InMobi’s Sprout (News – Alert) was a well-respected and frequently used platform for the creation of advertising in HTML5, so it may well prove to be distressing news to find that Sprout is no more. But there is cause for hope here, as while Sprout may be gone, it has been quickly replaced by InMobi Studio, which will not only offer what Sprout did, but also just a little extra.
InMobi, who reportedly purchased Sprout last year, left it much the same following its purchase, but now, thanks to the rebranding to InMobi Studio, looks to keep the features that made Sprout great as is, but also bring in some new features in the way of engagement reporting and analytics as well as ad development, providing that oh-so-necessary injection of science into marketing, which has always been more art than science anyway.
Thanks to the HTML5 platform, though, there’s an even better advantage to all this in that there no longer needs to be separate development projects going for the iPhone, the Android (News – Alert) devices, and all the rest of the various mobile systems out there, because HTML5 will function equally smoothly on each.
Sprout already had plenty going for it, as evidenced by InMobi’s reports that there was a 437 percent growth in rich media ad impressions for the first eight months of 2012, and given that Sprout / InMobi Studio ads will be able to support valuable advertising matter like animation, gamification, and advertising based on location. The fact that InMobi counts names like Hearst Digital Media, The Gary Group, and several others as customers only supports the concept.
The sheer ubiquity of advertising has left marketers trying desperately to elevate it above the level of background noise, which advertising has indeed been reduced to for many consumers. Bringing in new features like those offered by InMobi Studio should give advertisers a vital leg up in the field, and increase the chances that the advertising is actually effective. Developing advertising and installing it in media is no small thing, and getting return back on investment–especially an investment like marketing efforts–has never been so vital. That’s why marketers should be very happy to hear about the loss of Sprout, and the rise of InMobi Studio to take its place.
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Edited by
Rachel Ramsey