SINCE 1928 S

www.cardonline.ca

2014 Media Kit

2014 Media Kit CARDonline is the definitive source of current media information for the Canadian advertising industry—and has been for over 85 years.

SINCE 1928 S

www.cardonline.ca

Today, CARDonline profiles and classifies almost 8,000 media titles to help our subscribers plan successful advertising campaigns and research Canadian media. Circulation, advertising, production and editorial information is researched and updated daily allowing users to identify and evaluate where to advertise quickly and easily.

comprehensive view of the opportunities relevant to them and to make better, more informed decisions when planning advertising campaigns. Your sales message at CARDonline has the potential to influence thousands of media planners and buyers, guaranteeing exposure to qualified advertising professionals. Secure your competitive advantage by closing these prospects at every opportunity. Our sales team at CARDonline is eager to help craft a sales and marketing program that focuses the attention of planning and buying professionals on you. Call us to put our energy, creativity and contacts in the service of your success.

Access an Influential Crowd

With almost 2 million page views last year, CARDonline is the standard for complete, comprehensive and accurate information on all the media in Canada. Advertisers and agencies of all sizes, from freelance specialists to international media groups rely on our information to get a

85%

of the market surveyed, found CARDonline to be the most credible source of industry information.

Subscriber Classification by geographic area

  Are you launching a

92%

found CARDonline met their information needs

76%

said they visited the website of an advertiser or supplier mentioned in CARDonline Source: 2013 CARDonline Subscriber Survey

Is your title in CARDonline?

Northwest Territories

0.1%

British Columbia

Newfoundland & Labrador

2.6% 0.3% 0.7% 2.2% 7.7% 0.1% 1.0% 80.3% 0.1% 0.5% 4.5% Saskatchewan

new title and want to maximize your coverage?   Are you looking to grow your advertising revenue?   Do you want to reach key media planners and buyers?

Alberta

Quebec

Manitoba

USA

P.E.I.

Ontario

New Brunswick

Nova Scotia

Listings are free and essential if you want to attract new advertisers. Visit http://pages.cardonline.ca/ add-a-listing-cardonline to add your free listing today

Source: CARDonline, Jan 2014

Promote your brand and be found by Active Buyers Our statistics show that media decision-makers spend time at CARDonline  Total page views: 1,662,433  Unique visitors: 75,475  Total visits: 174,115  Average time spent: 8 min 15 sec*  Average pages viewed per visit: 9.55 *For logged in subscriber: 13 min 39 sec

Source: Google Analytics, Sept 2012-2013

Who is using CARDonline (%) A

Advertisers & Marketers

b

Advertising Agencies

45.4

c

Advertising Services

6.2

D

Education & Government

7.8

E

Media

F

Others Allied to the Field

Source: CARDonline, Jan 2014

4.0

33.0 3.7

F A E B D

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2014 Media Kit

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Display Advertising / Listing Enhancements

Increase your exposure

Leaderboard Mini Banner

Featured Listing

Appears at the top of all search results. They are keyword dependent with a maximum display of 3 featured listings per keyword. Additional keywords can be purchased for $500 each. A Featured Listing is guaranteed to appear in a search results page whenever the purchased keyword is used in a search. Featured Listings are identified in a yellow box with the text "FEATURED LISTING" displayed in the bottom right corner next to the listing name on a search results page. This is premium positioning.

Sponsored Link

Allows a listing to appear in another type, topic or format in addition to what it already qualifies to appear in for free. This allows for greater visibility and enhances the listing to be seen in more searches. Sponsored Links appear on the right side of any landing page, directly below the search bar and above any Big Box ad. Three advertisers display and rotate at any one time. They are identified under the heading "SPONSORED LINKS", with the logo to the right of the listing name and the type, topic or format below it. Clicking on the listing name or logo takes the user directly to the listing.

