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July 2, 2008

Hulu and YouTube, Together at ClickZ’s Video Ad Forum

Can't decide whether to advertise on Google's YouTube or NBC and Fox's Hulu? Edgy vs. mainstream? Eminem's "Sing For The Moment," or "Nutty Professor II: The Klumps?"

Want to learn about the latest innovations in online and interactive video creative for advertising and marketing?

Probe these questions and more with the nation's leading interactive video experts at the ClickZ Online Video Advertising Forum on July 22 in New York City.

Come to see:

*YouTube's Brian Cusack, Hulu's Kevin McGurn, and others debate best practices for targeting and buying online video media.

*Creative leaders from Deep Focus, Digitas, and Organic review video ad formats.

*What's new in video ad creative from the likes of AKQA, Campfire, EVB San Francisco, and IQ Interactive.

And there's more. Hear from online video ad experts at Carat, Geary Interactive, Starcom USA, Enlighten, Ogilvy, MediaVest/Publicis Media Groupe, Denuo, idfive, Saatchi & Saatchi New York, and others.

Register here.

On the fence? Check out the full agenda here.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 3:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

July 1, 2008

Google and Seth MacFarlane: YouTube-Plus, Banner Ad Band-Aid or What?

Google's deal to distribute a new series from "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane on its AdSense network is nothing new. The company has pushed YouTube videos with text and overlay ads to AdSense publisher partners since at least last October, and as far back as a year ago had a specific deal with MTV networks to distribute MTVN video clips and in-stream video ads to some sites.

The MacFarlane link-up is the same. The videos live on a YouTube brand channel, not inside the ad units. But it's still noteworthy for three specific reasons.

First is the big name talent involved. Seth MacFarlane is super bankable and his “Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy" is a good get for YouTube.

Second, the sponsorships Google and its partner Media Rights Council are trying to sell alongside the clips will be a cut above what it's tried before. Whereas last Fall Google was focused on text, pre-roll and display units, it's now moving into closer pairings of advertiser and content. Google has stated very clearly that it plans to treat advertising in "Cavalcade" as branded entertainment. (Those are Google's own words, though I would argue they shouldn't apply in situations where advertiser content is hitched up to pure unbranded content. When the two are connected, that's traditional advertising, even if the ads happen to be really good. Branded entertainment is standalone.)

Lastly, Google may be trying -- in its oblique way -- to apply a salve to the world's chronic and worsening case of banner blindness. Industry-reported click-through rates, brand impact research from Dynamic Logic, and eye tracking studies from Pew and others have all found the effectiveness of display advertising is in decline. Some are speculating that by moving to distribute quality video content in ad space, Google could help re-sensitize Internet users to banner ads.

I agree with that up to a point. Yet there's only so much Google can do given its low ranking on the display ad totem pole. While ComScore pinpoints it as the third largest ad network in terms of reach, behind Yahoo and Platform A, the vast majority of Google's inventory is text ads. Even so, it's nice to see an ad network operator do something -- anything! -- to aid the humble banner, which continues to be favored by marginal advertisers and neglected by blue chips.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 1:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 26, 2008

NBC to Offer Show-Specific Data on Streamed Content

NBC Digital Entertainment will begin offering demographic data on individual shows streamed on its site. NBC.com's show-specific will be provided courtesy of Nielsen Online's VideoCensus beginning in July.

Digital Media Sales SVP Peter Naylor said advertisers have been requesting the show-level data. NBCU claims it's the network to carry Nielsen's tags on its streaming video content. How long before CBS, ABC, Fox and Hulu begin offering similar granular visibility into their online video audiences?

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 1:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 17, 2008

Brightcove Promises More Video Inventory Through New Platform

Brightcove has launched the latest version of its video player, which could result in more ad inventory for publishers using it. Essentially, by better optimizing video content for search engines, and enabling better distribution of video clips throughout publisher sites, the company expects more users to flock to that video. More usage = more ad inventory.

