ad was placed on relevant technology publishers to reach the affluent techie market. The team recognized that LG’s target audience did not spend time on only those sites, so they expanded placement to include publishers frequented by high-earning consumers, like news and lifestyle. The approach was successful—interaction rates were equally high across all three publisher types. Reaching the right consumer is the first half of the challenge; the second piece is to drive users to interact with the creative. After much research and experimentation, the creative team successfully created a custom code that ensured the animation worked without weighing down the ad, no matter what device, browser, and operating system it appeared on. The animation also responded effectively to the hover of a mouse and even the lightest touch of a finger.

Overall, the campaign drove an interaction rate of 3.62%, twice the Google Rich Media benchmark. Using two variations of the unit successfully increased interaction rates for the second flight. The interaction rate jumped up to 3.82% for the countdown version. The average time spent on the ad was 13 seconds, a number that speaks to how compelling users found the creative to be. Another significant result of the campaign was that the smartphone was the top-performing device; the interaction rate on smartphone was 3.76%, compared to 3.25% on desktop and 2.42% on tablet. This stat speaks to the success the creative partner had in overcoming the challenge of compelling users to mouse over their screen and the even more difficult task of getting users to use touch to play with the rippling effect.