Logo

Apply a logo to your listing for increased visibility. Listings with logos are displayed in alphabetical order via any browse function and by relevancy via any keyword search function. Big Box Priority Listing Positioning Statement

Takes a listing's generic 25-word limit profile description to a 100-word profile description. A longer Positioning Statement allows for branding opportunities, greatly enhancing visibility by all who visit (with/without log in). It also provides Endeca’s search application with more words to crawl, ultimately improving your search ranking.

Appears below Featured Listings and above Logo and Free listings. Priority listings allow for greater visibility whenever any search is performed. Results are displayed by relevance. Priority Listings are identified with the text “PRIORITY LISTING” in the bottom right corner next to the listing name on a search results page.

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Listing Page Ads

Showcase your brand

1 Leaderboard

1 BIG BOX

2 HALF BOXES

placed on your individual listings page to provide additional sales information

Add Twitter feed

Send all Listing Page Ads creative to [email protected]

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Advertising Opportunities Enhance your listing profile. Tell your brand story effectively.

DISPLAY ADVERTISING RUN OF SITE

*CPM/Rate Dimensions File Size File Types (w x h) Pixels

Leaderboard (equal rotation between top & bottom) $151 728 x 90 40 kb max

GIF, JPG, SWF, 3rd Party ad tags

Big Box 1, 2, 3 & 4 (equal rotation) $140 300 x 250 40 kb max

GIF, JPG, SWF, 3rd Party ad tags

Mini Banner $100 468 x 60 40 kb max

GIF, JPG, SWF, 3rd Party ad tags

MONTHLY SERVICES INTERNAL/CATEGORY PAGES (browse/search by category) CATEGORY-SPECIFIC ADVERTISING CAPABILITY

Rate Dimensions File Size File Types (w x h) Pixels

Leaderboard (equal rotation between top & bottom) $2500 728 x 90 40 kb max

GIF, JPG, SWF, 3rd Party ad tags

Big Box 1 & 2 $2500 300 x 250 40 kb max

GIF, JPG, SWF, 3rd Party ad tags

INTERNAL/TYPE PAGES (browse/search by sub-category) TYPE-SPECIFIC ADVERTISING CAPABILITY

Rate Dimensions File Size File Types (w x h) Pixels

Leaderboard (equal rotation between top & bottom) $2000 728 x 90 40 kb max

GIF, JPG, SWF, 3rd Party ad tags

Big Box 1 & 2 $2000 300 x 250 40 kb max

GIF, JPG, SWF, 3rd Party ad tags

ANNUAL SERVICES INDIVIDUAL LISTING PAGES

LISTING-SPECIFIC ADVERTISING CAPABILITY Rate Dimensions File Size File Types (w x h) Pixels

Leaderboard (equal rotation between top & bottom) $2500 728 x 90 40 kb max

GIF, JPG, SWF, 3rd Party ad tags

Big Box 300 x 250 40 kb max

GIF, JPG, SWF, 3rd Party ad tags

Half Box 1 & 2 300 x 125 40 kb max

GIF, JPG, SWF, 3rd Party ad tags

Twitter Feed ALL RATES ARE NET

*Run-of-Site rates are Cost Per Thousand Impression (CPM-based) 25% premium for special treatments (ie. exclusive top leader board positioning)

Twitter ID ex. “@cardonline”

Here’s what your peers are saying about their ads in CARDonline “Adapt Media is extremely pleased with the level of hits it receives daily on its website as a result of CARDonline’s priority listings and logo spots. As a business decision, it is important that we maintain this in various categories throughout the year.” —Jamie Thompson, President, Adapt Media

“In addition to providing wonderful value with their priority and logo listings, CARDonline has also showcased tremendous service in looking at various campaigns to support our key new business initiatives. Always a pleasure working with CARDonline.” —Joshua Siegal, Sr. Manager, Pelmorex Media

“CARDonline is a wonderful tool. We use CARDonline frequently at ParentsCanada magazine as an excellent resource to quickly find information on our industry. The vCards tool and the enhanced search are very helpful indeed.” —Jane Bradley, Group Vice-President, Publisher, ParentsCanada Group