The new platform presents each video on its own Web page, giving it a dedicated URL. Brightcove founder and CEO Jeremy Allaire believes this will create "more real estate for advertising," since the entire page can be utilized as opposed to ads displaying only within the video player. Also, unlike players that are typically invisible to search engines, the Web page-based platform can be crawled by search engines and surfaced more readily within a publisher site.

"You'll be able to introduce video into far more places in your Web site…which increases available video inventory," explained Allaire.

The platform has also been altered to enable higher quality, long-form video. Allaire thinks as more longer-form video is viewed, takeover ads and overlay ads will become more popular with advertisers.

At this point, though, the new platform's impact on advertisers is more about inventory potential than anything else. Still, Allaire hinted the firm will launch the platform on a broader commercial basis in the autumn, at which time other ad-related news may be announced.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 1:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 13, 2008

ClickZ Welcomes Denuo's Todd Krieger

Denuo SVP Todd Krieger today joins ClickZ's roster of Experts, providing insights into the evolution of video content creation, distribution, and monetization.

Look for Todd to examine a wide range of topics, everything from watershed moments and cultural shifts in audience consumption to CPMs. You'll find his first column here.

Before joining Denuo, Todd was executive producer at Yahoo Media Group and senior manager of business development at Microsoft TV.

Welcome, Todd!

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 9:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 10, 2008

Hulu Adds Comedy Royalty to Catalog

Hulu already has deals with 70 media partners that provide upwards of 700 TV and film titles. So what's it stand to gain by adding a couple new shows to its media menu? Quite a bit actually, if those shows happen to be The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report. The premium video portal has begun posting entire episodes of both programs, with archives going back about a month.

Here's a screen grab of how yesterday's episode of The Daily Show looks on Hulu, sponsored by DirectTV.

And here's how it looks on The Daily Show's own Web site, sponsored by Master Card:

In addition to the Comedy Central relationship, Hulu will begin offering PBS programs NOVA, Carrier, Scientific American Frontiers, and Wired Science.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

June 5, 2008

Ford and Microsoft Sync Up for Viral Roadtripping

Microsoft has teamed with Ford for a highly experiential, super soft-sell microsite around Microsoft SYNC.

SYNC is a voice-actived gizmo for your car that's kind of like an iPod crossed with a Blackberry: it does music, text, and telephone. Cool, but it's a sell with a high educational curve.

Sync My Music, which lives on MSN, features a game, tons of content and a number of video webisodes about Kim and Seana, two music-obsessed girls, who road-trip across America in a SYNC equipped Ford in their respective quests to become a singer/songwriter (Kim DiVine is the real thing, actually), or to hook up with hot male indie band members.

The game unlocks additional content such as wallpaper and MP3s; the Explore section of the site is a region-by-region guide to the myriad cities the girls visit in their travels. It contains info on local clubs and bands and planning your own road trip. Which may prove difficult, as most of the links are crosswired. Select NYC's hippest bands, for example, and you land on Atlanta's arenas, clubs and cafes.

Oh, well. Given current gas prices, you probably weren't really going to do the roadtrip thing this summer, anyway.

Microsoft wants users to digg, blog and forward the site to a friend. Given the chicks meet popular local indie bands from time to time, the viral has got some real potential. Not just from the fans, but from the bands, who are promoting the heck out of the site on MySpace already.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 2:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

May 30, 2008

The Heat is on 50 Cent

Online video is a knife that cuts both ways for rapper 50 Cent.

While ClickZ today examined how 50 Cent uses online video to build brand loyalty, a video on celebrity gossip site TMZ is bringing attention to problems in his personal life.

A multi-million dollar home -- and the center of dispute between 50 Cent and an ex-girlfriend --- was destroyed in a suspicious fire. Six people, including 50 Cent's 10-year-old son, went sent to the hospital for smoke inhalation and were released, according to the Associated Press.

In a video interview on TMZ.com, 50 Cent's former girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins said she and 50 Cent were fighting over the house. She also complained that 50 Cent "made no contact to see how his son is doing" after the fire.

Newsday.com reported that 50 Cent was in Louisiana at the time of the fire. According to reports, his spokesman said any suggestion that the rapper was involved in the incident is "outrageous."

