Future Ad Labs has announced Heinz and Reckitt Benckiser brands as launch partners for its groundbreaking interactive advertising format, PlayCaptcha.

The format aims to increase brand engagement and improve overall consumer sentiment and product recall.

CAPTCHAs are a common security feature that forces web site visitors to rewrite distorted words to prove that they are human and not a computer bot. They are commonly found when buying tickets online or completing a sign-up form.

At least 300 million CAPTCHAs are completed daily, which equates to 150,000 human hours wasted every day, making them an omnipresent experience that frustrate users around the world. In contrast, PlayCaptcha offers an innovative alternative to traditional CAPTCHAs by providing a more enjoyable and fun user experience, and it is proving to be more engaging than standard digital advertising formats.

For example, the Future Ad Labs team has developed a PlayCaptcha for Heinz that invites visitors to pour a virtual bottle of Salad Cream onto a sandwich, instead of being forced to decipher hard to read text. For Reckitt Benckiser, the team has developed a PlayCaptcha that persuades visitors to clean a virtual dirty penny by dragging it into a bowl of Cillit Bang.

For both Heinz and Cillit Bang, PlayCaptcha delivers engagement rates many times higher than traditional digital advertisement formats, while providing a better user experience for web page visitors.

Early research between June and July 2013 conducted by Vizeum’s insights team in collaboration with Future Ad Labs and Heinz, indicate that by replacing the frustrating CAPTCHA user experience with something that visitors actually enjoy, results in a positive reaction to the brands featured in the PlayCaptcha. 91% found PlayCaptcha to be a better user experience than standard word-based CAPTCHAs, with a further 90% recalling the Heinz product following the completion of the task.

The Future Ad Labs initiative solves the problem of low engagement rates and banner blindness experienced by many advertisers. PlayCaptcha will also have a positive impact on the brand-publisher relationship because it provides the opportunity to generate revenue for the advertiser through the CAPTCHA process, which until now has been an unmonetisable part of every website.

"The success rates of PlayCaptcha are undeniably impressive and we are thrilled to be one of the early adopters of such innovative technology", commented Ian McCarthy at Heinz.

"Through our partnership with Future Ad Labs and its dynamic interactive advertising product, PlayCaptcha, we aim to deliver a fun and engaging experience for our consumers, while also increasing brand sentiment. We look forward to many future successes working with the team at Future Ad Labs."

"We’re delighted to be partnering with such renowned and respected global brands as Heinz and Reckitt Benckiser", said Howard Kingston, CEO and Co-founder of Future Ad Labs.

"By utilising a creative solution that avoids the negative experience of CAPTCHAs, consumers can immerse themselves in the brand without interrupting their online experience, which helps build brand awareness."