Friday, July 21, 2006

Web Video Success Challenges Buyers

Cable and print advertising is receding as quickly as the polar ice caps and will be replaced largely by online video nets, or so say the industry experts at the recent Supernova conference.

For the most part I agree with the major takeaways from the Wharton recap -- that nearly all media companies will offer video on their websites, that cable TV will suffer, and that marketers will take advantage of user-generated videos.

But this fracturing of markets into hundreds of interest specific niches will challenge ad buyers who will have to learn the demographics (and appropriate CPMs) of hundreds instead of a handful of "channels." What should I pay to advertise in front of a skateboarding or movie parody channel? Media buyers and market research firms who understand and can quantify the audiences will be in high demand.

We can expect many companies to use user-created remixes and original ads as viral marketing manna. As long as the submissions are filtered, tapping into individuals' creativity is cheap and effective.

The leading Web video site, YouTube, had an up and down week. NBC has revived a dead TV show because it was so popular there, while the company's new "we own you" policy for submitted videos has met with strong negative reaction. YouTube has to come up with an ad model that fairly compensates contributors, or they can expect the gravy train of submission to dry up quickly.

Posted By Admin at 03:17 PM
Permanent Link: Web Video Success Challenges Buyers | Comments (0)

Post a Comment

Name:
Email:
WebSite:
Comment:
Remember Me
Subscribe