“CARDonline is an invaluable tool for all our magazines. The captive audience relies heavily on CARDonline for their media decisions and they’re exactly who we want to speak with. We’ve extended our messaging beyond basic listings with their advertising options and have received excellent results in both brand awareness and actual sales opportunities.” —John McGouran, Publisher, SHARP Magazine, Contempo Media

“CARDonline is an important link that keeps us connected with media buyers, and gives our magazine a better level of exposure in an increasingly competitive marketplace.” —Glen Ashworth, Marketing Manager, University Affairs Magazine

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Advertising Opportunities LISTING ENHANCEMENTS

IMPORTANT NOTES

• Featured Listing (max. 3 positions above organic search results); includes logo & ownership of 3 keywords.................................................................$4000 • Keywords (extra): dependent on availability applies to Featured Listing services only............................ $500 per • Priority Listing.......................................................... $2800 • Positioning Statement (8000 characters, approximately 100 words; supplied by client)................................. $2500 • Sponsored Link (includes logo) 3 spots that rotate...$1975 • Logo (search results page & listing page).............. $1120

➊ All display advertising units adhere to IAB Canada standard specifications. For additional information, please visit www.iabcanada.com

OTHER CARDonline SERVICES

➎ Clients must supply click-through URL separately – do not embed into SWF.

• e-Direct – targets media agencies and advertisers directly....................................................................... $2000 • e-Newsletter – distributed to an engaged audience of over 15,000 readers - Listing Highlight 500-800 words, 2 images......... $2000 - Leaderboard 728 x 90............................................ $1500 - Video Highlight...................................................... $1000

RICH MEDIA AND CUSTOM SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES Ask your sales rep about Rising Stars ad units. • Site takeovers (Wallpaper plus Roadblocking) • Transitional Ads/Interstitial Ads • Top Layer/Floating Ads (including expandable) • Video Options • Plus much more**

➋ e-Newsletters can only accommodate GIF or JPG ad units. Flash (SWF) files are not supported. Files must adhere to BPPG Flash instructions. ➌ Animated GIFs may only loop 3 times, ending on the last frame. ➍ 3rd Party Ad Tags are accepted for ROS (run-of-site) only.

➏ All SWF files must contain Universal clickTAG, for the latest code and instruction, please visit www.iabcanada.com ➐ Website ads – only 1 click-through URL can be used per image file. ➑ e-Newsletter ads – only 1 click-through URL can be used per e-Newsletter deployment. ➒ e-Newsletter ads – Animated GIFs must include call to action and logo. Please note that animated GIFs are not fully supported by all e-mail clients. We recommend that the key message be placed into the first and last frame of animation. Note: Ads should not click through to documents such as PDFs, MS Word files or to e-mail addresses.

**Ask your Sales Manager about many more rich media opportunities and for complete details and specs.

CUSTOMIZED WEB PROGRAMS AND BRANDED OPPORTUNITIES All online material to be supplied to BPPG Creative: [email protected] Late creative: All material must be submitted with a minimum of 5 business days prior to campaign start date. Late material will result in missed campaign start date with full campaign being charged to advertiser.

ALL RATES ARE NET

*Run-of-Site rates are Cost Per Thousand Impression (CPM-based) 25% premium for special treatments (ie. exclusive top leader board positioning)

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E-Newsletter

Get noticed and build your brand with a leaderboard.