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 9:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

May 23, 2008

Brightcove Launches Japanese Operation

Online video platform Brightcove has launched a majority-owned Japanese subsidiary, branded Brightcove KK, to grant it instant access to the Japanese market.

Headquartered in Tokyo, the Asian offshoot will operate a localized version of Brightcove's on-demand video platform, offering video distribution and advertising services.

The operation is backed by a $4.9 million investment from four leading Japanese digital media players, including ad network and technology company Cyber Communications Inc. (CCI), content delivery network J-Stream, prominent Japanese agency Dentsu, and information outsourcing company transcosomos.

Publicis also announced this week that it too was branching out further into the Asian market, acquiring Chinese digital agency EmporioAsia, to add to the Yong Yang marketing firm it snapped up last year.

Following its purchase of Digitas in 2006, Publicis also acquired Chinese independent interactive marketing network Communication Central Group (CCG) last year, which it re-branded Digitas Greater China.

Posted by Jack Marshall at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 22, 2008

Publishers Want More Video Ad Creative from Agencies

Tired of seeing the same in-stream video ads over and over? The people selling them are getting sick of it, too. According to ad execs speaking at yesterday's Streaming Media East conference in New York, one reason for the lack of variety is a lack of creative.

"We don't get multiple creatives," said SVP Digital Sales at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Christine Cook, alluding to the time the same pre-roll ad for a particular advertiser kept popping up before video clips of Martha demonstrating recipes for pasta or brownies.

Cook (what a great name for a Martha Stewart ad seller!) had the crowd audience cracking up. As it turned out, the ads were for a laxative brand.

Noting the promise of hyper online ad targeting, Cook said she would like to see agencies develop more creative elements to enable customized variation of Web video ads. "We're not getting as much creative…so you lose that opportunity of having that one-to-one [targeting]," she said.

Not only are advertisers and agencies overwhelmed by the options, they might not have the ability or budgets to produce a lot of varying creative or Web video elements, said Peter Naylor, SVP Digital Media Sales at NBC Universal. "They're as resource constrained as anybody."

From Cook's experience Web video advertisers are also are reluctant to provide shorter spots. Part of the problem is a lack of standards, she believes. Different publishers ask for different ad lengths, or offer different video formats, for example.

Speaking of ad burnout, Cook said Martha Stewart even tried reducing ad rates for 5-10 second spots to spur use of shorter ad slots. Referring to longer spots, she said, "We knew it was burnout for the consumer."

Posted by Kate Kaye at 5:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 20, 2008

Need to Roll Your Own Content? Digitas Brings the Zig Zag Papers

When you think about it, isn't the phrase "branded content" longer than it needs to be? What's the suffix "-ed" contribute, really? And "video," while pleasingly brief, doesn't really cover animation, does it?

The folks at Digitas have solved both linguistic failings with the launch of The Third Act, a new agency described as a "brand content platform" geared toward helping clients produce "motion media" content.

Whatever the verbiage used to describe it, the strategy behind this latest move from Digitas is clear. As clients are compelled to produce ever more original content, especially video content, it behooves the larger agency networks to mobilize their creative resources to serve that purpose.

To that end, The Third Act aims to offer a soup to nuts video services menu, beginning with idea development and extending to production and distribution on various platforms. The Third Act will tap talent from the agency's Boston and Chicago offices, as well as global production resources.

Based in New York, the entity will be helmed by SVP and MD Stephanie Sarofian and report up to global chief creative officer Marc Beeching. Digitas plans to showcase its new baby at a June 5 event in New York called Digital Content NewFront.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 7:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 19, 2008

Scripps Interactive Prez: "Customers Are On YouTube" (Quote of the Day)

“We want to be where the customers are, and they are on YouTube. More specifically, it’s a way for customers to snack on your brand in between full episodes... We will use that ability to snack as a brand builder and marketing play for our linear and nonlinear products.”

