A few months ago, the AIMA invited me to join some folks from Coloring Book Studios, Eyewonder and Avenue A | Razorfish in a discussion about rich media and its value. Their question got me thinking: rich media is a term that means a lot of things to a lot of people, but what does it really mean in terms of accomplishing your objectives online? 

Tough question, but let's start with what we know. Life is short and so is the average attention span. Consumers don’t want to waste one minute on marketing. Still, they're spending their precious time (scarce as it may be) online. Rich media may be the key to the attraction.

Rich media isn’t a specific technology — the tools at our disposal are ever-evolving. Instead, it’s a set of techniques that leverage that “time flies when you’re having fun” phenomenon:

• Time-based content such as animation or video
• Interactive content that empowers the user to control and focus an experience
• Variable content that can adjust based on the situation
• 3D content that gives users a more tangible experience
  

Rich media’s capacity for built-in intelligence means knowing what site the user is on or coming from, or their weather conditions and time of day. Reflecting the user’s context makes your message more seductive.

Rich media can approximate or transcend real-world experiences. Online, users can pick up, spin and examine the texture of a product no matter how large. Products can come apart to reveal design details or to make abstract, technical ideas tangible and compelling. 

Rich media means being able to tell complex stories and paint a more exciting picture of how the product or service might impact consumer’s lives; Like letting users learn about, and even interact with, product creators to see how much thought went into the design.

We can make mundane things easy — even fun — with rich media. Smarter, more intuitive configuration and checkout processes can adapt themselves to the needs of the user, rather than the other way around.

Highly adaptive and distributable, rich media is extremely useful in maintaining brand experience. Picture consistent and engaging experiences across rich media banners, informational microsites, in-store kiosks and reseller websites.  

Your customers are out there, searching. They want immersive experiences that capture their attention, convince them they’ve found the answer, and allow them to convert, effortlessly.

Use rich media to give them what they want.