Reach Canadian media buyers and planners in a unique editorial environment http://www.marketingmag.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/CARDonline-November12.html

CARDonline.ca

18/12/13 2:21 AM

View in Browser | Send to a Friend | November 2013

Advertise | Subscribe | Get Listed

NEWSLETTER Listing Highlight

Featured Article

What will you do with the year's biggest issue

COMB GPS Research Tracks City Driving

of Sharp Magazine? In the summer and fall of 2013, the Canadian Out-of-Home Our December issue is chalk full of car advice, opinions on sports and culture,

Promote your message with a listing highlight. Tell your unique story to over 15,000 qualified readers in 500800 words.

awesome gift ideas and, of course,

Measurement Bureau (COMB) conducted GPS research studies in Calgary CMA and Edmonton CMA to determine the "in-market factor" that is applied to market populations in the calculation of Outdoor advertising GRPs. GPS units

plenty of style guidance. Your options:

carried on study participants' key rings tracked their

put it on your desk so our cover guy,

movement and location every two seconds for a period of 9

Michael Fassbender can watch you do

days.

business; rip it up and fold 208 high-

» Read more

gloss paper airplanes; or, and this is definitely the best option, read and re-read it until you know it word for word, then pass it on to a loved one, like the

Video Highlight

prized possession it is.

Newad is making you relevant to the Young & Affluent.

» Read more

Media Planner/Buyer of the Month Brian Shivraj, Digital Strategist, Ignite Digital 1. If you were a super hero what powers would you have? Teleportation; beating traffic would be so easy! 2. Winston Churchill. His leadership and determination are inspiring. Winston Churchill

What's New

3. If you could be on the cover of any

Chatelaine's Jane Francisco has been named editor-in-

magazine, what would you choose?

chief of Good Housekeeping. She will start her new post on

Forbes

Dec. 2.

Bring your brand to lifePage 1 of 2 with a video highlight.

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Mechanical Specifications | Website Website Online Opportunity

Specifications

Leaderboard

Dimensions: 728w x 90h pixels File Size: 40kb File Type(s): GIF, JPG, Flash SWFs, 3rd Party Ad Tags

Big Box

Dimensions: 300w x 250h pixels File Size: 40kb File Type(s): GIF, JPG, Flash SWFs, 3rd Party Ad Tags

Mini Banner

Dimensions: 468w x 60h pixels File Size: 40kb File Type(s): GIF, JPG, Flash SWFs, 3rd Party Ad Tags

½ Box

Dimensions: 300w x 125h pixels File Size: 40kb File Type(s): GIF, JPG, Flash SWFs, 3rd Party Ad Tags

Twitter Feed

Twitter ID – example (@sharpmagazine)

Logo

File Type(s): EPS, GIF, JPG

Positioning Statement

100 words max. (8000 characters) File Type: DOC

 ebsite ads - only 1 click-through URL can be used per image file W Animated GIFs may only loop 3 times, ending on the last frame  3rd Party Ad Tags are accepted for ROS (run-of-site) only  Clients must supply click-through URL separately  

Note: Ads should not click through to files, i.e., PDFs, Word, etc., and should not click through to email addresses. All online material to be supplied to [email protected] 5 business days prior to posting date

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Mechanical Specifications | Flash Instructions Flash Instructions Important Notes - for completing Flash Banners: (clickTAG instructions follow on the next page)

Submit 3 items for Flash creative submission: S  WF file (40K max)  IMPORTANT - Use Actionscript 2 when building Flash  Be sure the clickTAG button instance extends the entire length of the animation timeline  Detailed clickTAG coding instructions on next page  Flash banners can be programmed to loop endlessly B  ackup image file in JPG / GIF format (40K max)  back-up file for visitors without Flash Player installed  Animated GIF banners loops a maximum of 3 times and ends on the last frame. D  estination URL  DO NOT code destination URL directly into your Flash animation  Send the destination URL in your creative submission email along with the SWF and GIF backup files  URL and SWF must be separate Set-up Instructions (clickTAG): Step 1. C  reate your flash animation using Actionscript 2 Step 2. C  reate a new empty Layer at the top of the layer list (name the Layer clickTAG) Step 3. Draw a Box that covers the entire width and height of the ad. 3a) Convert the Box into a Button symbol. (name the Button symbol clickTAG) 3b) Change the alpha blend of the clickTAG Button to 100% (makes button transparent) Step 4. O  pen the actions pane for the Button and paste in the Universal clickTAG code, available on the next page. Step 5: Save and publish your file as an SWF. Please do not forget to provide a backup GIF or JPG.

