Video advertising

23 July 2009 | By Nicola Smith

quick facts

• In 2008, the total UK online video viewing audience grew 10% to 29.6m unique viewers over the age of 15
• Sites such as YouTube have helped to ensure creativity, not budget, is the key to compelling video advertising
• WKD saw a 248% uplift in traffic in the first week of its Kev ‘n’ Dave online video campaign, and more than 3,500 questions have been asked to date
• Creative use of video formats is as crucial as the content. InSkin ads achieve an average click-through rate of 3%

In 2008 the total UK online video viewing audience grew 10% to 29.6m unique viewers over the age of 15, according to ComScore in January. In line with this, Forrester Research predicts the global online video advertising market will reach $7.2bn (£4.36bn) by 2012. But as viewers migrate from TV to online and an increasing number of advertisers follow, it’s ever more important for brands to innovate in order to be seen.

Most online video advertising has consisted of pre-roll and post-roll, and too much content has been repurposed TV footage. This is the wrong approach, says Debs Carter, beverage brands marketing director at alcoholic drinks company WKD. “The world our consumers inhabit is constantly innovating. If we churn out the same media response, they get desensitised and bored. We have to constantly be where they are, and surprise and delight them by doing the unexpected,” she says.

There can be no excuses. Glyn Britton, strategy director at ad agency Albion, says we’ve witnessed a “democratisation” of video production. “You used to have to have a big budget, find the right production company and take the time,” he says. “Now you can pick up a broadcast-quality camera, film something, edit it, get it out there and see if it works. It’s a more level playing field and the most creative ideas will prosper.”

Last year Albion worked on a low-budget online video campaign for Skype’s range of mobile services, called Skype Nomad (nma 9 May 2008). It featured a woman travelling around the world for 33 days, filming herself on a handheld camera. She posted more than 300 videos on YouTube, many of which achieved between 5,000 and 10,000 views. The approach was intended to test the Skype product in a punishing way and demonstrate how it can keep people connected wherever they are. “By traditional creative standards it’s one of the least remarkable concepts, but one that got the most views on YouTube,” says Britton. “The context is creative. I think the 33-day product demo, with the twist that she couldn’t stop moving, was the context that made a pretty unremarkable video remarkable.”

One of the key tools for innovation with online video advertising is interaction, something for which the medium is tailor-made and which sets it apart from TV. Think Bob Dylan’s ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ video perpetuated on Facebook, with users able to change the words on the cards Dylan holds up, or the video ad for Philips’ Cinema 21:0 TV, which allows viewers to click on hot spots and go behind the scenes (see box below).

Dave Katz, joint head of the video integration unit at media agency MPG, says, “The best video ads let viewers do something within them to experience the brand for themselves. Brands using the web as a passive medium are missing the point. It’s an active medium within which users can participate. They often expect to do so when they’re surfing for entertainment, so why not allow them to participate when they see a great ad?”

WKD’s latest ad campaign, Kev ‘n’ Dave, allows people to type in any question they choose. A video of the two eponymous characters answering & albeit randomly as a result of 200 possible scenarios which are filmed and categorised & plays in response. WKD saw a 248% uplift in traffic in the first week of Kev ‘n’ Dave going live and more than 3,500 questions have been asked to date. “Our planning work shows that WKD’s target audience wants to see engaging and unexpected rich-media content from the brand,” says Carter. “Our target audience of 18-25-year-olds are particularly hard to please and have a higher expectation, so you need to be innovative.”

Fitting the context

Brands also need to bear in mind the viewing experience of the user when creating content, however mind-blowing it is. Jamie Estrin, MD of video advertising and technology company The Web TV Enterprise, says it depends on the user’s state of mind as well as the length of the content the ad is being placed around. “The creative execution could vary if the user is watching catch-up TV as a lean-back viewing experience, for example,” he says.

Xavier Rees, deputy MD of marketing agency TBCH, which has produced online video ads for mobile operator 3, agrees that context is key. “The industry needs to find a way to create video advertising that makes the most of the online media it inhabits and is shaped around how online video is consumed,” he says. “So video that you can interact with, customise or even have a dialogue with has to be the direction in which to go.”

But even getting creative content and context right isn’t enough. Using different and appropriate formats is also key to standing out, and greater experimentation is needed by brands in this area. “The media industry knows pre-roll ads aren’t the solution, but what is?” asks Rees. “It’ll be interesting to see how the big guns innovate in this area and what they pull out of the ether.”

InSkin believes it has found one answer. Its ads wrap advertisers’ branding and messaging around a website’s video player. The ad remains visible for the duration of playback, achieving an average brand exposure of three minutes per impression, even if the user doesn’t click through to the advertiser’s site. “No other online ad format offers this level of brand dwell time,” claims Hugo Drayton, CEO of InSkin. “Additionally, InSkin ads create an average click-through rate of 3%, making it one of the best performing video ad units for response.”

The Daily Telegraph is one convert. Last December it decided to re-evaluate the ad formats it was offering advertisers on its Telegraph TV site. The editorial team had reservations about the impact on the user experience of certain formats, and the commercial team needed more effective advertising and bigger numbers than traditional pre-roll and post-roll slots could provide.

“I like the way InSkin manages to be very impactful yet unobtrusive,” says Mike Nicholson, manager of Telegraph TV. “It would be very difficult for the user to ever miss, but it doesn’t hinder their viewing experience in the slightest. Also, by allowing the user to choose the time they would like to click, you put them in control of their web experience and the results have produced substantial ROI for several clients.” One fashion brand sponsored Telegraph TV’s weekly fashion programme using InSkin and achieved an interaction rate of 14%.

Video search engine Blinkx has also launched an online video ad format called Un-roll. The unit begins with a branded curtain that draws back to reveal the video. As this plays, touchpoints such as overlay ads and logos appear within the video, and the viewer has the option to continue the experience on the brand’s website. At the end, users can replay or share the video.

Network specialist Cisco is one company using Un-roll. “We get high impact contextual placement of our messages and this kind of innovation will become more important as video continues to dominate web growth,” says Tim Shorrocks, Cisco UK and Ireland marketing director.

Two things are clear: creativity is now more important than budget, and the unique strengths of online must be leveraged within video advertising. “The answer is to approach online video advertising as a different medium to TV advertising,” says InSkin’s Drayton. “This will drive increased creativity and higher quality advertising, designed for the web with specific campaign goals.” Innovation, not replication, is the future.

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