desktop sponsorship guidelines - the weather … sponsorship guidelines updated february 2014...

Desktop Sponsorship Guidelines Updated February 2014

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1. Technical

a. The Weather Network PC application specifications: Dimensions 810 x 560px with 10px rounded corners File Format Transparent PNG or

Non-‐animated GIF (transparency on with no dither). Filesize 80KB maximum

b. To ensure that we preserve the integrity of our widget, there must be breathing space where copy and logos cannot reside.

Specs for white space i. 10 pixels around the widget ii. 10 pixels from the edge of the skin. iii. 40 pixels on each side of the widget. iv. 190 x 155px on the top left corner.

c. If requested, the skin can include a clickable area 60px from the top or bottom and 40 pixels on the left and right. *Please notify Ad Operations if you wish to have your skin clickable and tracked.

d. All takeover skins must be hosted on the TWN MM servers. This does not include the ad unit within the sponsorship, which may be hosted on third party ad servers.

Please provide detailed feedback for each revision. There is a 3 revision limit by our design team.

2. Creative

Any creative submitted by the client, will be reviewed by our internal Design Team to ensure it meets the criteria laid out in this document, and the TWN/MM brand guidelines. Sponsorship skins are offered to complement the ad units and should act as supportive imagery to the client messaging. Skins should not over-‐power our brand and content. Takeover skins that make it difficult to read our weather content due to excessive and multiple imagery will not be approved.

i. Branding & Client Logos

TWN/MM logo or site should never be overshadowed by graphics, messaging and/or logos, and should always remain as the primary brand. The TWN/MM website’s logo, size and colour should never change. Client logos, messaging and graphics will not compromise The Weather Network and Météo Media brand. This includes oversized logos placed next to ours and repeating logos tiled as a background. a. Only one logo can appear a maximum of one (1) placement within the skin.

b. The logo can be a maximum of 80 pixels wide and 40 pixels high.

c. If the logo is placed above the widget, it must sit at the top right corner, otherwise, it can sit anywhere along the bottom within the allocated area.

d. Logos that have images and numerical elements that may be confused with a weather condition or temperature will have to be approved by the internal TWN/MM team


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ii. Weather Alerts

a. Client creative will not mimic weather data or warnings.

b. Executions should not use bold, striking colours that may be perceived as warnings or alerts (ESPECIALLY RED MUST BE AVOIDED since it is a reserved colour for Alerts). If red is a part of the client’s brand/campaign colours and has to be used, it has to be used sparingly and is subject to approval by the internal TWN/MM design team. This is to ensure the integrity of our alerts and warnings distribution system.

iii. Copy

Sponsorship skins should complement the ad unit and should act as supportive imagery. They should not act as additional ad units. These types of skins will not be approved. In addition: a. Minimize the use of repetitive copy. Copy should not completely mirror the copy within the ad. b. Copy within the sponsorship skin will be limited to 30 characters total, including spaces. The maximum font size

will depend on the font orientation. See options below. Option 1: All caps can have a maximum of 20-‐pixel cap height Option 2: Copy with only one or two caps can have a maximum of 22-‐pixel cap height

c. Copy should not take away from the TWN/MM brand and content (refer to 2i).

iv. Other

a. The purpose of the skin should be to support the ad unit on the widget. It should not be used to display additional ad units.

b. We are a family friendly, brand safe website and we do not allow images of nudity, sexual innuendo, discrimination and/or violence on our website. Derogatory messages and images are not allowed.


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3. Submission

i. Sponsorship Assets

Clients should have the proper rights for all assets provided. All assets should be submitted to the Interactive Design Team using the following guidelines:

a. In order to facilitate revisions, we ask that all sponsorship assets be submitted in their original format. Acceptable file formats include (in order of preference):

1. .PSD

o Photoshop CS5 o Layered working file o High quality images

2. .AI

o Illustrator CS5 o Layered working file o Vector, high quality images

3. .EPS o Layered working file o Vector, high quality images

4. .PDF o Layered working file o Vector, high quality images

5. .JPG o High quality images

6. .TIF o High quality images

b. Fonts used should be provided to us, or converted to outlines (Illustrator). Acceptable font formats are:

1. .OTF 2. .TTF

c. Creative assets usually expected from clients include: logos, stock photography, fonts and brand guides (if applicable).

d. If a flattened file is provided, please make sure to send along the source file as well (PSD working

file).


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ii. Ads

For ad specs, please refer to our “Online Advertising Specifications” document.

iii. FTP Client Access

Large files (> 3MB) that cannot be sent via e-‐mail, should be sent to our FTP site. Upon successful upload of all files please email to your Sales Representative the location of the assets and the folder’s names.

FTP Host Address: ftp2.twncs.com Username: clientaccess Password: ftpsite Directory naming convention: CLIENT_DATE (ex. Pelmorex_june122011)

*Please contact your Sales Representative if there are any questions or issues that arise.

5. Timeline

We need at the very least, a 5-‐business day lead time for internal approvals, revisions, and implementation. Please keep in mind that lead time starts as soon as we receive all assets including banner ads.


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6. Visuals

i. Allocated space for copy

ii. Allocated space for logo


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6. Do’s

i. Integrated Skin

ii. Skin that does not integrate into the ad but uses supportive imagery


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iii. Supportive imagery with minimal copy


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6. Don’ts

i. Logo on the skin too close to The Weather Network logo

ii. Oversized copy


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iii. Excessive amount of copy on skin

iv. Numerical messaging that interferes with content and weather data


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v. Repetitive, oversized logos

vi. Client’s copy and logo too close to our logo


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vii. Red skin that could be mistaken as an alert

desktop sponsorship guidelines - the weather … sponsorship guidelines updated february 2014...

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