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Mechanical Specifications | Flash: Universal clickTAG code //Universal clickTAG V1.0 By Ben Cormier (http://www.netprophets.com) on (release) { function cFcTg(t) { return (t.substr(0, 7) == 'http://' || t.substr(0, 8) == 'https://'); } var fcTg = ''; var fcTt = '_blank'; var cTgM = 'clicktag'; var cTtM = 'clicktarget'; for (prop in this) { var p = prop.toLowerCase(); if (p == cTgM && cFcTg(this[prop])) fcTg = this[prop]; if (p == cTtM) fcTt = this[prop]; } if(fcTg == '' || fcTt == '_blank') for (prop in _root) { var p = prop.toLowerCase(); if (p == cTgM && cFcTg(_root[prop]) && fcTg == '') fcTg = _root[prop]; if (p == cTtM && fcTt == '_blank') fcTt = _root[prop]; } if(fcTg == '' || fcTt == '_blank') for (prop in _level0) { var p = prop.toLowerCase(); if (p == cTgM && cFcTg(_level0[prop]) && fcTg == '') fcTg = _level0[prop]; if (p == cTtM && fcTt == '_blank') fcTt = _level0[prop]; } if (cFcTg(fcTg)) getURL(fcTg, fcTt); else getURL("http://noclicktagfound", fcTt); }

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Mechanical Specifications | Rich Media – 3

rd

Party Vendors, Transitional Ads

NOTE: ALL RICH MEDIA ASSETS MUST GO THROUGH A 3rd PARTY RICH MEDIA VENDOR PRIOR TO BEING SENT TO ROGERS BPPG UNLESS INDICATED OTHERWISE. SPECS LISTED BELOW ARE THE MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR BPPG SITES AND ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS MUST BE ACQUIRED FROM THE 3RD PARTY VENDOR.

Approved 3rd Party Vendors 

Doubleclick



Pointroll



EyeWonder



Klipmart



eyeReturn



Media Mind (Eyeblaster)

Rogers BPPG works with many 3rd party vendors. If you are working with a 3rd party vendor not listed here, please contact your Account Manager. Please also check with your Account Manager to consult what ad placements support these formats.  Rogers BPPG does NOT support ads with audio on by default. Audio must be initiated by the user, on click.  Rogers BPPG does NOT support pre-expanded ads.

Transitional Ads

Transitional ads are initiated when users click on a link and are transferred to another page and an ad catches them in transition before they arrive at the next page. The ad saturates the entire browser window and the user must either close the ad via close button, or wait for the ad to expire (which is generally between 10-15 seconds max). Transitional ad creative assets should be supplied to a 3rd party vendor to prepare.

Specs  aximum file size is 80k M Dimensions: 640(w) x 480(h) pixels  Animation Time: 10 seconds (recommended)  Do not include close box as part of the design  Prepare one line of text to be placed above your creative to say, “Click here to continue to www.website.com” (or for French sites, “Cliquer ici pour aller à www.website.com”  Embed universal clickTag* into your Flash creative  Provide click-through URL separately  Specify your ad frequency (recommended is twice per week per user)  

Universal clickTag: Visit www.iabcanada.com for more information.

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Mechanical Specifications | Rich Media – Wallpaper Ads Wallpaper Ads The wallpaper is an ad which changes the background of the page being viewed. Wallpaper ads can be hard-coded to run across the entire site, or ad-served through DART (in which case they can be targeted to sections of the site, i.e., home page, news page, etc. Plus, they can be geo-targeted). Due to variations in site widths and justifications, i.e., centered versus left aligned, it is best to keep any important graphics or text as close to the edges or gutters as much as possible. This will account for information being cut off due to different screen resolutions. * Finished creative is submitted directly to Rogers BPPG

