San Mateo, March 26th, 2012: InMobi, the largest independent mobile ad network, today announces that the InMobi Creative Services team won Best Game Site Mobile Application ad in the Web Marketing Association’s 2012 Internet Advertising Competition Awards. The winning creative was for the SEGA Samurai Bloodshow mobile ad.

The rich media creative award is among the first to be won by a mobile ad network, and one of the first awards for interactive mobile creative built without any manual coding. The win represents a milestone for InMobi’s creative services team and InMobi subsidiary Sprout, whose cloud-based tool produces high performance HTML5 rich media creative through a drag-and-drop interface that requires no knowledge of code.

Judging criteria for the creative award included creativity, innovation, impact, design, copywriting, use of the medium, and memorability. The SEGA Samurai Bloodshow campaign leveraged the latest in HTML5 innovation and gamification to meet performance based advertising goals. InMobi Creative Services worked with SEGA to create an experience that enables the user to play the game directly from the ad without having to go through a multi-step process to download the trial from the App Store.

Anne Frisbie, Vice President and Managing Director, North America, InMobi says, “We are very excited to be recognized for leading the mobile advertising industry on two levels—first, for rich media creative produced by a mobile ad network, and second, for digital creative built without manual coding. It is a great accomplishment for InMobi, and we look forward to delivering many more innovative campaigns and first-to-market experiences for mobile advertisers and consumers.”

About InMobi
InMobi is the largest independent mobile advertising network. With offices on five continents InMobi provides advertisers, publishers and developers with a uniquely global solution for advertising. The network is growing and now delivers the unprecedented ability to reach 578 Million consumers, in over 165 countries, through more than 93.4 Billion mobile ad impressions monthly. The recent acquisition of Sprout, a leading HTML5 authoring platform for mobile rich media, helps expand the InMobi offering to creative agencies and brands.

InMobi is venture-backed by investors including: SoftBank, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sherpalo Ventures. The company has offices in Bangalore, Johannesburg, London, Nairobi, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Singapore and Tokyo.

To learn more, please visit www.inmobi.com/research, follow us on Twitter @InMobi, or read our blog at www.inmobi.com/inmobiblog/.

Contact:

West Coast: Dan Gamble, Hotwire US | dan.gamble@hotwirepr.com | +1 415 371 7938
East Coast: Jill Ivey, Hotwire US | jillian.ivey@hotwirepr.com | +1 215 806 2951

SAN FRANCISCO—March 6, 2012—Sprout, the leading global platform for mobile brand advertising, today announced its partnership with Hearst Digital Media, a unit of Hearst Magazines. The partnership establishes Sprout as the mobile and tablet rich-media ad creation platform for Hearst’s digital portfolio, including brands like Marie Claire, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan and Seventeen.

Sprout offers a self-service platform that allows clients to create, manage, and optimize display advertising on smart-devices including phones, tablets, game platforms, and TVs.  Hearst will use the Sprout platform to develop high-engagement HTML5 ad units for their brand advertisers to run on its mobile optimized websites.

Laura Schooling, Hearst Digital Media’s executive director of marketing services, said, “Sprout’s technology will better enable us to create deeply engaging advertising experiences for our clients across the mobile and tablet web. With a comprehensive suite of HTML5 applications, we can develop solutions that tap into the inherent functionality of each device—tailoring solutions to consumer interests and behaviors.”

Carnet Williams, VP of Sprout, said, “We are excited Sprout will be Hearst’s mobile ad creation technology partner, and look forward to enabling Hearst’s creative team to create engaging ads for consumers that reflect the quality of the world class editorial that defines Hearst brands.  Hearst and Sprout share a mutual commitment to innovation and creativity, and we look forward to growing our partnership.”

About Sprout

Sprout, an InMobi company, is the leading global platform for mobile brand advertising. The cloud-based tool enables designers, creative agencies and brands to build mobile rich media ad units to run across Android, iOS and the mobile web. The drag and drop interface requires no knowledge of code and the output is high performance HTML5 creative. Designers using the tool can incorporate interactivity and increase engagement with animation, sound and video. Sprout is compatible with most major mobile ad networks and hundreds of premium mobile publishers.

Sprout is a wholly owned subsidiary of InMobi. Venture-backed by investors including SoftBank, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sherpalo Ventures, InMobi has offices in Bangalore, Johannesburg, London, Nairobi, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Singapore and Tokyo.

To learn more, please visit www.sproutinc.com. 

About Hearst Digital Media

Launched in March 2006, Hearst Digital Media, a unit of Hearst Magazines, is dedicated to creating and implementing the digital strategy for Hearst’s magazine brands and other sites, which serve the company’s consumer audience. The unit oversees more than 28 websites and 14 mobile sites for brands such as Cosmopolitan, ELLE, ELLE DECOR, Esquire, Good Housekeeping, Marie Claire, Popular Mechanics, Road & Track and Seventeen, as well as digital-only sites such as Delish.com, a food site in partnership with MSN; and RealBeauty.com. Hearst Magazines has published more than 150 applications and digital editions for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, as well as the Android platform. In addition, the company includes iCrossing, a global digital marketing agency.

