Leading things off as morning keynote speaker at OMMA Mobile is Paul Chibe, V.P., U.S. CMO for Anheuser-Busch, which has been involved in mobile and social marketing from early on. Emphasizing its focus on innovation, he explains how the beer giant has developed a “stagegate” process for developing and launching new digital efforts and has had a presence in Palo Alto, the heart of Silicon Valley, for the last 3 or 4 years. He moved the company’s entire digital team there, to be around people that are on the cutting edge of technology, and just to be immersed in …

  Auto-play digital commercials aren't in particularly good favor among digital video consumers -- or unknowing marketers. Some of these auto-play commercials look like pre-roll advertising and are packaged with real pre-roll ads,  sometimes without marketers knowing.   TubeMogul started up a site called "fakePreRoll. com" a year ago -- which was forced down later -- to help …

Live from OMMA Video, Viacom Media Networks is unveiling its findings from "When Networks Network: TV Gets Social" -- some new multi-country research on the interplay between TV and social media. "The study uncovered three chief types motivations behind TV-related social media activities," according to Stuart Schneiderman, VP of strategic insights and research at Viacom Media Networks. They include functional (getting show schedules and news); communal (branding oneself online and connecting with others); and playful (gaming and contests) -- with functional motivations trumping the others, according to Schneiderman. Most of all, viewers want TV shows and networks to fulfill their …

In the market for a video agency capable of creating ads that are as sharp and to-the-point as they are easily produced and inexpensive? Then consider Conscious Minds, a small shop based out of Pasadena, California. At OMMA Video on Tuesday, Chris Needham, Fidelity Investments' VP of digital marketing, gave a ringing endorsement of the agency. A new spot that Conscious Minds made for Fidelity features video footage from a street-level ATM, which plays some funky music -- funky enough to get customers dancing and smiling -- before dispensing their money. Entertaining, no doubt, and -- at a cost of …

I'm not entirely sure what the whole backstory was, but Chris Needham, VP-digital marketing at Fidelity Investments just showed the most delightful online video that has helped Fidelity brand itself with consumers. The video essentially features Depression-era Fidelity customer Miriam explaining why she saves, including so she could go skydiving at her now advanced age. Can't really explain why it's so adorable, but I recommend you watch it. The amazing part is that, as sentimental as it is, the video was produced by Vice, a pretty edgy content brand. "You wouldn't think that Vice and Fidelity could co-exist," quipped Needham, …

On hand for the afternoon keynote at OMMA Video is Chris Needham, VP, Digital Marketing, Fidelity Investments. He starts by explaining the investment giant has tried everything when it comes in-banner video but it just hasn’t paid off. An experiment with allowing users choose their own ad video went over well with people, but simply wasn't scalable. He noted that pre-roll ad delivers 5 to 8 times the engagement as in-banner, so from now on the company is sticking with in-stream video for digital video advertising.

Wrapping up the OMMA Video panel assessing this year’s NewFront, moderator Mike Bloxham asked how long before the NewFronts and traditional upfront should remain separate events or be merged.  Chris Raleigh, who leads cable and cross-platform ad sales, at The Weather Company said he expects to see them merged sooner rather than later. The Weather Co. was among companies holding separate events this year. Not surprisingly, Alexis Josephs, East Coast sales head at …

In the run-up to this year's Digital NewFront events, it was predicted by some that advertisers would commit as much as $1 billion in ad buys. Yet, the general consensus at OMMA Video seems to be that these optimistic ad astrologers were stoned. "They were smoking something," said Mike Bloxham, executive director of the Media Behavior Institute. "We still book digital advertisers months and months after [the NewFront]," said Chris Raleigh, SVP of Cable and Cross Platform Ad Sales at The Weather Company. "I think that's hilarious," Alexis Josephs, VP of East Coast Sales at VEVO, said regarding the idea …

  Newfronts made big news -- but what was the substance?   "There was a lot more sizzle," says Chris Raleigh, senior vp of  cable and cross platform ad sales for The Weather Company, speaking at the OMMA Video event.   But Raleigh wonders about the value. He didn't believe many of the Newfront presentations made a convincing case that they were  "following the consumer." He says: "I don't think it was projected well."   And, for many marketers, there is no rush. Adam Potashnick, senior partner/group account director at Mediacom said: "[For many marketers] there isn't a strong need today to …

Subway knows something about product placement, but don't tell that to Caitlin Burke, Senior Marketing Manager of Media and Branded Entertainment at the massive QSR. "We shun the word 'product placement,'" Burke told OMMA Video attendees on Tuesday afternoon -- suggesting that the term connotes something inauthentic or inorganic. "We want to be an invited guest," Burke said of the Subway brand. Setting a new bar for brands and their content creating aspirations, Subway recently invited itself to star in its own scripted comedy series, "The 4 to 9ers." Written, directed and produced by "Two and a Half Men" director …