Specs  aximum file size is 200k M We require one large wallpaper (with the centre blank to accommodate the webpage content), rather than a separate creative for each gutter  The creative should be supplied in high-res (Rogers BPPG design team will optimize for web where necessary)  We only accept JPGs and static GIFs  Cannot be clickable  Cannot be animated  We strongly recommend no repetition of logos  Cannot be third party ad served  Should not be text-heavy (makes for a better user experience, especially considering various screen resolutions)  

Note: If clients require Rogers BPPG creative design services, clients must supply their logo and any other graphic elements 10 business days in advance. Example: http://www.richmediagallery.com/galleryDetail/?id=35589

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Mechanical Specifications | Rich Media – Sliver Ads Sliver Ads A sliver ad is a thin rectangular ad which spans the entire width of the web page (generally placed close to the top of the page.) When the user hovers or moves the cursor over the ad (“mouse on”), the ad unit will expand down and the content on the page pushes down (as opposed to the ad unit expanding and covering over the content). Then the expanded ad can only be retracted by the user when he/she clicks on the close button. * The sliver ad creative should be supplied to a 3rd party vendor to prepare.

Specs The width of this ad unit can vary depending on each individual site width (contact your Account Rep for information)  Height should be 50 pixels (non-expanded)  Height should be 250 pixels (expanded)  Creative will expand on roll-over (or click) and contract on click via close button  Close button must be positioned in the top right-hand corner of the creative  Embed universal clickTag* into Flash creative  Provide click-through URL separately 

* Universal clickTag: Visit www.iabcanada.com for more information.

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Mechanical Specifications | Rich Media – Page Peels Page Peels A page peel ad appears in the top-right corner of the site homepage and peels back with a small animation to attract the reader's attention. When the user mouses over the corner, it opens to reveal the rest of the ad, which can be animated. The user can click on the call-to-action in the advertisement area or they can click on the close button to retract the peel. * The creative assets should be submitted to a 3rd party vendor to prepare.

Important  

 ust have a functional close button M When the user hovers or moves the cursor over the peel (“mouse on”), the panel will peel back to reveal the ad message. When the user clicks on the close button, the peel will retract to its original position

Specs Small: 75 x 75 when ad is closed; 500 x 500 when ad is open (half of this is cut off due to angle)  Large: 150 x 150 when ad is closed; 600 x 600 when ad is open (half of this is cut off due to angle)  File Type: Flash, frame rates must not exceed 15 FPS  Total file size: 400k (without video)  Animation/Video: Allowed; unlimited looping, each loop must be 15 seconds maximum, 80k initial load with 2.2 mb progressive load (with video) Video:  Format: True Streaming; progressive download available on click only  Length: 30 seconds max  File Size: 2.2 megs 

Example: http://portfolio.bnpmedia.com/HTML/RichMedia/BNP_GUID_9-52006_A_10000000000000889464

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Mechanical Specifications | Top Layer Ads, Floating Ads, Digital Bellyband Top Layer Ads / Floating Ads For top layer (or floating) ads, the animation moves across the user's screen, or floats above the content, and must disappear off the page or, if a combo unit, must disappear into another ad unit such as the Leaderboard or Big Box. * The creative assets should be submitted to a 3rd party vendor to prepare.

Specs  nimation: Up to 7 seconds floating A Must include close "x" button, top right Arial 16 pt  Flash: Maximum 30 frames/second, up to and including Flash 8.0  Backup GIF or JPG required  Click must open new browser  Audio: User-initiated on click only. A functioning on/off button is required  In-unit volume control is optional  Embed universal clickTag* into Flash creative  

* Universal clickTag: Visit www.iabcanada.com for more information. Example: http://www.richmediagallery.com/galleryDetail/?id=18513

Digital Bellyband Digital bellybands can run across the entire site or can be targeted to specific sections of the site, i.e., home page, news section, etc. The bellyband must be initiated by a Big Box ad counterpart. The ad will automatically expand/launch via the Big Box once the page loads up. If the user chooses to close it via the close button, then the bellyband disappears while the Big Box ad remains. The Big Box ad must be designed with standard call-to-action creative because it will still display on the web page after the bellyband is closed. * The creative assets should be submitted to a 3rd party vendor to prepare.

