The XLII SuperBowl takes places this coming Sunday in Phoenix. The heavily favored New England Patriots go into battle against the underdog New York Giants. The excitement of varying predictions ranging from an upset to a close game to an outright blow out, is slightly overshadowed in our industry by the role advertising plays in the event. So while traditional water cooler conversation has always been about the best commercials shown as well as the new characters and themes unveiled, the advent of the Web for related promotion only continues to get better and better, and deserves its own monitoring …

From what I've seen, one of the biggest reasons that video content producers have historically limited interactivity is due to their fear of losing control, either of the asset itself in a piracy situation, or of the message/intent of the original content. Although these are valid concerns, they are easily overruled by the added time interacting with the brand and the added viral factor that content interactivity delivers. As online video becomes ubiquitous in '08, look for a shift in attitude about user-generated content from savvy content owners and publishers.

I recently flipped through an issue of Time magazine and noticed that pharmaceutical companies not only push their latest sleep aids, cholesterol suppressors and erectile dysfunction meds, but they also compete for market share amongst themselves. The issue I looked at had ads for Actonel, AdVair, Ambien, Cymbalta, Cypher Stent, Medco, Rozerem and Zetia. My first thought was, There is an awful lot of money used to advertise these well-known drug brands.At the same time, I thought about the value proposition of online video advertising...

Back in the early '90s, when WIRED magazine was still in its infancy, each issue contained spread after spread of profound quotes -- "mind grenades," as they later became known -- from what were then considered "digital futurists." One such futurist was the legendary musician/composer Brian Eno, who stated, "The problem with computers is, there is not enough Africa in them...."

During CES Bill Gates addressed the NBC/Microsoft partnership for online video technology and distribution for the upcoming Olympics. With more than 3,000 expected hours of coverage and 30 simultaneous feeds, this promises to be a watershed mark in digital coverage of a live event.

Tomorrow, when you go to work, try something different. Don't give a damn how many people see your advertising. Really. Tomorrow make it a point not to worry whether three thousand or three million viewers end up seeing your television commercials. Instead, go to work tomorrow worrying about something even more important. Rather than how many see your commercials, worry about how much time they spend with them

Once again, SpotXchange CEO Michael Shehan talks to Dueno Group, Publicis' Senior Vice President Tim Hanlon. This discussion covers video ad networks, exchanges, auctions, pricing and video ad units.

TK

A few months ago, in its "Interactive Marketing Forecast 2007-2012," Forrester reported that a staggering 82% of consumers find pre-roll, in-player and in-stream video "annoying." In the next sentence of the report, video overlays are hailed as generating five to 10 times more clicks than banner ads.