Media Contacts

For Sprout: Jill Ivey, Hotwire PR | 215.806.2951| jillian.ivey@hotwirepr.com

For Hearst: Michael Volpatt, Larkin/Volpatt Communications | 415.994.8864 | michael@larkinvolpatt.com

SAN FRANCISCO, February 23^rd, 2012: Sprout, the leading global platform for mobile brand advertising, announces plans for an international network of Sprout certified design resources, allowing the market to benefit from global talent and deliver the very latest in product innovation.  Its new Mobile Design Certification Program will offer free training to large and independent designers and further develop its existing Design Partner Program, boasting partners including; PHD, Joule and Somo.

The cloud based, enterprise-level, mobile creative toolset enables advertisers to build a high-engagement rich media experience once and run it across Android, iOS and the mobile web.  Sprout platform clients control their own creative development process from start to finish.

Carnet Williams, VP of Sprout says “Sprout empowers brands and marketers to do what they do best, focus on creating engaging and high-touch brand experiences for their target consumers, by removing the confusion and frustration around the mobile form factor.  We’re committed to our ‘build once, run everywhere’ vision. This approach provides our clients with a fast, scalable Rich Media creative solution without compromising on quality.”

Sprout offers full rich media engagement reporting and is compliant with MRAID, the IAB’s proposed standard for mobile Rich Media Ads. Ad unit capabilities include embedded video, social media integration, mobile advergames, and location based mapping.

Since its acquisition from InMobi, the largest independent mobile advertising network, in 2011, Sprout has further developed its global customer base.

Connect with key spokespeople from Sprout and InMobi at Mobile World Congress. Stand 2.1C64, Hall 2,1.  To coordinate briefings, contact Jill Ivey, Hotwire PR, jillian.ivey@hotwirepr.com or 215.806.2951.

About Sprout

Sprout, an InMobi company, is the leading global platform for mobile brand advertising. The cloud-based tool enables designers, creative agencies and brands to build mobile rich media ad units to run across Android, iOS and the mobile web. The drag and drop interface requires no knowledge of code and the output is high performance HTML5 creative. Designers using the tool can incorporate interactivity and increase engagement with animation, sound and video. Sprout is compatible with most major mobile ad networks and hundreds of premium mobile publishers.

Sprout is a wholly owned subsidiary of InMobi. Venture-backed by investors including SoftBank, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sherpalo Ventures, InMobi has offices in Bangalore, Johannesburg, London, Nairobi, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Singapore and Tokyo.

To learn more, please visit www.sproutinc.com.

About InMobi

InMobi is the largest independent mobile advertising network. With offices on five continents InMobi provides advertisers, publishers and developers with a uniquely global solution for advertising. The network is growing and now delivers the unprecedented ability to reach 485 Million consumers, in over 165 countries, through more than 93.4 Billion mobile ad impressions monthly. The recent acquisition of Sprout, a leading HTML5 authoring platform for mobile rich media, helps expand the InMobi offering to creative agencies and brands.

InMobi is venture-backed by investors including: SoftBank, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Sherpalo Ventures. The company has offices in Bangalore, Johannesburg, London, Nairobi, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Singapore and Tokyo.

To learn more, please visit www.inmobi.com/research, follow them on Twitter @InMobi, or read their blog at www.inmobi.com/inmobiblog/.

Sprout technology solves the complexity of mobile rich media planning, creation, distribution, and measurement for brands and agencies globally

AUGUST 2, 2011, 08:00 a.m. PDT: Today, InMobi, the world’s largest independent mobile ad network, announced the acquisition of Sprout, whose HTML5 rich media creative platform helps agencies and brands reduce the complexity of rich media mobile ad creation and distribution. InMobi’s global presence combined with Sprout’s rich media technology will help the mobile advertising industry easily build and distribute engaging rich media ads to consumers everywhere.

Known for simplifying the complex process of HTML5 rich media mobile ad creation and distribution, Sprout’s vision is to help advertisers “build once and deliver everywhere” on both mobile and desktop devices. Sprout’s cloud-based platform brings efficiency and scale to organizations creating mobile ads and its rich media creatives are compatible with mobile devices supporting HTML5, including Apple iOS and Google Android devices. Sprout works with some of the world’s leading brands, including Chevrolet, Disney, Paramount Pictures, HTC, Sega and Nokia.

Naveen Tewari, CEO of InMobi, comments: “Sprout’s technology solves a critical need for the industry by helping bring engaging mobile ad experiences to consumers all around the globe. The acquisition fits perfectly with our vision to enable the mobile ecosystem with best of breed technology and services. The entire industry will benefit from the combination of our technology and operational footprint on five continents and Sprout’s platform.”

Commenting on the acquisition, Ajit Nazre, Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, says: “The mobile industry is struggling to fully capitalize on the engaging advertising experiences now possible through smart devices. This acquisition will help scale the use of rich media advertising globally – a critical next step in helping the industry realize its full potential.”

