• by October 3, 2011

Over the past few years we've seen a revolution of consumer choice. We can choose which screen we watch across TVs, computers, smartphones, and tablets. We can choose when we consume media with DVRs, services like Netflix, Hulu, iTunes, Pandora, Spotify, and many other on-demand providers. We can even choose which ads we watch with social video advertising.

This last point is what we find most intriguing because it puts the consumer at the center of the content experience. Instead of being interrupted by ads when we're trying to watch our favorite shows and movies, we choose to watch the ads that are most relevant to us. Ads no longer feel like ads when we choose to watch them. They feel like content.

This paradigm shift in advertising is both a challenge and an opportunity for brands. In the past, advertisers dictated when the conversation with consumers would begin and end. Today, it's a two-way street. Brands can start the conversation, but consumers carry it from there. This is more difficult than simply interrupting consumers during American Idol, but when brands are chosen freely and openly, the benefits are immense for everyone involved.

The ways consumers benefit from this shift in advertising are obvious - we choose ads that we want to watch, so they're more relevant to us. We don't feel like we're being interrupted by these ads because we're choosing to watch them. And when we choose to watch ads, we engage more with brands. We choose to watch and hear their ideas, their stories, and, as a result, we can connect with them in a more intimate fashion. As consumers, we get more out of the experience.

Advertisers benefit from choice for the same reasons that consumer enjoy it. Consumers are more engaged with the brand's big idea and interact with the ad more intensely. This increases brand lift metrics - brand favorability, brand recognition, and purchase intent jump dramatically. Choice also opens the door to Earned Media - social endorsement. When consumers choose to watch ads, they're more likely to pass those ads along to their friends and family, blast them across Facebook and Twitter, and evangelize them in general. This is advertising gold for brands.

The future of media will open more opportunities for choice for both consumers and advertisers. Advertisers who recognize this shift in consumer control will thrive. Those who don't will fall behind. Consumers will gravitate to the brands that provide them with the best content experience. And that experience begins with choice.

Brian Shin, founder and CEO of Visible Measures, the analytics and advertising platform for social video.