Interactive Ad Platform Takes Home Awards in Mobile Campaign and Rich Display Media Categories

Contobox™ is a winner of two MediaPost 2019 OMMA Awards, for their mobile-only display campaign developed with Subway, and interactive display campaign built with Stanley Black and Decker's Craftsman brand.

Contobox™ partnered with Carat and Subway to create an in-ad game that helped the quick-service restuarant engage potential customers across mobile apps and the open web to teach them about the quick-service restaurant’s new rewards program. The gamified mobile ads resulted in an engagement rate 10 percent higher than industry standard in the mobile food and beverage category, which Subway capitalized on with a post-game call-to-action that prompted 4.25% of users to hit download. The mobile-only campaign has won in the Mobile: Campaign category.

Contobox™ is also a winner in the Rich Display Media: Single Execution or Campaign category for their work with ROC Media and Stanley Black and Decker brand, Craftsman. Together, they developed the Craftsman Dream Garage Contest to help grow awareness around the tool brand's slate of redesigned products. The contest allowed users to browse tools, select their most coveted items, and enter to win them all without leaving the display ad, resulting in an engagement rate 10 times higher than Google’s rich media benchmark.

“Our goal was to increase awareness of the new line of Craftsman tools, while providing an engaging platform for our customers to learn about the brand. Partnering with Contobox allowed us to connect with our fans with relevant messaging and the user generated results exceeded our expectations,” said Mark Emmerson, Director of Marketing, Stanley Black and Decker, Craftsman.

“We couldn't be prouder of the work we do with incredible brands like Craftsman and Subway. We're dedicated to finding innovative solutions to help every brand reach their business goals,” says Petar Bozinovski, President, Contobox™. “And winning some accolades with our clients along the way doesn't hurt either.”

The 2019 OMMA award winners were announced at the MediaPost OMMA Awards Ceremony on Monday, September 23rd in New York. To date, Contobox™ has won 16 awards in the last 4 years. Last year, the interactive ad platform took home an award in the Programmatic Creative category with partner Saatchi for their work on the Toyota Rav4 campaign, and in the Chatbot category for the first-to-market implementation of their chatbot technology, developed in partnership with Initiative for RBC Insurance.

To learn how Contobox™ can help you build engaging, interactive display and video ads for the programmatic world, please contact:

US and International: brandsales@contobox.com

Canada: Rogers Media Sales, the exclusive representative of Contobox for Canadian ad agencies.

Contobox™ and Rogers Media announced an exclusive partnership with the launch of R.E.D. Contobox™. The partnership draws on the strength of Rogers Enabled Data (R.E.D.) audience insights and Contobox’s award-winning engagement platform to deliver best-in-class ad solutions for clients. R.E.D. Contobox™ is represented exclusively to Canadian ad agencies as part of Rogers Media Sales’ R.E.D. first-party data solutions.

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About Contobox™

Contobox™ is a leader in creative ad technologies. Their ad platform creates and serves interactive video and display ads that engage people with high-impact features like chatbots, 360º video, games and more. Engagement ads generate data from the countless interactions people have with these features. Brands can use the platform’s real-time reporting tools to learn about their product and audience from this data, and activate on it by creating segments for better retargeting and lookalike audiences. Visit Contobox.com.

Media Contacts:

Nicolas Di Lollo

Contobox™

416.645.0135 x409

ndilollo@contobox.com

Virtual Wallet Allows Consumers to Save Special In-Ad Offers Directly to Their Mobile Wallets

(Toronto, ON) September 4, 2019 - Interactive ad platform Contobox™ recently released Virtual Wallet, an exclusive feature that allows users to save promos, coupons, and passes promoted in digital display and video ads directly to Google Pay or Apple Wallet, closing the gap between online ad exposure and in-store foot traffic. Once the offer is added to the user’s wallet, brands can target them with location and time-based push notifications to drive in-store conversions. The feature also helps brands collect valuable data on consumers’ online-to-offline shopping habits, which they can use to retarget engaged users, or build loyalty strategies around those who’ve already converted.

