Mark Little
Survival tips for advertising in the short-form video jungle
Brand safety is just one key to survival for online publishers and advertisers operating in short-form digital video. Here Ovum maps out another five tips for advertising in this exciting new media. "An advertiser won't just find themselves next to a video of someone shooting a firecracker out of his bum," says BT Podshow President Adam Curry, to illustrate the need for brand safety. He was of course referring to the potential dangers of associating your brand with user-generated content (UGC) from sites such as YouTube that have only cursory content-vetting procedures. Advertisers are in a dilemma as they eye the increasingly massive and measurable audiences of UGC and social sites like YouTube and MySpace. They want to engage the audience, but control the context in which their message appears at the same time. The answer, according to Adam Curry, is brand-safe video networks such as BT Podshow, the joint venture between Podshow (now called Mevio in the US) and BT in the UK. BT Podshow is a short-form video portal that enables people to create their own video or radio serials and make an income from publishing their content and acquiring a share of potential advertising revenues. Comparing BT Podshow and YouTube, Curry explains the difference is one of "popularisation versus democratisation". YouTube has democratised the creation and publication of content, allowing consumers almost complete freedom of self-expression, an environment that leaves brands vulnerable. BT Podshow, on the other hand, popularises content by supporting and promoting the popular work of creators which wouldn't normally see the light of day, whilst encouraging certain production values. The result: brand safety. Five more survival tips for advertising in the short-form jungle: 1. Develop a policy for content vetting and production values. Without it publishers cannot offer brand safety; too much of it will strangle creativity. A delicate balancing act is required between creating a brand-safe environment, retaining freedom for users and raising awareness of production values. For example, BT Podshow maintains balanced vetting by involving viewers in the process through online panels of between 15,000 and 200,000 people. 2. Focus on episodic content. Serials develop loyalty and establish a consumer franchise on which to build advertising revenues. Adam Curry from BT Podshow again: "Where there is serialisation of content, it can gather a fan base and ad revenues will increase." 3. Make your marketing message relevant to the entertainment context. Digital short-form video can be between three and eight minutes long, making acceptable ads an elevator pitch of 3-30 seconds long, depending on the format. Online, the message can be finely targeted and tuned by a myriad ad formats to match a consumer's mood and mode. Initially some brands will need help in grounding their mainstream message in this new finely targeted entertainment context. Messages will need to be refined and new ones created. But short-form video can also be mainstream and fortunately trendy YouTubers still eat McDonalds and drink Coke. Consequently publishers like BT Podshow are developing their mainstream assets, for example working with OK magazine on a weekly programme - a mass-interest, brand-safe vehicle for advertising. 4. Produce ads that are appropriate for the environment. Ads should be real and authentic rather than glossy and over-produced. There are hundreds of new ad formats: bumper ads, contextual ads, companion ads, invitation units, overlay ads, web bugs, in-banner ads, in-page ads, in-text ads, in-stream ads. The choice provides far greater creative and marketing flexibility over traditional broadcast media, but creates challenges for publishers and advertisers over best practice and compatibility. National industry bodies such as the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) in the UK are addressing these issues by publishing guidelines (Digital Video In-Stream Ad Format Guidelines and Best Practices, May 2008). 5. Discovery is a key element of the short-form experience. Short-form video can target the long tail. Because of its low cost and infinite range of subject matter, short-form video forms a jungle of content. Search and discovery engines are therefore essential to pull viewers through to the video content and advertising for which they have been targeted. As the online video advertising industry grows, performing in the short-form jungle will require a much longer list of challenges to be addressed. Here at Ovum we will continue to monitor the sector to bring you advice and guidance on short-form advertising.