-Deanna Brown, president of the interactive group at Scripps Networks, commenting on the company's new distribution deal with YouTube. Bush’s Baked Beans is the current advertiser on 200 videos from Scripps’ HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network and Fine Living networks that are running on YouTube.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 8, 2008

IAB: When Is Rich Media Really Rich?

The Interactive Advertising Bureau today released guidelines that would update the definition of rich media as well as revise guidelines for other ad formats. The IAB has asked for comment within the next 30 days before locking down them down.

When asked about the highlights, Marla Nitke, IAB spokeswoman, pointed to the three bullet points in the IAB news release. The highlights are:

*Redefine rich media. It would refer to "advertisements with which users can interact (as opposed to solely animation and excluding click-through functionality) in a web page format," the proposed change reads. Rich media, under the proposal, also includes in-page and in-text digital video ads where the associated content isn't streaming in a player.

*Offer guidance on file weights and animation lengths for both rich and non-rich media online ads.

*Address ad formats such as banners and buttons as well as transitional and various over-the-page units such as floating ads, page take-overs and tear-backs. New units would include a 720x300 pop-under and a 300x100 or 3:1 rectangle.

"These standards aren't bad for creatives. They seem to be an efficiency
for media traffickers. A "one size fits all" standard is great but we
could loose the dynamism that online adverting used to enjoy," Dorian Sweet, creative director/digital strategist, wrote to ClickZ, when asked for his thoughts on the proposed standards.

And this from Deep Focus CEO Ian Schafer: "The only thing that jumps out at me as significant is this: 'Redefine rich media so that ads must be interactive aside from the
ability to click-through in order to be categorized as rich media.'

"I like that. Another reason to talk about ‘engagement’ and its relative metrics, and another reason for all ads to be rich media."

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 4:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Enliven to Merge with Offline Ad Management Player

One of the more storied vendors in the digital marketing arena, Enliven, has agreed to merge with DG FastChannel, an ad production and creative asset management firm. The combined entity hopes to offer advertisers a single place to create and manage ad assets, especially video.

Enliven offers rich media, mobile and in-game ad products and services. It was originally acquired by Unicast in 2002 and then absorbed into Viewpoint (known for its 3D and hologram digital imaging technology) two years after that. Some time later Viewpoint was rebranded Enliven, after which it promptly dropped out of sight. Or at least out of ClickZ's sight. For the past few years the company has either failed to return our calls or declined to speak with us about its operations.

In any case, Eniliven's capabilities will be added to DG FastChannel's traditional media management suite, which supports national and local broadcast and cable TV, radio, and print. The combined entity will also offer post-production services, a searchable database of TV ads, and Web site development, courtesy of the SpringBox agency brand. Not sure how much "agency" there is behind that "brand," but there you go.

The all-stock transaction values Enliven at approximately $98 million. DG FastChannel previously owned 12 percent of the company.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 2:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 5, 2008

Online Video Ads: High Price, High Value?

How long will online video ads, on a CPM basis, cost more than television ads?
"It's driven by a dearth of quality produced video online," said Nick Johnson, NBC's VP, national sales, Internet and broadband.

"It's a marketplace supply and demand story," said Johnson, speaking at the IAB's Digital Video conference today in NYC. He said the costs will likely remain higher, for now, as long as consumers respond better to online video ads than television ads. "There's a lot of opportunities to be interactive, to be a very immersive experience," he said.

From Endemol USA, the producers of reality television series such as "Big Brother," look for brand-sponsored content online, said Jon Vlassopulos, SVP, digital media and branded entertainment. (Last month, NBC Universal said it is working with Omnicom Media Group Digital to pair brands with content.)

Two years ago, Endemol Mobile created an interactive mobile video for Nokia, called "Get Close To…Sugababes." It featured clips of the pop group. And the video was shot on -- you guessed it -- Nokia phones.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 3:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

IAB Launches Video Ad Compliance Seal

In conjunction with finalizing its Digital Video In-Stream Ad Format Guidelines, the Interactive Advertising Bureau has unveiled a compliance program à la TRUSTe. The new guidelines were proposed a month ago, and nothing in those original guidelines has changed following a comment period.

