Video Advertising
I was listening to a pitch by an online advertising company this week (new ways with flash) and questioning them about what they have done when it comes to those pre- and post-roll video ads that are being placed around the video channels. I spent 6 weeks without a TV and all entertainment was via the web. Whilst I loved the reduction in total number of ads seen, with only one per act break, the quality and innovation of the ones that were shown were just poor. In most cases they were just the same as the ones on TV - without the same thought and attention. CBS is still running Flushed Away Ads that talk about a future opening of the film, even though it opened in early November. Nothing grabbed my attention, made me want to explore further. The company presenting have done a lot with interaction within and across units - I waiting for the same innovation to come to the boring ads attached to the video. Don’t just replicate a previous advertising model, but build on it to make something worth interacting with.
Following a blog conversation with Joseph Jaffe, Ian Shafer has put some thought into this and suggests these guidelines:
- Make the ads better
- Make the ads shorter
- Make the ads more relevant
- Make the ads less frequent
Four short guidelines that can make a difference. And means that the advertisers and their agencies have to think far more creatively about how to use the media, how to create vibrant, interesting content that can serve as ads and meaning that a commercial shoot will never just be just a TV shoot but has to cope with other needs as well.
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POSTED IN: TV, Video Content
2 opinions for Video Advertising
Joseph Jaffe
Dec 17, 2006 at 11:23 am
My only tweak would be “make the ads longer or shorter” i.e. let the consumer ultimately decide on the length.
5 seconds might be the ideal length to get your “foot in the door” i.e. ask for permission whereas 4 minutes could the perfect story-telling length for a long form contentesque commercial.
rachel
Dec 17, 2006 at 12:49 pm
Agree with that - sometimes the ads do provide entertainment - ie give me the full length JCPenney one with the full song. I think there could be some lessons from iTV, whereby the equivalence of pressing the red button (at least in the UK version of it) you can go to extended content. Not widespread yet but becoming more so, especially now the delivery mechanism means you go back to the same point in the programming. Gives me control of the viewing experience and lets me explore where I want.
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