“Consumers interact with brands in many ways before making a purchase, and more often than not, it’s through a mix of online and offline touchpoints,” says Christine Carey, GM & SVP, US Sales, Contobox™. “We’re excited to offer a solution that connects those touchpoints in a way that provides value for consumers and brands alike.”

Brick-and-mortar stores are still part of the preferred path to purchase for 61% of millennials, according to a recent report by eMarketer, but digital is playing an increasingly important role for shoppers, no matter where the final purchase takes place. More than half of consumers start product research online and it often continues in store: A survey from HRC Retail Advisory found that nearly 60% of US smartphone shoppers use their devices in store to compare costs or search for deals or coupons. With Contobox’s Virtual Wallet, users can bypass annoying app download and registration processes to easily take advantage of online offers in store.

“Everyone knows it’s cheaper to keep existing customers than find new ones, and Virtual Wallet allows brands to target consumers with relevant offers that are easy to redeem, turning one-time buyers into repeat customers” says Petar Bozinovski, President, Contobox™.

Virtual Wallet comes hot on the heels of Contobox’s recently released Shoppable ad units, which integrate an add-to-cart functionality to shorten consumers’ paths to purchase and help brands gain unique insights into online shopping behaviour. Whether it’s helping grow online sales, drive in-store foot traffic, or gather valuable data to inform future strategies, Contobox™ is committed to finding innovative ways to solve the unique challenges facing every brand.

To learn how Contobox’s Virtual Wallet can support your brand’s digital display and video campaigns, please contact:

US and International: brandsales@contobox.com

Canada: Rogers Media Sales, the exclusive representative of Contobox for Canadian ad agencies.

Contobox™ and Rogers Media announced an exclusive partnership with the launch of R.E.D. Contobox™. The partnership draws on the strength of Rogers Enabled Data (R.E.D.) audience insights and Contobox’s award-winning engagement platform to deliver best-in-class ad solutions for clients. R.E.D. Contobox™ is represented exclusively to Canadian ad agencies as part of Rogers Media Sales’ R.E.D. first-party data solutions.

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About Contobox™

Contobox™ is a leader in creative ad technologies. Their ad platform creates and serves interactive video and display ads that engage people with high-impact features, like chatbots, 360º video, games and more. Engagement ads generate data from the countless interactions people have with these features. Brands can use the platform’s real-time reporting tools to learn about their product and audience from this data and activate on it by creating segments for better retargeting and lookalike audiences. Visit Contobox.com.

Media Contacts:

Jennifer Mason

Lamb Creative Group

416-456-1042

jennifer@lambcreativegroup.com

Nicolas Di Lollo

Contobox™

416.645.0135 x409

ndilollo@contobox.com

Interactive Ad Platform Selected As a Finalist in Mobile and Rich Display Media Categories

Contobox™ is a finalist for three MediaPost 2019 OMMA awards, including two nominations for a mobile-only display campaign developed for Subway, and one nomination for interactive display campaign built for Craftsman.

Contobox™ partnered with Dentsu Aegis and Carat to create an in-ad game that helped Subway engage potential customers across mobile apps and the open web to teach them about the quick-service restaurant’s new rewards program. The gamified mobile ads resulted in an engagement rate 10 percent higher than industry standard in the mobile food and beverage category, which Subway capitalized on with a post-game call-to-action that prompted 4.25% of users to hit download. The mobile-only campaign has been nominated in the Mobile: Campaign and Mobile: Single Execution, Non-App categories.

Contobox™ has also been nominated in the Rich Display Media: Single Execution category for their work with ROC Media to help Craftsman grow awareness around their slate of redesigned tools in Canada. Together, they developed the Craftsman Dream Garage Contest, which allowed users to browse tools, select their most coveted items, and enter to win them all without leaving the display ad, resulting in an engagement rate 10 times higher than Google’s rich media benchmark. Craftsman was able to use the expandable ad unit’s HTML5 to host the contest as a microsite, so Craftsman could promote it on their social channels, which helped them reach more than 2 million Canadians.

“Whether we’re helping brands engage consumers to increase consideration, drive conversions, or collect valuable data to inform retargeting strategies, Contobox is dedicated to finding innovative solutions for every brand,” says Petar Bozinovski, President, Contobox™. “Our interactive ad formats and flexible features give clients the freedom they need to create truly engaging digital campaigns that help them accomplish their goals.”

To date, Contobox™ has received 24 award nominations in the last 4 years. Last year, the interactive ad platform took home an award in the Programmatic Creative category with partner Saatchi for their work on the Toyota Rav4 campaign, and in the Chatbot category for the first-to-market implementation of their chatbot technology, developed in partnership with Initiative for RBC Insurance. The 2019 OMMA award winners will be announced at the OMMA Awards Ceremony on Monday, September 23rd in New York.

To learn how Contobox™ can help you build engaging, interactive display and video ads for the programmatic world, please contact:

US and International: brandsales@contobox.com

Canada: Rogers Media Sales, the exclusive representative of Contobox for Canadian ad agencies.

Contobox™ and Rogers Media announced an exclusive partnership with the launch of R.E.D. Contobox™. The partnership draws on the strength of Rogers Enabled Data (R.E.D.) audience insights and Contobox’s award-winning engagement platform to deliver best-in-class ad solutions for clients. R.E.D. Contobox™ is represented exclusively to Canadian ad agencies as part of Rogers Media Sales’ R.E.D. first-party data solutions.

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About Contobox™

Contobox™ is a leader in creative ad technologies. Their ad platform creates and serves interactive video and display ads that engage people with high-impact features like chatbots, 360º video, games and more. Engagement ads generate data from the countless interactions people have with these features. Brands can use the platform’s real-time reporting tools to learn about their product and audience from this data, and activate on it by creating segments for better retargeting and lookalike audiences. Visit Contobox.com.

Media Contacts:

Nicolas Di Lollo

Contobox™

416.645.0135 x409

ndilollo@contobox.com

New Interactive Shoppable Ad Units Give Brands Unique Insights Into Consumer Buying Behaviour

(Toronto, ON) July 23, 2019 - Contobox™, an interactive advertising platform, announces a new exclusive shoppable ad format that allows consumers to add items directly to their shopping cart from their mobile, desktop and tablet devices. As shoppable ads grow in popularity with retailers on major social platforms, brands and publishers find themselves, having to pay to access their own targeting data. Contobox™ Shoppable ad units help shorten the path to purchase while giving brands a unique look at consumer shopping behaviour that can be utilized for building more personalized campaigns.

“Consumer shopping and intent data are incredibly powerful signals for brands to leverage and we’re incredibly excited to help both brand and publisher side advance their understanding of their consumer base in this way.” Christine Carey, GM & SVP, US Sales, Contobox said.

A recent study from McKinsey & Company indicate 82% of US shoppers reported spending money online and used their smartphones to make purchasing decisions. The report also indicates 83% of customers want their shopping experience to be personalized with research suggesting customization can increase store revenues by 20-30%. Prominent retailers including Best Buy, Home Depot, Costco, Ikea, Gap, and Indigo are now seeing over 50% mobile-only visitors shop their brands. And while more and more consumers are moving towards shopping on mobile devices, average dollars spent via desktop had a 22% increase year-over-year in dollars per buyer, suggesting desktop is still a trusted platform for transactions. Today’s consumers demand relevant and personalized digital content and Contobox™ saw the opportunity to create ad technology that is simple, quick and provides instant gratification for an enhanced online shopping experience.

“Our exclusive new ad unit is the perfect tool for online retailers to reduce their customers' path to purchase and provide valuable insights on consumer shopping habits,” said Andrew Bester, Director of Enterprise Sales and Business Development, Contobox. “Advertisers are now able to leverage real-time data to create value for consumers and use their retargeting ad dollars more efficiently to reach engaged audiences.”

Contobox™ ad units utilize high-engagement display and video features that keep audiences interacting with brands, including chatbots, dynamic creative, custom games, and more. The platform has earned numerous global awards including Best Programmatic Creative for the Toyota RAV4 campaign and top award in the Chatbot Category for RBC Insurance at last year’s OMMA (Online Marketing Media and Advertising) Awards.

