• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, November 15, 2007

Hollywood, Calif. -- "It's anyone's game" in video advertising, according to Todd Stevens, the executive producer and co-founder of Expanded Books, speaking during a panel discussion on video production during the OMMA Video conference Wednesday. Stevens' fellow panelists said online ads are poised to disrupt the traditional TV ad business.

Matthew Szymczyk, CEO of Zugara, said one of his company's online video ads proved so popular the client deployed it in traditional broadcast TV. What's more, the entire production process cost about "one-eighth or even one-tenth" of a traditional TV ad spot. This prompted moderator Jeremy Lockhorn, director of emerging media and video innovation at Avenue A|Razorfish, to note: "We're seeing more and more of this, where ads are transitioning from online to TV." Lockhorn said the Geico caveman ads began this way.

Within the online video realm, there are still tremendous creative ferments, according to Tom Hernandez, vice president of sales for XLNTAds, who affirmed that "no one has a lock on ideas when they're planning online video." The possibilities for video ad formats and strategies are proliferating along with "all different kinds of media platforms where media has to be present."

In this potentially confusing environment, how should producers pitch agencies?

Easy, said Hernandez: it's the classic portfolio approach. Producers and other creative executives should bring what Lockhorn described as "a broad swathe of ideas" to the table. Early on, this helps orient the agencies to enormous possibilities in the rich media approach.