Posts for 'Advertising'

I'm pleased to announce more great speakers and sessions for the VideoNuze 2012 Online Video Advertising Summit on June 19th in NYC.

Early-bird, discounted registration is now available (note, the VideoNuze Online Video Advertising Summit takes the place of last year's "ELEVATE" event).

State of the Online Video Ad Market: Big Growth Ahead

- David Hallerman - Principal Analyst, eMarketer (presenter)

Description:
eMarketer is forecasting that in-stream and in-page online video advertising will triple from $3.12 billion in 2012 to $9.3 billion in 2016. In this lead-off session, principal analyst David Hallerman will explain what's behind the numbers, and what he sees as key opportunities and challenges in the growth ahead. For anyone trying to get their piece of this multi-billion dollar market, this session will be invaluable.

Upfronts, NewFronts and the Transition of Ad Spending - The Agency Perspective

- Mike Bologna - Managing Partner, Director, Emerging Communications, GroupM

- John McCarus - SVP, Group Director, Brand Content, Digitas

- Chris Smith - VP, Video and Mobile, Collective Media

Description:
TV advertising still dominates the market, but digital video providers are making an aggressive push for their fair share. In this session, get insights from the agency side about how digital is influencing buyer behavior the Upfronts, what effect the Digital Content NewFronts (DCNF) had on shaping demand, and how products like Collective's TV Accelerator are bridging the TV and online video advertising worlds.

The VideoNuze 2012 Online Video Advertising Summit will bring together executives from brands, agencies, technology providers and other stakeholders for a highly-focused day of learning and networking. Stay tuned for many more exciting speakers and session!

Early-bird, discounted registration is now available (note, the VideoNuze Online Video Advertising Summit takes the place of last year's "ELEVATE" event).

Google has taken the beta tag off of AdWords for video, opening up the ad platform targeted to small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to run video ads on YouTube. To help drive interest, Google is also offering $50 million of free advertising credits to prospects. I wrote about AdWords for video last September when it was first announced, and I continue to be enthusiastic about its potential to broaden video-based advertising to SMBs for which traditional TV advertising was out of reach.

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Adobe's VP, Monetization (and former CEO of Auditude) stopped by the VideoNuze booth at the NABShow yesterday for a video interview (see below) in which he shares highlights from the company's newly-released 2012 Digital Video Ad report. The data is based on over 2.5 billion video ads that Adobe served in the second half of 2011 across customers like MLB, Comcast, Fox News and other premium video providers.

Key findings included:

- Mid-rolls have an 87% completion rate, 30% higher than pre-rolls

- Ad completion rates of 94% on mobile devices (tablets and smartphones) are the highest of any viewing environment

- Ad completion rates for live content are 85%, which is 23% than for VOD

All in all, the report concludes that advertising in online video is becoming more similar to broadcast TV as the ad loads are increasing and viewers become more tolerant.

The full report is located here.

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At yesterday's IAB Digital Video conference, 10 industry executives (see list at bottom of this page), debated how best to define "premium video." It's not an academic question, because for many brands and agencies, the concept of "premium" determines whether the video will qualify for ad spending at all. And of course, the more "premium" the video is, the higher the pricing its ad inventory will command, which in turn drives the video's profitability. At a time when more original online video is being produced than ever (much of it deficit-financed), understanding in advance what is premium - and therefore monetizable - is critical to achieving success.

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Innovid, which enables online video advertisers and publishers to add interactive elements such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and sharing to their campaigns, is announcing that VAST and VPAID ad tags will now be auto-created within its iRoll Studio.

The enhancement eliminates the work flow process step of advertisers and publishers needing to submit their ads back to Innovid for tags to be created before campaigns can be trafficked out. This in turn reduces cost and resources to turn typical pre-roll ads into an iRoll ad.

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The VideoNuze 2012 Online Video Advertising Summit on June 19th is continuing to gain momentum, with eight leading industry organizations on board as media partners: CTAM, NATPE, OPA, REELSEO, Beet.TV, The Diffusion Group, The Ad Club of New York and Jack Myers Media Business Report.

All the media partners are offering special discounted early bird registration to the Video Ad Summit which they will promote through their various communications channels. I'm delighted to have these partners working with VideoNuze, helping ensure the Video Ad Summit's success (note this event takes the place of last year's ELEVATE conference which drew 400+ attendees).

