Commentary
The New Math: (Content x Advertisement) = Contentment
- by Roy Baharav , February 1, 2011
What will happen to the advertising industry when online content can be recorded and ads can be skipped through, just as DVRs do for television today? This is a reality the ad industry will have to face in the future, and it is important to look at the options now.
For 50 years, 30-second commercials have been the predominant monetizing mechanism of the content industry. However, with the introduction of ad-skipping technology 10 years ago and the unsuccessful legal battles to stop its penetration, the ad industry must face the reality that the value of the traditional 30-second spot is steadily decreasing. Advertisers are therefore shifting significant revenues to online video spots, which have now entered the mainstream and boast extensive reach. As this space becomes increasingly competitive and innovative, online content will experience devaluation similar to the 30-second commercial.
As we prepare for this inevitable shift in the online advertising industry, advertisers will need to engage the following three solutions in order to stay relevant:
Digital Brand Integration: The integration of advertising into the content itself will become a more prominent practice, which will protect ads from time-shifted viewing and ad skipping. We will begin to see standardized online programming and scalable buying abilities across multiple assets (rather than sponsoring specific projects). Personalized branding based on the viewer demographic and sophisticated integration will deliver higher value. The practice of inserting a brand into already existing online content to guarantee viewership is becoming more and more common. In the future, the personalization of commercials depending on the actual individual that is sitting at their computer viewing the content will be scalable and therefore much more valuable. For example, a car being driven in an online video could be a Toyota integration that women 18-34 will view, while an integration featuring a completely different Toyota model will appear on computer screens belonging to men 35-50. This standardized, personalized and scalable model for more effective digital brand integration will be a valuable asset in the coming years.
Interactive Content: As we see a more advanced evolution of customized content, and social watching of non-sports content continues to gain speed, we will see two long-term benefits. First, interactive and social content will force people to engage in real-time viewing and the option to record a show-and then skip the commercials when playing it back at a later time-will be negated. This increase in viewer engagement will lead to the second benefit: an increase in the value of in-content advertising because of higher brand recognition.
Improved Commercial Breaks: Despite the need for new and improved methods of online advertising, the traditional commercial will not disappear. However, the need to make commercials more relevant and attractive to decrease ad-skipping, and thereby increase value, will amplify tremendously. There are many options still being developed, such as creating 30-second ads that are also an online game which the viewer can interact with in real-time.
It is essential that advertisers keep up with the changes in entertainment delivery. Large advertisers that shift their budgets online must use digital integration in concert with 30-second commercials to reach their overall campaign goals and gain the most value. Sophisticated measurement metrics, including brand awareness, brand opinion and purchase intent, will accompany this advertising evolution. These quality scalable video solutions are already becoming available on television by forward-looking companies such as 20th Television and others, and, when combined with online reach and personalization, they will have an effective monetization mechanism that can fund the continued creation and distribution of high-quality content.
How about REDUCING THE NUMBER OF COMMERCIALS SHOWN PER HOUR! Does a Company reaaly need to advertise itself a dozen times during a one hour show? For Decades TV got along with 8-10 Minutes of Commercials per Hour. Then in the last 15 years this figure has more than doubled. At the same time the quality of most Ads has headed South, to the point where it seems most companies feel the best way to sell their product is to do so in the most offensive manner possible. Is it any wonder people are turning to DVRs and other sources to avoid these kinds of Commercials? What ever happened to the saying that you can attract more Flies with Honey than you can with Vinegar. Start laying off the Vinegar!
1. Do we get a choice to either have ads in between segments or have it blared in the middle of a story? 2. All of the brandishing of targets will be the bane of missing sales.
The operative words in this piece are "force people"! Most people hate ads and must be forced to watch them. The last resort of marketers, especially those messages that simply won't work as product placement, will be captive audiences at gas pumps, inside elevators, befor the movie starts, etc. Many of us would skip ads no matter what the incentive. With a two-tuner DVR we can watch live shows and flip away during breaks and come back later in early-live time to skip and enjoy the content we want. it's all about FORCE, as in forcing people to watch what they hate. For every clever, enjoyable commercial, the rest of the pod is painful.
Nearly-live viewing is as good as live viewing.
#1 - One of my camera guy contractors is fond of saying "..TV is just bumpers around ads...." don't know if this comes from someone else, but it makes for an interesting perspective and there is no denying the truth in it.
This reads to me like subscriptions, pay per view and pay per download have a bright future. Buy what you want. The content creator (finally) gets paid for their work and the whole ad thing goes away.
Would agencies/network owners, etc., ever allow this to happen? They may not be able to stop it, but sadly it will not likely come to fruition in our lifetimes.
I find it interesting to speculate on what CPG companies will do when the day comes that ads in moving media are no longer a viable solution.
What comes next?
Maybe the future of purchasing content is closer than I thought. Assuming of course that press releases tell no lies......
Headline = 75% willing to pay for online content
article here - http://www.sys-con.com/node/1695824
I've heard of Brandvertising, brandvertisements, advertainment now I can add contentment to the mix.
Pree Roll, Mid Rolls and Post Rolls might work. In Holland we tend to clump the commercial all in one go - rather than every seven minutes or whatever it is in North America. That gives time to actually do something like go to the bathrooom, fire up a cuppa' tea or whatever.
If connected TV apps get tractions (Smart TVs) I can see commercials on linear broadcast pushing people to their apps to get interactive and win things. I'd gladly have a chance to win the latest Volvo if they give one away a month - or if Redbull is asking me to vote on something like the best skateboard trick or street musician....... using an TV App.
I am just brainstorming, not sure how it will play out. But pre,post and mid rolls are currently being forced online as well.
At its root, the 'intrusion' model of advertising makes one key assumption: viewers/readers don't really want to see our messages and so we must find a way to 'sneak' them past them. It's sort of like giving your dog a pill. He doesn't want to take it, so you wrap it in bacon, and he ends up swallowing the whole mass. That's why we pepper commercial pods throughout a TV broadcast, instead of lumping them all together at the beginning or end. Because we know viewers will tune out for those messages.
Recent technologies and platforms are ushering in a sea change. It's getting easier for content consumers to avoid messages they don't want to see. To eat the bacon without having to take the pill. The solution, of course, is to create messages (content) they welcome seeing. This requires a fundamental shift on the part of marketers to get away from the "here's what we want you to know" messages, to more of a "here's something you'll find useful or interesting."
Think that's an impossibility? Ask yourself how many people will be tuning in this Sunday JUST to watch the commercials.
Until marketers actually get this, they will find themselves becoming more and more irrelevant to their audiences.
http://www.quisenblog.com
Humm we should see more product placement within content. Such as on a Disney Channel show kids mentioning going to McDonalds for a burger.