To learn how Contobox™ shoppable units can boost your brand’s digital display and video campaigns, please contact:

US and International

Contact: brandsales@contobox.com

Canada

Contact: Rogers Media Sales, the exclusive representative of Contobox for Canadian ad agencies.

Contobox™ and Rogers Media announced an exclusive partnership with the launch of R.E.D. Contobox™. The partnership draws on the strength of Rogers Enabled Data (R.E.D.) audience insights and Contobox’s award-winning engagement platform to deliver best-in-class ad solutions for clients. R.E.D. Contobox™ is represented exclusively to Canadian ad agencies as part of Rogers Media Sales’ R.E.D. first-party data solutions.

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About Contobox™

Contobox™ is a leader in creative ad technologies. Their interactive ad platform creates and serves interactive video and display ads that engage people with high impact features (like chatbots, 360º video, games and more). Engagement ads generate data from the countless interactions people have with these features. Brands can use the platform’s real-time reporting tools to learn about their product and audience from this data and activate on it by creating segments for better retargeting and lookalike audiences. Visit Contobox.com.

Media Contact:

Jennifer Mason

Lamb Creative Group

416-456-1042

jennifer@lambcreativegroup.com

Nicolas Di Lollo

Contobox

416.645.0135 x409

ndilollo@contobox.com

Partnership draws on the strength of Rogers Enabled Data (R.E.D.) audience insights and Contobox’s award-winning engagement platform to deliver best-in-class ad solutions for clients

Rogers Media Sales is exclusive representative of Contobox for Canadian agencies

Rogers Media Sales to showcase the platform at 2019/20 prime-time schedule agency presentations

TORONTO (May 30, 2019) – R.E.D.-y, Set, Engage! Rogers Media and Contobox, today announced an exclusive partnership launching R.E.D. Contobox, a data-driven, high-engagement advertising platform that brings client campaigns to life, transforming static digital ads through interactive features, animation and video. A best-in-class marketing solution for Canadian clients, today’s announcement comes as Rogers Media unveiled its 2019/20 prime-time schedule, just ahead of Rogers Media Sales’ upcoming agency presentations.

Powered by Rogers Enabled Data (R.E.D.) and Contobox’s innovative ad technology platform, R.E.D. Contobox is sold by engagement vs. a traditional CPM model – guaranteeing advertisers only pay for 100% viewable user-initiated engagements. R.E.D. Contobox will be represented exclusively to Canadian ad agencies as part of Rogers Media Sales’ R.E.D. first-party data solutions. Agencies will be able to take advantage of R.E.D. Contobox both as a managed or programmatic service.

“This partnership is a big step forward in terms of how we can use R.E.D.’s safe, anonymous, and aggregated data to tell compelling stories for our advertisers and customers,” said Al Dark, SVP Sales, Rogers Media. “As an established technology company, we’re confident in Contobox’s innovative ad experiences and know this partnership will benefit our clients across our TV, digital and radio platforms.”

In 2018, Rogers Media Sales launched R.E.D. – Rogers Enabled Data. With access to thousands of data points from Rogers’s cable, digital, and mobile devices (in addition to TV and radio audience measurement) – all anonymous and aggregated – the company developed valuable insights into new targeted audience segments, which is a huge competitive advantage in the advertising marketplace. With richer, more detailed audience segment profiles, advertisers can deliver campaigns that are more relevant and engaging. And that’s where R.E.D. Contobox comes in.

Contobox is an interactive advertising platform allowing brands to engage audiences across mobile, desktop and tablet devices. Contobox ad units utilize high-engagement display and video features that keep audiences interacting with brands including chatbots, dynamic creative, custom games, and more. The platform has earned numerous global awards including Best Programmatic Creative at last year’s OMMA (Online Marketing Media and Advertising) Awards in New York.

“With our expertise creating deep audience engagement and Rogers’s rich data sets, R.E.D. Contobox provides agencies the perfect tools for online campaigns,” said Petar Bozinovski, President, Contobox. “Advertisers are able to combine real-time consumer engagement data with R.E.D. segments to create unprecedented hyper-targeted opportunities at scale and serve up to thousands of pieces of dynamic creative to tell more relevant and engaging brand stories than ever before.”

