This year should prove to be a roller coaster ride for online video, as content and platforms continue to explode. The acquisition of Maven Networks, the success of ABC’s online VOD service, ON-networks, Apple VOD, as well as the bumpy launches so far for Joost and Hulu are just a few examples.
While these start ups run for eyeballs and google buy-outs, behind the scenes they are all vying for revenue through what else? Advertising.
Banner-like framing, content integration, custom programming, animated rollovers, behavorial targeting, contextual placement and user controlled shut-off are all in the mix. Whoever creates a “winning” model will surely include a bit of all of the above. The bigger question is who will create this new-advertising content and what how should it work from a creative perspective? I’m not so sure we’re all in agreement among our collective creative partners.
Given this, video becomes a bit of a blessing and a curse for marketers and the agencies that they employ. On the plus side it breaks long form advertising out of the television box and into more targeted environments. Video ads on the web aren’t new, but you could argue that high quality, cinematic screen experiences with user engagements are. They now have a chance of being more useful and interactive.
Dave over at PSFK, via motionographer points out this gorgeous example from Ikea.
So here’s a view into our cinematic web future. Immensely artful, lovely to look at and interesting engagement. But now to the downside. Though I’m not sure what other content is connected to this (or what the broader experience is like between other media), let me deconstruct it a bit.
Though lovely, is the investment into the visual aesthetic of this microsite worth what it lacks in other user experience areas? Is the content re-purposed for other mediums so it’s cost is spread cross-channel? How does the “story” transition from this microsite to and from other areas? (tv commercials, banners ads, online catalog, in-store promotion). A nit-picky thing to point out, but the transitions into the Ikea online catalog feel quite blunt, and several broken links to ikea.com web pages fail the user.
All that said, the point is not to make this a stuart elliot critique of forseman & bodofors work on a pretty bold concept. More important is the example it provides when it comes to traditional film, advertising producers, and creative directors building interactive video into promotional campaigns. For video efforts to truly shine like the gold standard Nike plus campaign, they have to do much more. Have a rich engagement strategy, beyond the narrative they tell on their own. Fact of the matter is that most seasoned creatives still struggle with this.
… presenting a problematic transition for Online Video advertising where beautiful content, or insulated narratives become the out of the gate norm while rich, beautiful, interactive, and conversational user experiences are harder to come by. One would hope that not too much of our clients money is wasted in the interim.
Categories: case studies · connections planning · industryisms · new mediaTags: ikea, nikeplus, online video advertising, user-experience strategy
View Andy Hunter's profile
2 responses so far ↓
You raise so many points; I am not sure where to comment.
My main perspective is that advertising has lost touch with the customer. It has become about digital gimmicks and tricking people into buying, about putting lipstick on the pig, about presenting only one side of the story, and thinking that people can’t handle the truth. Well, they can, and in fact they love it!
I would love to see agencies and independent new media producers like us get together to plan and execute creative strategies. There is a lot of missed opportunity right now because the action is happening down on the street level. I think some agencies are similarly afraid that clients don’t want to hear the truth, or try innovative strategies, or engage with the customer. It means the an gency becomes more of a facilitator than a wizard controlling things behind the curtain.
“No name people” are creating highly targeted, incredibly loyal niche audiences but their content is deemed too rough around the edges or the audience too small. But it is time to look at CPM in a whole new way. 100,000 sounds like a nice number until there is a next to zero response rate. 5,000 sounds ridiculously small, until you get several hundred favorable responses.
Prudential has been working with us on just such a pilot project. They were initially won over by our daily Internet TV show, Beach Walks with Rox. It’s is very easy to view someone’s back catalog online and be able to know a lot about with whom you are dealing.
We conceived and executed most of the pilot campaign, after a few consultations hearing what the client wanted to accomplish. As it turns out, we are part of their target market. We could just start with telling the truth. Let’s hope it doesn’t get sabotaged by the agency of record and the brand manager and the other turf-builders who want the contract more than what is best for the customer.
OK. That turned into something of a rant. Thanks for sharing your soap box!
Seems that you’re a little bit restless about this entry. But i hear you on this one; its amusing how not so long ago, way back an innocent time when video is a mere novelty for web publishers have transcended into a great investment as a marketing tool to drive awareness. Simply amazing!