In addition, MWW Group, one of the ten largest independent global agencies, will be the public relations partner for the Video Ad Summit. MWW and The Fortex Group, which it acquired last year, have been long-time partners with VideoNuze for its events.

The Video Ad Summit has an amazing group of industry executives speaking, and I'll be adding them to the web site shortly - so keep an eye out!

The Video Ad Summit is generously supported by sponsors Auditude (Adobe), YuMe, Adap.tv, Collective, Conviva, Mixpo, TubeMogul and Videology.

Click here for early-bird registration

Video ad technology provider FreeWheel added another big content provider to its customer roster yesterday, announcing that it will be powering video ads for a group of NBCU's broadcast and cable networks' properties.

In particular, the deal also covers NBCOlympics.com, the network's destination for the London games this summer. FreeWheel noted that as a result advertisers will be able to make specific digital ad buys and combined broadcast/digital packages, which NBC will be able to deliver. This opens up potential targeting at a more granular level than has been available with traditional TV.

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The age-old question of whether viewers will pay to skip ads will be put to the test in the online video industry with "SkipIt," a clever new service SpotXchange is launching today. For participating publishers, a SkipIt "chicklet" appears when a video ad starts playing; if the viewer clicks on it, the ad closes and the content continues. Each ad skipped costs the viewer $.10, which is automatically deducted from their pre-funded account. When an ad is skipped, the advertiser receives a credit from the publisher who is paid a percentage of the viewer's fee by SkipIt. (see SkipIt's video at bottom for more)

Initial publishers testing SkipIt include CineSport, Film Annex, IDG TechNetwork, OneScreen, Tech Media Network and Tetris Online. Combined, SkipIt estimates this will represent 20 million video ads presented each day to over 100 million viewers.

Michael Shehan, SpotXchange's CEO, explained a couple of weeks ago when he previewed SkipIt for me that the service is intended to empower viewers with more choice about which ads they watch, reduce wasteful spending by advertisers and deliver a more satisfying experience by the content publisher.

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Here's a great example of how online video advertising is opening up a new world of opportunities for savvy marketers: office supply giant Office Depot is dynamically creating customized video ads that are retargeted to visitors of OfficeDepot.com for specific products they browsed or purchased. Office Depot is leveraging SundaySky's "SmartVideo" and other technologies in order to re-engage visitors and drive new purchasing. Office Depot's Nicole Fraley explains how this works in the video interview embedded below, and SundaySky's president and CRO Jim Dicso recently provided me with some additional details.

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I'm on Beet.TV today discussing the VideoNuze 2012 Online Video Advertising Summit on Tues., June 19th in NYC. Thanks so much to Beet.TV's Andy Plesser, whose NYC office I visited last week. Beet.TV is a media partner for the event, which is shaping up to be an exciting day of learning and networking. Lots more to come! (click "continue reading" to watch)

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Today I'm pleased to share a video interview I did with Vuguru's Chief Creative Officer Kristin Jones at the recent NATPE Market conference in Miami, FL. Among other topics, Kristin describes Vuguru's business model, some of the successful originals that it has created, how she sees online distributors differentiating themselves and where the market for digital content is heading from here.

The interview runs about 7 minutes. (Note, I'm off camera and my audio isn't great, so the questions are overlaid in text.)

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I'm pleased to be joined once again by Colin Dixon, senior partner at The Diffusion Group, for the 126th edition of the VideoNuze Report podcast, for Mar. 23, 2012. This week finds Colin in London, providing him an even better perspective on our first topic this week, Sky's new over-the-top service called NOW TV, which it will launch this summer. Colin is bullish on NOW TV and likes the lessons it provides for U.S. pay-TV operators.

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Early bird discounted registration is now open for the VideoNuze 2012 Online Video Advertising Summit on Tuesday, June 19th in NYC. The Ad Summit takes the place of last year's ELEVATE conference, which VideoNuze co-hosted and which drew 400+ attendees.

I'm delighted to announce seven industry-leading companies as initial sponsors. These include Title Partners Auditude (Adobe) and YuMe; Premier Partner Adap.tv and Headline Partners Conviva, Mixpo, TubeMogul and Videology. All of these companies are bringing critical technologies to the online video advertising market and I'm honored they've decided to be a part of the Ad Summit.

