Thursday, November 15, 2007
Video Ads Taking Baby Steps
Research by Dynamic Logic says that online video isn't as annoying to consumers as pop-ups, but banners and skyscrapers are seen as less invasive, according to Mediapost. This comes as no surprise because users have no choice but to sit through most videos ads if they want to enjoy the content, whereas most of us have trained our eyes to avoid ads that surround content.
That said video ads should be relevant to the online viewing experience by being short, interactive, and even fun. Online video ads are often repurposed TV content, which is part of the dissatisfaction. The pacing is different when you are expected to endure a 30 second commercial as part of possibly several hours of continuous TV watching. But the percentage of people who watch video online for several hours in a row is extremely small (get out of your parent's basement!). Video ads need to be short and immediately attention grabbing, not a rehash of ads folks may have already seen before.
The creative bar is higher for online ads, but the production costs are generally lower. Using animation or rapidly changing static images is much more acceptable and cheaper than TV ads shot in a studio, so creative agencies need to leverage the medium to its fullest.
Online video ads are doing better than pop-ups and pop-unders, with only 31% of those surveyed taking a strongly negative view of video versus 55% for the latter.
To put it in perspective, Manatt noted that only 18% of consumers have a strongly negative view of banner ads, 21% for skyscrapers and 27% for "advergames."
Significantly, the number of consumers taking a strongly negative view of online video ads has been increasing over the last few years,
ith 70% saying they'd rather see it at the beginning.
Posted By John Gartner at 09:40 AM
Permanent Link: Video Ads Taking Baby Steps
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