Have you seen the new skyscrapers in South Florida? I’m talking about the digital variety you’ll find only on a webpage.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau released seven larger “Interactive Marketing Units” (IMU) on February 26th. The suggested ad sizes are detailed at www.iab.net.

The skyscraper ad, at 120x600 pixels (or roughly 6.25” high x 1.25” wide), is very popular with SportsLine.com advertisers, according to Bruce Jaret, VP of Sales, Marketing Services and Operations at SportsLine.com. Click-through rates are significantly higher than traditional banner ads, enabling SportsLine.com to charge a higher CPM (cost per thousand) for the new ad format.

Why are these new ads working so well? The novelty of the larger ad format is a factor, according to Jaret. Designers have more space in which to incorporate rich media and more content. Readers are drawn to the size of the ad, which dominates more of the webpage.

Advertiser adoption rates have been quite strong, according to Robin Webster, CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau. “The advertiser can incorporate a direct response mechanism into the ad without requiring the reader to leave the page, which also makes the website publisher happy,” observes Webster. The IAB is actually trying to measure ad effectiveness in ways beyond click-throughs, like increased brand awareness and greater message recall.

AdRelevance, the online ad measurement firm, recently released impression data and CPM rates for the new IMUs www.adrelevance.com. On average, a skyscraper runs $50 CPM compared to just under $30 CPM for a traditional banner ad. Additional market research on IMU performance is expected from Double Click and Microsoft later this summer, according to Stu Ginsburg of FAVA Entertainment.

AutoNation, Inc. is taking a different approach. It has moved away from traditional Internet advertising in its continuing and successful quest to generate vehicle sales over the Internet. “We find that strategic partnerships with websites targeting auto purchasers in various stages of the purchasing cycle work best for us,” according to Mark Taylor, Director of E-Commerce Business Development for AutoNation.

“We prefer to pay our partners for each lead generated,” says Taylor. This creates a great incentive for the partner to deliver qualified traffic. AutoNation has built a proprietary web-based lead-management software tool called “Compass,” which enables the firm to collect Internet leads and distribute them to field reps who then make a follow-up call to the prospective car purchaser within an average of half an hour during normal business hours.

AOL is also an important partner for AutoNation. This alternate marketing approach works well for AutoNation, which sold approximately 65,000 vehicles via the Internet in 2000.

Carnival Cruise Lines, the world’s largest cruise line, finds that their own website is their best sales tool for generating cruise passengers. While Carnival does some co-op banner advertising with travel agency partners, they do not serve large volumes of banner ads independently, according to Vance Gulliksen, PR Supervisor at Carnival. They employ many creative ways to drive traffic to the www.carnival.com website, which provides prospective guests with a full range of booking and support materials.

“Advertisers want to be associated with the editorial on a webpage rather than simply be near the editorial,” observes Michael Goldberg, CEO of Fort Lauderdale advertising agency Harris Drury Cohen. Any Internet ad, regardless of the size, runs the risk of being tuned out by the consumer according to Goldberg. He sees advertisers seeking that priceless editorial coverage through Public Relations activities and sponsorship programs.

“It’s the classic struggle between branding and direct response,” says Alan Penchansky, President of The Pen Group, a Coral Gables based PR firm. Traditional marketing clearly distinguishes between the two, but the Internet as a communications medium is somewhere in between. Early Internet ad models have suffered from decreased effectiveness and both the marketing industry and consumers are determining long term Internet usage practices. In the meantime we’re suffering from the current “malaise” observes Penchansky.

So what’s the bottom line on Internet advertising, whether with traditional banner ads or the larger size format? “Fish where the fish are” advises SportsLine’s Jaret. Identify the websites that attract your unique audience on the Internet and plan a well-balanced mix of ads, PR, permissioned email and affiliate marketing programs.

The right combination of online and offline promotions, updated regularly, will generate Internet success and sales over the long term.

Margaret Grisdela is Co-Founder of Clientize.com Inc. and Founder of the Technology Forum of South Florida. You can reach her at mgrisdela@clientize.com.