Specs The width of the bellyband ad unit will vary depending on each individual site’s width (contact your Account Rep for information)  Height of the bellyband ad should be 250 pixels  A close button must be added to the top right-hand corner of the bellyband ad  Must include frequency cap (recommended once per user every 24hrs)  Geo-targeting is available  The Big Box ad will be positioned in the top right-nav position on the page, where available (contact your Account Rep to confirm position availability on the website)  Supply both Big Box and Bellyband creative to the 3rd party vendor 

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Mechanical Specifications | E-Directs – HTML E-mail Best Practices, General Tips E-Directs General Tips  Be creative with Subject Lines without overselling  Set realistic expectations and readers will be more likely absorb or take action with the information presented in the email body  Avoid the word “free” which tends to trigger spam filters  “Help”, “percent off” and “reminder” do not trigger spam filters but tend to negatively impact performance K  eep the reader’s attention – use concise and engaging copy  Copy should encourage the reader to take action  Strong copy motivates click-throughs (e.g. drive readers to the website URL to “Register or learn more”)  Include a Call to Action  The call-to-action link should stand out from the rest of the copy – perhaps code it in a table cell and format it to look like a button  Use an appropriate font size in a contrasting but complimentary colour - perhaps a secondary colour in your branding C  onvey your key message “above the fold” within the top 400 pixels of the email  Readers are bombarded with many emails and distractions in their work environment – don’t waste their time, show them why your message is worth reading right away  It is a good idea to include a call to action within this area for optimal click-through performance M  aximum width of images and HTML should be no larger than 650 pixels  Unless the email is specifically designed to “reveal” for effect – do not make users scroll  Again, do not “waste” the user’s time  Also ensures the email is printer-friendly  Keep your message within a width of 500 to 650 pixels so that it fits comfortably on smaller screen resolutions

are on by default in various email systems and images will not show until user prompts the system (i.e., Outlook, Gmail, Lotus Notes, Blackberry)  Text-based emails can be equally effective  If you choose to use images heavily in your email design:  Don’t use images for important content such as headings and call to actions  Specify width and height of images and insert “alt tag” descriptions  Background images are not supported by many business email systems, consider alternative methods to integrate them into the design  If you are using a large image in your email, add one line of clickable text above or below the image that links to the website U  se dark-coloured text against light background colours  Dark text against light backgrounds makes a printerfriendly document  Explicitly define the background colour because some email clients may default to a different colour which could negatively impact your design D  esign layout so they can be “contained” with tables  Tables help keep design structures consistent define the height and width of table cells  Use a stacked table structure rather than colspans or rowspans – it is more stable when viewing across email systems K  eep coding in HTML emails simple and straightforward  The more complicated the code (eg. CSS, relative positioning, background images), the greater the chance that there will be compatibility issues with email systems

 Use text to convey key message  Bold graphics are eye catching but image blockers

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Mechanical Specifications | E-Directs – HTML E-mail Best Practices, Coding Tips CODING Tips The following common design elements are not supported universally by email systems; use alternatives:  ackground images b animated gifs  float or absolute positioning

 lt tags a list-style images  margin and padding









Tip: Outlook 2007/2010 uses MS Word to render HTML. Therefore previewing in MS Word will give a very close approximation of how it will look in Outlook 2007/2010. To test, open your HTML in MS Word. If it doesn’t work there, it will definitely not work in Outlook 2007-2010.