According to the IAB press release, "The IAB suggests that compliant member sites post the compliance seal in their online media kit as well as in their print versions. Media buyers will be educated about the benefits of Digital Video Ad Format Guidelines and be encouraged to look for the seal."

Posted by Kate Kaye at 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 1, 2008

Google Flips Switch on TV Ads, Spot Runner Gets Granular

As expected, Google has begun offering TV ad production and placement services to all AdWords advertisers. The public launch indicates the company has partially resolved the inventory problems that plagued the program in its early months, though it's still only pushing ads to customers of its DISH and Astound cable partners. Google's demo, viewable here, shows how advertisers can choose programs and networks, fix day parts, secure production services, and schedule campaigns.

With the launch, advertisers will be in a better position to analyze and compare the relative merits of Google's system with competing offerings, most notably Spot Runner. Spot Runner, which hired Joanne Bradford and Marc Rosenthal in recent months, is going after national advertisers whose budgets were too small for TV in the broadcast boom years. A client example the company shared last month is that of a purveyor of home power generators. "When we see a storm rolling in, we turn on their campaigns," CEO Nick Grouf said.

While Google is giving marketers the option of uploading spots or contracting jobs, Spot Runner has taken the tack of proactively packaging video ads for specific business types. You can see its library here, including an interesting set of political advertising templates I hadn't noticed before visiting today.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 4:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

April 29, 2008

STD's: No Laughing Matter

Except when they are. Planned Parenthood nails the sex ed instructor shtick with a new video site at TakeCareDownThere.org. It's funny and filthy stuff, just the way teenagers like it. Bonus points for use of "blow-jays."

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 5:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 28, 2008

The WB Will Not Be Televised

"The next great network will not be televised."

With this, and other grandiose pronouncements, Warner Bros. Television Group unveiled two major new broadband sites, a couple of virtual worlds, and named some of the advertisers that will support the launch.

The WB.com, which comes out of beta in August, will be an online video-on-demand network featuring both library content and original Web productions. "We're in the digital storytelling business," noted Warner Bros. TV Group President Bruce Rosenblum, "and making a significant investment in our digital initiatives."

The company was more tight-lipped about advertising opportunities, but did reveal initial sponsors include Mattell, McDonald's and Johnson & Johnson.

In addition to distrubution partners including Comcast, AOL, Fancast.com, and some mobile carriers, WB created an application on Facebook. All content on the WB site will be available for viewing from within Facebook, and vice-versa: users can peruse Facebook from inside The WB.com.

KidsWB.com is the juvenile version of WB content on the Web. Integrated within the platform are two virtual worlds: Warner Zone, featuring characters from WBs extensive cartoon library, and DC Hero Zone, where Batman and his ilk can be encountered. It goes live sometime next month.

It's interesting to note that "mix, mash, share" is a motto. Give Tweetybird a mohawk, turn the Tasmanian Devil into a tutu-wearing avatar - WB doesn't care. That's massive, considering the proprietary attitude entertainment conglomerates have traditionally taken toward the sanctity of their characters. On the adult site, users will be encourage to re-mix episodes of, say, "Friends," and share them with their own friends.

Are you listening, Mouse?

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 5:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 22, 2008

"We" Campaign Gets a Little Boost from an Ad Vendor

It's odd to see a major ad campaign, even a cause-based one, pay its way with donations. But that's exactly how the "We" ad campaign, courtesy of the Alliance for Climate Protection, is going about it. (Check out ClickZ's coverage of the digital side.) Al Gore has pledged his Nobel Peace Prize winnings to the group, which he chairs, along with his earnings from hit documentary "An Inconvenient Truth." Meanwhile the film's distributor has promised to kick in 5 percent of profits, according to the Washington Post.

Even online ad firms are pitching in. EyeWonder, which is supporting the "We" campaign's rich media ads, yesterday said it would donate a portion of it’s streaming ad services.

The main theme of the ad blitz is that climate change is an issue everyone can agree on (ads show the likes of Pat Robertson and Al Sharpton sitting on a sofa together). It would seem that also applies to corporate givers, including interactive ad firms.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 12:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 15, 2008

Google TV Ads: General Release Confirmed for Next Few Weeks

Don't look now Ma, but your favorite soap's about to run its first ad for DogShoes.com.

