Klipmart's New Format Takes Aim At Full-Screen Video Ad Providers
- by Kate Kaye , May 3, 2004
"This maximizes the experience without being obtrusive," suggests Chris Young, Klipmart CEO, with regard to the new ad product.
Klipmart started running the new ads in beta test mode in January, the same month that Unicast launched its Video Commercial unit. In all, six advertisers including four movie studios, one cable network, and an automotive firm, have tried Klipmart's full-screen format. The ads originate in standard placements, and include a button that enables users to expand them to full-screen size and collapse them back to the smaller size if desired.
Entertainment marketing agency Deep Focus developed ads for the DreamWorks flick "Win a Date With Tad Hamilton!" that employed Klipmart's full- screen option and ran on the Gorilla Nation Media network on sites such as TeenHollywood.com. "We're trying to sell not the product, but the experience," explains Ian Schaffer, president of Deep Focus, who adds: "Selling the experience is hard to do within a small space." The company is currently creating a campaign for MGM Studios' Soul Plane that features Klipmart's full-screen unit.
Like Unicast's Video Commercial format, Klipmart's full-screen video ads employ Windows Media 9 technology, which requires installation of a plug-in player. This marks a shift for Klipmart; the firm has become known for its ability to automatically stream video to users without plug-ins, most often through the use of Java technology.
Young said Klipmart chose to use Windows Media technology for the new unit rather than Java or Macromedia Flash MX because of its ability to transition back and forth between the smaller ad placement and the full- screen size without disrupting the video stream. The Full Screen Experience ads are also hosted on Windows servers. If the system detects that a user does not have Windows Media Player installed, it defaults to serving a Java-based video ad that does not enable the full-screen viewing option.
This latest offering puts Klipmart--a company that has focused on streaming video since its founding in 1999--in direct competition with ad technology firms like Unicast and Eyeblaster, which have built their businesses around offering a variety of rich media ad formats. Eyeblaster offers a between-page commercial break-style format which can enable streaming video based on Macromedia Flash MX technology. Unicast made noise in January to promote a similar between-page format. Rather than streaming most of the video as the user watches it, Unicast video ads are pre-cached before they are actually viewed.
Brian Fitzgerald, president of the Gorilla Nation ad network, believes that pre-cached video ads can create reporting discrepancies that "make it very difficult in terms of managing inventory." Gorilla Nation works with all vendors, according to Fitzgerald.
All the focus on technology is moot as far as Dan Rayburn, executive vice president of StreamingMedia.com, is concerned. He remains skeptical as to the benefit of a full-screen streaming ad over a smaller-sized video ad. "They all say full screen makes it more compelling," he comments, adding: "I say, 'What does it mean to the user?'"
Deep Focus's Schaffer came up against some hesitancy from publishers when introducing the Klipmart full-screen format. Because publishers weren't familiar with the new format and were concerned about the full-screen ads blocking site content and other advertisements, he claims, "some publishers were gun-shy about being the first to do it."
According to Gorilla Nation's Fitzgerald, there's no difference between Klipmart's full-screen format and other floating ad and expandable units that cover site content. He says he has yet to receive any complaints from advertisers regarding Klipmart's full-screen unit. "If it's user-initiated," he comments, "the user is dictating what his viewing preference is."
