• by Wayne Friedman , October 2, 2019

Marketers using “nontraditional” video ad formats on OTT platforms look to double their advertising spend this year to $35 million, according to  advanced advertising company BrightLine.

The company estimates that industry-wide advertising revenue in this category will double again next year -- to $70 million. Its projections are modeled from BrightLine's delivery data for marketers.

The research here classifies “nontraditional” as interactive advertising units, personalized/addressable creative messaging, and direct-response ads where viewers click through and activity can be logged and retargeted from marketers.

Among all nontraditional advertising, Robert Aksman, chief strategy officer of BrightLine, tells Digital News Daily that the lead-generation product announced earlier in the year has taken over as the company's "fastest-growing format, particularly among the fast-growing DTC marketing category.”

He adds that geo-addressable units have become the format of choice for dealerships and quick-serve food, "where viewers get served the closest location during national commercials." One example is a Jack In The Box commercial that offers a specific onscreen location.

Looking at OTT platforms for nontraditional video ads, BrightLine says “it is increasingly becoming a two-horse race between Roku and Fire TV, now neck and neck to account for 70% of all enhanced ad impressions.”

BrightLine's clients include Hulu, NBCUniversal, Discovery Networks, WarnerMedia, A&E Networks, AMC, Tubi TV, and more than 2,000 apps.

The company partners with video ad-serving platform SpotX to identify enhanced OTT ad inventory from media owners.

BrightLine's programmatic platform partners include The Trade Desk, Google, Telaria, Adobe Ad Cloud, Amobee, Tremor Video and MediaMath.