Google has confirmed it will soon offer its TV Ads program, in trial mode since it launched a year ago, to all U.S. advertisers. In the next few weeks, AdWords customers large and small will be offered a shot at the broadcast glitz, complete with production referrals for those lacking TV-ready video assets.

The move indicates the company has resolved the volume issues that hobbled the program during its first months. As of late August 2007, just 50 clients had tested the system and the minimum spend was a modest (for TV) $10,000 a month, according to a source.

"Over the past months, our partnerships with DISH network and Astound Cable have scaled and we are pleased to expand our Google TV Ads program to more U.S. advertisers," the company said in a statement.

A story yesterday in Multichannel News had some additional details sourced to Keval Desai, Google product lead for the TV initiative. Desai told the pub advertisers including Lenovo and Priceline.com had placed ads through the system. “We serve millions of impressions daily," he reportedly added.

Desai was unavailable to comment today. Google would only add that it believes the wider advertiser launch "will ultimately lead to better, more relevant ads on television."

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 4:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 14, 2008

Sony U.K. Froths Up Another Viral

The ad team for the Sony Bravia team in the U.K. has released a series of viral videos on the Web: First there was "Balls," then "Paint," and Bunnies followed. A new series of videos, Sony Foam City, made its way on YouTube, and a supporting microsite for Sony's new line of digital cameras an camcorders.

The video is a similar piece where a neighborhood of an urban area is taken over by, in this case foam, and it's affect on the area residents. Many are armed with Sony cameras to capture the event.

Posted by Enid Burns at 5:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Take That, Victoria's Secret!

While downmarket Victoria's Secret fusses its advertising might be "too sexy," the much tonier lingerie purveyor Agent Provocateur "wears its carnal appeal like a badge of honor."

In tandem with Story Worldwide, the brand just added an "online party" to its Web site that will be updated as different stages of the 2008 collection are rolled out.

In addition to more or less of safe-for-work videos (depends on where you work, I suppose), visitors can drag garments that catch their eye off the models and into an individual cloakroom (read: shopping list). Some visitors will doubtless be disappointed that this action does not, in fact, actually remove the garments from the models. They remain fully lingerie'd.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 11:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 8, 2008

Scripps Shoots for "Total Category Dominance"

Dropped in on the Scripps Networks upfront this morning. Deanna Brown, who's been president of its Interactive Group for the past year, has set the rather ambitious goal of "total category dominance" for the group's five cable properties: HGTV, Food Network, DIY, Fine Living, and GAC.

To achieve that goal, Brown is focusing on what she told advertisers is "new" new media, i.e. mobile and social channels. Given the predominance of contests, shopping lists and other participatory programming on the stations, Scripps is particularly well postioned to leverage social media and has already done so with successful initiatives such as Blog Cabin.

Chatting afterwards, Brown told me that what she's really concentrating on over the next few months is an extensive rebuild of Scripps' backend, particularly the CMS, to bring more Web 2.0 functionality to the networks' numerous sites. "After eight years of the same CMS, it's time for a change," she said.

Users won't see a difference, but will be able to use the sites differently and in deeper, more engaging ways. Methinks this is an issue many media companies are going to have to address -- and invest in -- to remain competitive, retain audience and attract advertisers.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 11:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 10, 2008

Cable Operators Up a Creek

Executives from Comcast, Time Warner, Cablevision, Cox, Charter Communications, and Bright House Networks have banded together in what the New York Times has reported is a codenamed Project Canoe. The collective are working together to come up with a targeted advertising initiative. Thing is, the networks themselves, and cable companies like Comcast have somewhat beaten Project Canoe to the punch with the content and advertising on the Web.

Posted by Enid Burns at 5:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 4, 2008

VideoEgg: To Host, or Not to Host?

Last week, we broke the news that VideoEgg was emphasizing its ad network and advertising technologies over its video hosting and platform business.