U  se standard font tags (recommended and more universally accepted)  Inline styles would be the second option and CSS in the header as the last option  Using the standard font tags will ensure formatting is not ignored – some email systems strip out CSS altogether T  able margins and padding are not universally supported  Set up cells with blank spaces ( ) to replace the padding  Alternatively, create 1x1 transparent GIFs and use them in cells with defined width & height – place these cells to the left and right of your content cell as padding (eg.  Set cell height and valign=”middle” to create the illusion of padding above and below C  ell colspan and rowspan properties are not supported in Lotus notes  Use nested tables instead (2 to 3 levels are ideal but you can probably use up to 5) D  efine all cell widths, align and valign properties (in HTML code not inline CSS) D  efine all table widths, border, cellpadding and cellspacing properties (in HTML code not inline CSS) S  et “fallback” background colours using the HTML “bgcolor” element. <  div> elements are sometimes ignored, replace with table cells  Include both font tags and inline styles to apply colour to headings, links and alt tags (where supported) in the case that inline styles are dropped by the email or webmail program. E.g., (is a standard font tag) and (is an inline style). Note: Be sure that both tags use consistent attributes. C  SS stylesheets are removed in most webmail clients and images are blocked by default  Test your email with these elements turned off to make sure that it is still readable

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Mechanical Specifications | Sponsor E-Directs Material may be supplied in one of two ways:  A completed HTML layout (Recommended)  TML file: copy, images and H relevant URLs are embedded and laid out as desired  Dimensions: Width - 600 pixels max Height - 600 pixels max  Images*  Copy**  Call to action: a clickable area that compels the user to take action – embed URL or supply tracked links separately (eg. Click here for more information)  Subject Line: 50 characters max (including spaces)

S  eparate creative

material components (BPPG to develop HTML layout)



Method A (Recommended) An uncompressed PDF: which allows for simple extraction of images*, logo(s) and copy**  Subject Line: 50 characters max (including spaces) 

- OR -

Method B Layout notes: copy** with guideline notes on layout and image placement provided in Microsoft Word  Images*: Provide as separate attachments  Subject Line: 50 characters max (including spaces) 

* Images: 40Kb max. file size per image, acceptable file formats are JPG, GIF, PNG ** Copy: 150 words max. (Recommended) BPPG will apply a Publication template to all E-Direct material – includes header and footer.

FINAL SUBMITTED MATERIAL WILL BE SCREENED FOR COMPLIANCE WITH BPPG STANDARDS.

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Mechanical Specifications | e-newsletters E-Newsletters LEADERBOARD Dimensions: 728w x 90h pixels File Size: 40kb File Type (s): GIF, JPG Send creative and MSG order to [email protected] 5 full business days in advance of email deployment.

Video Highlight Send in any high resolution video format except AVI.

LISTING HIGHLIGHT Dimensions: 7.5”w x 7.0”h File Size: 500-800 words Format: DOC

LOGO (New @ CARDonline section) Specifications:120w x 80h pixels File Type (s): GIF, JPG

NOTES • Flash cannot run within e-newsletters. E-newsletters can only accommodate GIF or JPG • Animated GIFs may only loop 3 times, ending on the last frame; animated GIFs are NOT universally accepted by all E-mail clients and therefore may not display all frames; commonly, only the first or last frame is shown; please adjust your material accordingly or submit a static GIF. • 3rd Party Ad Tags are accepted for ROS (run-of-site) only • Clients must supply click-through URL separately • E-newsletter ads - only 1 click-through URL can be used per E-newsletter deployment • E-newsletter ads - Animated GIFs must include call to action and logo on first and last slide/frame

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CONTACT US

One Mount Pleasant Road, 7th Floor Toronto, ON M4Y 2Y5 Canada Tel: (416) 764-1507 Fax: (416) 764-1748 www.cardonline.ca

GENERAL MANAGER, ONLINE BRAND STRATEGY

Pamela Kirk (416) 764-1573 [email protected] NATIONAL ACCOUNT MANAGER

Yana Eventov (416) 764-1507 [email protected] CUSTOMER CARE CONSULTANT

Joel Tenefrancia (416) 764-1620 [email protected] EDITOR

Artemis Hall (416) 764-1785 [email protected] DATA ASSISTANT

Darlene Mooney (416) 764-1615 [email protected] DATA ASSISTANT

Serina Dingeldein (416) 1657 [email protected]

A division of

SINCE 1928 S

www.cardonline.ca