• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, March 6, 2008

ORLANDO -- Starcom MediaVest's top digital executive reiterated advertisers' deeply rooted frustrations with buying VOD advertising Wednesday at the AAAA conference, calling for dynamic ad insertion, better targeting options and the chance to offer links to long-form promotional videos.

Curt Hecht, executive vice president and chief digital officer at SMG, also stressed that cable operators need to find a way to provide better metrics for VOD advertisers. So far, advertisers mostly receive simple tracking on how many people view particular content.

"VOD needs to keep pace with the online space in giving us the metrics that we've come to expect," he said at a 4As panel.

The bulk of VOD advertising opportunities that the 90 programmers in the field are offering today involve the somewhat aging pre-, mid- or post-roll spots. Hecht called that an "interruptive" model and said SMG is conducting research on ways to "better the consumer experience." It wants to develop concepts beyond pre-roll that deliver a message in a manner that satisfies viewers and marketers.

As for dynamic ad insertion, advertisers for some time have bemoaned the fact that when they slot a pre-roll ad into a VOD stream--say a full episode of a drama on a cable network--they don't have the ability to alter the creative on the fly, perhaps on a day that a sale takes off or a movie marketer wants to cite a positive review. Ads baked in can't be altered on a day's or even a week's notice. Hecht cited the pressing need for "real-time" insertion opportunities, which the Internet allows, possibly giving it an advantage as an ad medium.

Hecht also called on cable operators to offer upgraded opportunities for addressability. As it stands, a VOD ad usually runs during all views across a full operators' footprint. Advertisers are seeking the chance for segmentation, to target certain ads by ZIP code or demographic with germane messages. "Getting rid of the waste" is how Hecht characterized it.

Hecht also emphasized that advertisers want to facilitate click-throughs, so interested VOD viewers can obtain more information, perhaps about a new SUV or plasma screen. Functionally, that would allow a VOD viewer to link through to a longer-form spot, offering what Hecht called "deeper interaction" opportunities. He did mention that TiVo has had some success in that area.

Of course, marketers can run branded, long-form ads by offering them on a VOD menu. There, a marketer essentially acts as a programmer.