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Today I'm pleased to share a video interview I did with Generate's Founder and CEO Jordan Levin at the recent NATPE Market conference in Miami, FL. In January Generate was acquired by Alloy Digital, in a deal that created a multi-platform media company targeting the young adult market. In the following interview Jordan discusses the rationale for the deal, the combined companies' top 2-3 priorities, how to judge the success of branded entertainment project and much more.

The interview runs 12 1/2 minutes. (Note, I'm off camera and my audio isn't great, so the questions are overlaid in text.)

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In another milestone for online video's evolution, independent online studio My Damn Channel is announcing today "My Damn Channel LIVE," a live daily comedy show. The show will be featured on My Damn Channel's web site and on its new YouTube channel. It will be streamed at 4pm ET starting a week from today and will be hosted by Beth Hoyt, an up and coming actor/writer/comedian.

The show is envisioned as a late-night talk show, but updated for all the elements that online offers. The format will include celebrity interviews, interaction with viewers, promotion of other My Damn Channel comedy shows and engagement with talent from other YouTube channels. Viewers will also be able to catch up on the show on demand.

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Yesterday's news that Nielsen is collaborating with GroupM, the largest media buyer in the world, to introduce "Nielsen Cross-Platform Campaign Ratings," is the latest move by the Nielsen to get its arms around the elusive problem of coherently measuring online video advertising. As I recently wrote, many in the advertising and content community believe there's a "measurement crisis" as video consumption rapidly splinters to numerous new connected devices.

Given that "what can't be measured, can't be sold," cohesive online video measurement is essential. And since Nielsen is the gold standard in TV ratings, many in the industry have expected it to pick up the mantle in online video as well. That has led to some grumbling at Nielsen's perceived slow pace of innovation, and the drag this creates on online video ad spending.

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It seems like barely a week goes by these days without a new online-only original video series or new distribution agreement being announced. But even as content creators' enthusiasm for the new medium grows, there's one constant reality: if major advertising dollars don't flow into online video, these projects will not survive. Content creators, distributors and agencies need to make a coordinated, concerted effort to educate advertisers about these new opportunities in order to help drive spending.

That's why the recently announced "Digital Content NewFronts" (DCNF) are a step in the right direction. Recognizing that a rising tide lifts all boats, five of the top ten online video destinations have banded together with ad agency Digitas to host two weeks of targeted events. But as Mark Beeching, Chief Global Creative and Strategy Director for Digitas explains in the following interview, the DCNF isn't as much an event as it is part of an ongoing, inclusive dialogue between brands and content creators/distributors looking to tap into completely new customer engagement opportunities.

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More proof that online video is opening up new advertising and engagement possibilities beyond traditional TV, as premium travel lifestyle company Tumi - which has never run a TV ad - has opted to exclusively sponsor a new web series called "Bourdain's TV Crew." Tumi's SVP, Brand Management, Alan Krantzler told me last week that its commitment was driven by a desire to increase brand awareness among younger customers and to leverage Bourdain's large Facebook fan base to build its own.

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Today I'm pleased to share a video interview I did with Yahoo's EVP, Americas, Ross Levinsohn at the recent NATPE Market conference in Miami, FL. Among the topics Ross addresses are::

How Yahoo is breaking through given the proliferation of online video choices?

How did the new Tom Hanks project "Electric City" for Yahoo come about?

Why is Yahoo's user data so important to developing original programming?

What's the timetable for shifting TV spending to online video and what are the key challenges?

Are there non ad-based revenue streams Yahoo envisions for its video?

What's the big surprise he foresees for 2012?

The interview runs 12 1/2 minutes. (Note, I'm off camera and my audio isn't great, so the questions are overlaid in text.)

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London-based Videoplaza has rolled out "Karbon," its new flagship ad management platform, to serve ads to all imaginable connected and mobile devices. Katy Turner, Videoplaza's VP of Marketing, told me that Karbon is the direct result of broadcast and publishing customers demanding simplified ways of monetizing content on the variety of devices now being used.

Karbon includes The Device Library, with profiles of over 7,000 different devices' supported codecs, bit rates and resolutions and The Asset Factory, which transcodes ads for the requisite devices and delivers them appropriately. The idea is that an ad can be uploaded to Karbon once with target devices selected. The ads are transcoded so that when an ad call is made the device is detected, its profile understood, and the proper ad delivered - all in real-time.

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