Testing, Testing: Tremor Video Says Advertisers Should Use Online Ads to Gauge Effectivenss of Big TV Campaigns

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Advertisers in 2013 will siphon more from their print budgets to use in online advertising as a kind of a test kitchen for campaigns, to help decide which of its pitches are working best.

That’s one of the big guesses for the year ahead from Tremor Video, the advertising services company that was a pioneer in the cost-per-engagement (CPE) model for tablets, laptops and mobile phone and TV advertisers.

The company says it makes sense for advertisers to experiment with several concepts on the Internet before deciding on the ad or campaign it will use, especially during mega-events like the Super Bowl or Oscar telecasts.

Far from dissing TV, Tremor acknowledges the 800 lb.-46 inch wide gorilla on the advertising landscape isn’t about to move out of the way. Advertisers want the big screen presence, and so do consumers. But some of the fine details, Tremor argues, can be worked on through online advertising.  

Tremor predicts some advertisers  ahead of the 2014 Super Bowl will “digitally test creative,”  effectively using online video as the “world’s largest and almost instantaneous focus group.”  Based on metrics and buzz, it is betting one advertiser will make a splash showing the winning ad at halftime, “removing some of the ‘high’ from the high-stakes bet.”  (Sounds to me like Tremor knows who this advertiser this is, but they say they’re just sayin.’)

Bill Day, the chief executive, predicts that 2013 will to be the year that advertisers will go interactive in a big way, and the company has the figures to back it up.

Melinda McLaughlin, the chief marketing officer, says the trend is for online video advertising to engage consumers, almost by making commercials episodic. She notes in a company video that when anyone says, “let me tell you a story,” the natural reaction is to “lean in” to hear more.  

Tremor predicts an uptick in transmedia projects where the ad campaign can flow across all screens, a trend that’s more apparent so far on studio back lots on the West Coast than on Madison Avenue. 

In its 2013 blog dreamscape, Tremor  predicts “Advertisers will add a fourth dimension—touch—to sight, sound and motion on a major scale.”

Gone, or going, are the days when advertisers “repurpose a TV spot for the Web and call it a day.”

Instead, they’ll increasingly begin “to shoot extras, outtakes, content for the ‘making of’ video and other editorial content that will serve as interactive invitations to engage with the brand on all screens.”

Tremor has seen revenue from interactive formats nearly double from its first quarter-to-fourth quarter overall results.  The company says 55% of its mobile revenue came from interactive ad spend, up from 12% in the first quarter.

That’s also an indication of the rapid growth of smartphones. Citing a Gartner report, Tremor says the number of smartphones will increase by another 1.21 billion worldwide in 2013.

Naturally, the predictions follow the contours of Tremor’s business. It knows advertisers aren’t easily giving up their fixation on gross ratings points, but Tremor says adding in an online campaign’s Effective Ratings Points is a better way for advertisers to know who—precisely-- is viewing an ad, and what they’re doing after they see it.

In the Tremor video, Day says the fixatino advertisers and marketers have for some demographics has become outmoded—it’s not smart to “aim” car advertising at men, or detergent ads at women. He says when advertisers “quit chasing stereotypes” they discover that sometimes their market “look nothing like what you thought your target was.”   

 pjbednarski@comcast.net

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2 comments on "Testing, Testing: Tremor Video Says Advertisers Should Use Online Ads to Gauge Effectivenss of Big TV Campaigns".

1. Scott Clark from Innovid
   

   commented on: January 3, 2013 at 3:41 p.m.
   Cheers to this! Interactive video ads and content is not just about bells and whistles creative, it's about deeper connections and engagement with the consumers most likely to relate to one's brand and products. The data and learnings from these interactions, the increase in social activity, and the sequential storytelling opportunities - particularly across platforms/devices - will continue to revolutionize advertising and content. Which makes it even more important to invest in the technology pipes/backbone that can help brands actually create, deliver, and measure their work in a consistent, standardized manner. Kudos to our friends at Tremor for the content and direction of this posting.
2. Sally O'Dowd from Tremor Video
   

   commented on: January 23, 2013 at 3:05 p.m.
   Scott, a delayed thank you for your comments but a thank you indeed!

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