Today, some online publications are reporting that VideoEgg has informed customers it's shutting down its VideoEgg and Player service May 31.

After reading those reports, I dropped VideoEgg CMO Troy Young a note to see what's up since we last talked.

"Nothing's changed," he wrote in an e-mail reply to my query. "We are focused on building the ad network. We are maintaining large, profitable hosting relationships for the time being," he wrote.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 3:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 27, 2008

Long Live the Pre-Roll (for Now)

Hate pre-roll video ads?

Don't count on them going away anytime soon.

Heavy Media's John Lumpkin and Voxant CEO Marcien Jenckes both made that assessment today at an iBreakfast program, "Web Video, Where's the Money?"

"The bulk of the [Web video ad] dollars is in pre-roll. It scales. It's easy for advertisers to create and deploy. It will take awhile for the market to evolve," said Jenckes, formerly AOL's vice president of messaging, community, and voice.

Lumpkin concurred, suggesting that advertisers stick to :15 spots and avoid longer ones.

"Pre-rolls will never go away. If you've spent a lot time on TV [ads], and if you're not doing the Internet, then you haven't done your job," said Lumpkin, Heavy's SVP of sales strategy and partnerships.

Posted by Anna Maria Virzi at 4:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 20, 2008

NBC Breaks Out the Classic Shows for Online Viewing

NBC Digital Entertainment and NBC Universal Cable Entertainment are breaking into their vaults and pulling out some of their classic television shows to see new life as streaming videos online. Shows like "A-Team," the 1978 version "Battlestar Galatica," "Miami Vice," and "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" are now being shown at NBC.com. NBC genre sites like SCIFI.com, ChillerTV.com and SleuthChannel.com also get special programming like "Buck Rogers" and "Kojak."

The Peacock network won't be offering any special online video advertising deals as part of the return of the shows, but it is doing so to increase its overall video inventory to place ads against, according to the company. I'm not certain that shows like "Tek War" have gotten any better over time, but there's still something appealing about watching old "Simon & Simon" episodes for nostalgia's sake.

Posted by MatthewNelson at 9:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 15, 2008

Video Ads on Google Results Pages: How and Why

Beginning next week, Google plans to test video insertions on its famously QWERTY search results pages. The invite-only experiment will place small "plus sign" icons next to regular text ads, of the sort you sometimes see on Google Maps. When clicked, the symbols will expand to reveal a video ad that can be played manually by the searcher.

I spoke this afternoon with Google spokesperson Brandon McCormick, who said advertisers will pay by the click, whether that click starts the video or takes the viewer to a landing page. Bidding on keywords will take place through the AdWords interface, and video advertisers will compete with text links for placement. "The ad with the video would still have to be the best ad to appear" according to Google's quality scoring algorithms, he said.

He said Google was motivated to add richer ads to its SERPs because people are now used to seeing video and even expect it.

"As video gets more and more common on the Web, people are used to experiencing that level of engagement," he said. "We think, using the plus box video ad, we can maintain a positive user experience on Google.com and [provide a] richer experience."

I should be able to update this post with a screen grab by early next week, since McCormick said Google is eager to show these are non-intrusive placements.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 7:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 11, 2008

Redken's Shade-y Integrated Campaign

Redken just launched a large scale integrated campaign for its Shades EQ hair color line, featuring stylists, colorists, and eventually, consumers in the print and online components.

A centerpiece is the video rich DoYouShadesEQ.com microsite, featuring hair color tips and tricks from experts. Hair colorists are invited to submit videos of themselves talking about the product -- a winning entry scores a trip to New York and a role in a future video spot and a photo shoot for the print campaign.

Offline, the campaign includes a 24-page supplement in industry trade "American Salon." In addition, the print component will highlight a colorists each month in that publication for the remainder of the year. Consumer print ads are also promised by the company.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 2:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Chitika Injects Video, Social to Ads

Chitika’s progression from its mini-mall and Facebook API ad unit concepts to the next level with a user-initiated video ad unit that has tabs for users to scroll through social features such as leaving comments, ratings, and sending the ad to a friend. It helps that the example is cute USB flash drives by mimoco. The ones that look like kubrick block-style figures. The product is attractive, the video well produced, but will advertisers buy the unit?