Sprout will operate as a fully independent company working with the entire mobile advertising industry to solve the HTML5 creation and delivery problem, and will continue to expand its product in the coming months by adding workflow enhancements, analytics, and innovative new ad units.

Carnet Williams, CEO and co-founder of Sprout, comments: “InMobi’s commitment to an open and independent Sprout made them the clear choice for us. We will continue to work with all existing partners, including competitive ad networks, globally.”

About InMobi

InMobi is the world’s largest independent mobile advertising network. With offices on five continents, it provides advertisers, publishers and developers with a uniquely global solution for advertising. Its network is growing fast and now delivers the unprecedented ability to reach 314 million consumers, in over 165 countries, through more than 36.2 billion mobile ad impressions monthly. InMobi was recently included in both the 2011 AlwaysOn Global 250 and the 2011 AlwaysOn OnMobile 100 Top Private Companies lists.

InMobi is venture-backed with marquee investors including: Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers and Sherpalo Ventures. The company has offices in San Francisco, London, Bangalore, Tokyo, Nairobi, and Singapore.

To learn more, please visit www.InMobi.com, follow us on Twitter @InMobi, or read our blog atwww.InMobi.com/InMobiblog/.

About Sprout

Sprout is the leading platform for creating mobile HTML5 rich media advertising. Its team has been market leaders for social media and mobile technologies for the past five years, and was one of the first preferred Facebook Developers. Sprout has a simple philosophy: Creative professionals should be able to build once and deliver everywhere. Its platform creates HTML5 ads that are compatible with leading mobile ad networks, aggregators, and publishers.

Sprout is venture-backed by Polaris Venture Partners and has offices in Honolulu and San Francisco.

To learn more, please visit www.sproutinc.com and follow us on Twitter @sprout.

Please contact Dan Gamble, for further information or for a briefing with a senior spokesperson.

Tel: +1 415 598 8902

Email: dan@If-communications.com

FBML Exporting

When you create a social campaign, the ability to add this content directly to your Facebook Fan Page or Application previously required a developer.  This is no longer the case.  With our direct-to-Facebook exporting functionality, you can embed your content using a simple snippet of FBML code.

Conditional Content

As online display advertisements become smarter, they will show you content based on the interactions that you’ve already taken with that ad.  As part of the campaign we just launched with Disney for the movie, Alice in Wonderland, we developed an ad that will dynamically display your content after the first time you interact with it.  For example, if you “Mad Hatter” yourself once, then every additional time you see that ad, it will show your picture and give you access to an exclusive trailer.  Give it a try yourself:

(Tip: if you click the top right section of the ad, it will clear your image after you refresh the page)

Expandable Ads

As many of you have seen, advertisements have the ability to take over a section of your screen that is larger than the ad unit itself. This type of advertisement is called an, “expandable ad” and they are becoming more and more prevalent on popular web sites.  We now have the ability to create these using the Sprout platform.  See the example of an expandable ad for our upcoming event, below:

What exactly is Ustream and how does it work on Sprout?

Ustream allows anyone with a camera and an internet connection to broadcast live video to a global audience.  Using the Ustream technology, you can setup a channel and engage your audience within a matter of minutes. Ustream has been used to live broadcast events such as political debates, talk shows, sporting events and more.  While Ustream offers basic embedding functionality, many of our clients asked us for the ability to embed a live broadcast directly into the Sprout Platform so that they can completely customize the look and feel of their broadcast. This is now possible with the integration of Ustream in the Sprout Platform.

We are proud to announce the launch partner for the newly released Ustream component, Dick Clark Productions for the Golden Globe Awards.  Here is the fully functional Ustream live broadcast within a Sprout social experience:

Let us know what you think and if you’d like to run your own Sprout campaign with live stream functionality.

Beauty product manufacturer Living Proof recently scored a big hit surrounding a free sample campaign for its No Frizz hair care product. Living Proof used a number of avenues to specifically appeal to its target demographic, taking advantage of Facebook’s ad system to supplement the Free Sample tab on their official Facebook page.

Read the entire article.

Two of the changes in particular that will affect your Facebook Fan Pages is the removal of boxes and narrowing of application tabs from 760px to 520px.   This will result in Fan Page administrators only being able to customize content in application tabs and those tabs being narrower.  The narrowing of the application width is a result of changes to the upcoming design of profiles and pages.   If you read the posts on Facebook’s developer wiki, you’ll see more explanation as to why they are making these changes and what’s in store for the future.  There are two posts on this topic: Facebook – Tabbed Profile and Roadmap Profile. According to the roadmap, these changes will take effect in late 2009/early 2010.

What does this mean if you have already customized your fan page and created a custom tab?  Chances are your content will be cut-off or appear distorted. If you used Sprout to create the custom content on your fan page, you can make the appropriate size edits to your sprout and then republish it.  The FBML code has a height and width attribute which will also need to be changed.  We will create a video tutorial for this when the time comes.

If you are developing on the Facebook Platform, as we are, I highly encourage that you keep a close eye on the Facebook developer’s roadmap.