• by Lewis Rothkopf , Op-Ed Contributor, February 22, 2010

I've spoken at length about both the radical and advantageous ways in which video ads can vary from their television counterparts. While some advertisers are embracing the many benefits our medium offers in the areas of targeting, analysis and interactivity, many still are not.

It is, of course, easier and less expensive (in the upfront) to repurpose a 30-second TV spot, but that golden opportunity to talk to your target customers where they live is unfortunately lost.

So what are the options? At the most basic level, advertisers can create a digital-specific component as part of their campaign -- and keep it to 15 seconds to achieve the greatest distribution. Interactivity layered on top of the pre-roll is even more interesting. But what if we began to have a true real-time conversation with our consumers -- and do it live?

The 1990s offered several returns to the kind of live programming not generally seen in decades -- the television shows "ER" and "Roc" both got into the action, the former with an episode, and the latter with an entire season.

But perhaps most interestingly for us, in 1993 Prodigy, the pioneering online service beloved by many, recalled an already long-past era and made national news by airing a series of live television commercials. The spots were, at least to my eyes, simple and effective. I remember a presenter standing next to a PC, talking about current events while showing them visually on the Prodigy service.

Back to today, when online video advertising is finally reaching the audience scale at which a series of live spots can be effective. But again, let's not limit ourselves to simply mimicking television's successes. Instead, we can build on them using the tools that our medium offers. Advertisers can: