Sport and activity drink Mizone is running creative HTML5 mobile ad campaigns on Shazam and Fox Sports' mobile offerings to engage and interact with consumers. 

The ads support the launch of Mizone ZoneLab, which pairs musicians with a sports psychologist to create music that puts athletes in the ?zone? when it comes to working out. This is Mizone?s first mobile advertising effort.

?We are seeing many brands gravitate toward HTML5 ads,? said Anne Frisbie, vice president and managing director of InMobi North America, San Mateo, CA.

?Mobile presents the most powerful screen that has ever existed for marketing, in that it combines immersive experiences on ?always on? personal devices that have enormous reach,? she said.

?HTML5 unleashes that power for brand marketers.?

Ms. Frisbie is not affiliated with Mizone or Mobile Embrace and spoke based on her experience in mobile advertising.

Getting creative
HTML5 offers advertisers opportunities to build awareness and drive engagement beyond simply taking their PC Web creative and sticking it on a mobile ad. There are many benefits to brands using HTML5 mobile advertising.

For example, HTML5 enables users to experience content immediately without the need for a plug-in. It also offers a rich set of standards that enable immersive, app-like advertising experiences.

Additionally, HTML5 works across devices, which allows brands to build ads once and have them appear across platforms.

For the Mizone campaign, smartphone users see a banner ad at the top of their screen in certain publisher?s sites. The ad rotates through a series of messages to encourage users to tap to listen to free music.

When the ad is tapped, a crack appears at the top of the screen and water begins to pour through it and splash on the sides of the screen until the water fills up the entire screen.

The screen then morphs into an image of a Mizone bottle. Then a screen appears that enables users to choose between four different songs to listen to.

The Mizone campaign is running across targeted sites on Mobile Embrace?s ad network, including Shazam, Fox Sports and SoundHound.

Mizone is a sports drink from Frucor Beverages, which is a leading maker of energy drinks throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Frucor Beverage was looking to try something new for the brand chose mobile because of the growing penetration of smartphones.

While HTML5 enables the mobile ads to have a high degree of creativity and interactivity, which should help Mizone drive brand awareness and engagement, there are still some drawbacks to the technology.

?The drawback is that standards are still under development for HTML5 in mobile, but if you have a strong mobile partner and use a rich media ad creation platform like Sprout, then you can be certain you will be able to manage the changing guidelines, ensure your ad will be delivered at scale, and build beautiful ads quickly and easily by focusing on design instead of coding,? Ms. Frisbie said.

Final Take
Chantal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York