About Rogers Media

Rogers Media is a diverse media and content company that engages more than 30 million Canadians each week. The company’s multimedia offerings include 56 radio stations, 29 local TV stations, 23 conventional and specialty television stations, podcasts, digital and e-commerce websites, and sporting events. Rogers Media delivers unique storytelling through its range of powerful brands: Citytv, OMNI Television, FX, TSC, KiSS, Breakfast Television, Cityline, CityNews, Sportsnet – Canada’s #1 sports media brand, and the Blue Jays – Canada’s only Major League Baseball team. Rogers Media is a subsidiary of Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX, NYSE: RCI). Visit RogersMedia.com.

About Contobox

Contobox is a leader in creative ad technologies. Their interactive ad platform creates and serves interactive video and display ads that engage people with high impact features (like chatbots, 360º video, games and more). Engagement ads generate data from the countless interactions people have with these features. Brands can use the platform’s real-time reporting tools to learn about their product and audience from this data and activate on it by creating segments for better retargeting and lookalike audiences. Visit Contobox.com.

Media Contacts

Jodi Cook

Rogers Media Jodi.Cook@rci.rogers.com 647.227.2374

Andrea Goldstein

Rogers Media Andrea.Goldstein@rci.rogers.com 647.801.4394

Nicolas Di Lollo

Contobox

ndilollo@contobox.com

416.562.2705

Winners of Chatbot and Programmatic Creative Awards for RBC Insurance and Toyota’s RAV4 campaigns

(Toronto, ON) Oct 2, 2018 - Contobox won big at last night’s International Mediapost OMMA Awards in New York. Taking home top awards in both the Chatbot and Programmatic Creative categories, Contobox was honoured for their work with Initiative on the RBC Insurance campaign and Saatchi on Toyota’s RAV4 campaign.

The RBC Insurancecampaign took home the top award in the Chatbot category for its first-to-market implementation of their chatbot technology. In partnership with Initiative, Contobox developed an in-ad insurance assistant chatbot leveraging expandable and non-expandable digital display. The chatbot was supported utilizing Contobox’s EasyTag technology which allows full programmatic delivery of ad creative regardless of a publisher’s expandable ad capability - this means no advertising dollars are wasted on sites that don’t have the capability to expand. Delivering real-time consumer insights to RBC Insurance’s team through the Contobox platform, helped RBC better manage the campaign internally. Creating a scalable advisor that helped deliver to consumers exactly what they’re looking for helped RBC better understand what consumers knew or didn’t know about insurance.

“Our goal was to make insurance easier to understand, while also answering some common questions people have” says Margaret Adaniel, Senior Marketing Director, RBC Insurance. “Working with Initiative, Contobox and Grip helped get our message across in an truly innovative way that we’re here every step of the way to help consumers get insurance.”

“Creating a scalable advisor that helped deliver consumers exactly what they’re looking for helped us better understand what consumers knew or didn’t know about insurance.” Jannie Densing, Group Director, Digital Communications.

Contobox also won an award in the Programmatic Creative categorywith partner Saatchi for their work on the Toyota RAV4 campaign. The campaign’s feature-rich expandable display unit engaged consumers while creating real-time data on those consumers who are already in the market to purchase.The data gauged prospects’ interest in particular car models then programmatically retargeted them with optimized creative, moving them closer to purchase.

“We are honoured to have been recognized amongst our industry peers at the International Media Post OMMA Awards for our outstanding work on the RBC Insurance and Toyota RAV4 campaigns in conjunction with Initiative and Saatchi,” said Petar Bozinovski, President, Crucial Interactive. “These wins underscore our talented team’s dedication to working collaboratively with our partners to continually keep raising the bar, engaging with audiences on their terms.”

The OMMA Awards were created in 2004 to honour and recognize agencies and advertisers that push the potential of digital advertising. OMMA stands for Online Marketing Media and Advertising, and have honoured the best campaigns in the industry for more than 10 years.

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Crucial Interactive provides brands with real audience engagement. Crucial represents scalable, high impact advertising technologies, including its proprietary engagement platform Contobox. Crucial Interactive also represents premium digital media including: ESPN, CanadaPost and TMX Money, for brands to connect wherever audiences are.

Contobox- The Ultimate Engagement Platform is an award-winning interactive advertising platform that connects brands with people and delivers consumer insights. Contobox cross-platform Display and Video formats deliver unprecedented engagement, time spent and brand lift, while helping brands gather actionable insights about their target audience.

Contobox proves that audiences engage with programmatic creative

(Toronto, ON) Sept 5, 2018 - Contobox has been shortlisted as a top 2 finalist for the international OMMA awards’ programmatic creative and interactive creative categories for their work with Saatchi and Toyota’s RAV4 brand.

The Contobox and Saatchi team developed a feature-rich campaign to engage consumers online using expandable display that created real-time 1st party data on prospective in-market consumers. They used this data to gauge a prospect’s interest in particular nameplates then programmatically retargeted them with optimized creative to move them through the funnel.

Contobox has also been shortlisted as a top 3 finalist in the rich media campaign and chatbot categories for their work with RBC Insurance and Initiative.

The RBC Insurance campaign launched three category first-to-markets, first bringing an insurance assistant chatbot to life via expandable and non-expandable digital display. The chatbot was supported by 2 category first-to-markets utilizing Contobox’s EasyTag technology to programmatically deliver interactive creative regardless of a publisher’s expandable inventory. A programmatic data transfer pathway; the 3rd first-to-market, which delivered real-time consumer insights from Adobe to RBC Insurance’s Google DBM tech stack.

“Programmatic creative doesn’t just have to be about using data to select the most appealing colour,” says “It can in fact be used to engage consumers at scale and gain much more useful insights from them for brands to provide meaningful personalized messaging.”

The Contobox team received their 5th OMMA nomination for their work with FGL Sports’ Sport Chek Brand, Canada’s largest sports retailer. The campaign brought to life a shopping assistant chatbot made available through expandable display and out-stream video.

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Crucial Interactive provides brands with real audience engagement. Crucial represents scalable, high impact advertising technologies, including its proprietary engagement platform Contobox. Crucial Interactive also represents premium digital media including: ESPN, CanadaPost and TMX Money, for brands to connect wherever audiences are.

Contobox - The Ultimate Engagement Platformis an award-winning interactive advertising platform that connects brands with people and delivers consumer insights. Contobox cross-platform Display and Video formats deliver unprecedented engagement, time spent and brand lift, while helping brands gather actionable insights about their target audience.

Follow us on Twitter: @CrucialInter

Follow us on Twitter: @Contobox

Media Contact:

Nicolas Di Lollo

Crucial Interactive

Manager, Marketing

416.645.0135

ndilollo@crucialinteractive.com

(Toronto, ON) July 23, 2018 - Crucial Interactive has hired its first Chief Financial Officer, Jeff Collins who brings 15+ years of experience in the technology, internet, software and ad-tech spaces. Prior to Crucial, Collins served as the CFO of Perk Inc, a mobile rewards platform, from its initial public listing through its sale to RhythmOne in 2017.

Collins will oversee finance, operations, investor relations and strategic initiatives as the Company grows its agency and direct client programmatic offerings to major clients, including: Air Canada, GroupM and OMG.

“The growth of ad technologies that help advertisers move beyond clicks today has stagnated despite a lot of recent global acquisitions,” said Collins. “A platform like Contobox is helping brands and advertisers find the real efficacy in their programmatic buys through engagement metrics.”

"Jeff’s extensive operational, investment, M&A and leadership experience are true assets to the business as we continue to grow our offerings in Canada and the US and as we look ahead to the company's next steps”, says Peter Bozinovski, Founder and President, Crucial Interactive. “Our focus has always been on delivering results for our customers, and we’re excited to continue to deliver innovative solutions that help brands and advertisers engage with consumers, learn about their audience, and activate on what they learn.”

Winners of Mobile Marketing Campaign and Rich Media Campaign Awards with MEC for Nespresso