Posted by Enid Burns at 11:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 8, 2008

Mazda Creates YouTube-Inspired Interactive Video

Mazda's just posted new interactive video on its site promoting two of its sportier vehicles, the RX-8 and the MX-5 Miata. The Drive allows users to chose a vehicle, a strip of road, music, and camera angle to virtually test-drive the car in an "immersive online drive experience."

Created by interactive shop Sarkissian Mason, the company says the campaign was inspired by YouTubers who were posting video of their own Mazda driving experiences online. Sport car fans shot footage obtained by strapping cameras on the sides of their cars to emphasize features such as gear-shifting and brake functionality. The Drive is intended to target this type of consumer - presumably, the ones who don't already own Mazdas.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 7, 2008

CBSSports.com Goes Social with Facebook for March Madness

College basketball is ramping up for next month's NCAA March Madness tournament, and CBSSports.com is getting ready for the action too with a deal with social networking site Facebook.

CBS Sports and its CBSSports.com Web site hasn't been shy about experimenting with online and interactive components when it comes to promoting sports events like the March Madness tournaments. Next month it will run much of its coverage online for the sixth year in a row, but this year it will also host an NCAA March Madness Brackets application on Facebook. The application will allow Facebook members to make predictions on winners for each round and share them with friends, and will also link to tournament coverage from CBS Sports, CSTV, CBSSports.com and NCAA.com, according to the company. CBS will also offer a mobile component that will include a "Smack Talk Wall" and team rankings.

Considering how rabid some fans can be about March Madness, I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of Facebook friends linking to this new application and then being brought over to CBSSports.com's coverage for some additional online advertising page views.

Posted by MatthewNelson at 5:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 30, 2008

The Measure of Online Video, Ads

The second day of AlwaysOn OnMedia in New York started with a panel about monetizing Internet video technology. CEOs and senior level executives from Move Networks, Brightcove, and ImageSpan talked about the role of video, geotargeting, and targeting to certain demographics. Though they touched on metrics, they didn't talk about the finite measurement of consumer behavior while watching video.

Meanwhile, at DEMO this week Visible Measures left stealth mode with VisibleSuite. A measurement product that looks at the interaction a user has with video. VideoSuite measures in-stream viewing behavior such as when a user abandons the stream as the first ad plays or rewinds to view a particular frame in the video.

Visible Measures founder and CEO Brian Shin's goal is to promote growth of video with better metrics. "Internet video is important, we all love it, we went to make it more monetizable, more effective for the advertiser and publisher, without hindering the user experience."

Publishers can use the data to find out what's effective in video and what segments make interesting clips from longer videos based on what parts are being rewatched. Advertisers can gain similar data by determining how much time was spent engaging with the brand, and tweaking creative.

Posted by Enid Burns at 12:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 22, 2008

Knowing Better Than Butter

Unilever brand I Can't Believe It's Not Butter! has launched a trivia game show entitled Now You Know Better $1,000,000 Game Show to promote the benefits of fake butter. The "show," developed in partnership with MSN and featured in the portal's game section, is hosted by "celebrity" John O'Hurley.

Sign into the site as a contestant and you can answer trivia questions about topics such as board games and movies stars, and compete for actual prizes. A "lobby chat" window features a not-very-convincing discussion about the merits of real butter vs. ICBINB. The Web site is one aspect of the Now You Know Better campaign, which kicked off with :30 TV spots on January 14th.

Unilever will continue the interactive portion of the promotion with celebrities including Gary Coleman, Jose Canseco, and Dustin Diamond appearing in spots highlighting moments in their careers they should have known better about (e.g. taking steroids). In mid-February, consumers will be able to play the online trivia game and chat live with these wised-up celebs.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 17, 2008

Video Ads, and How One Nearly Killed my Computer

It wasn't a virus from an infected ad or stress from rich media demands of streaming video, but a common commercial diversion that nearly did in my Alienware. My husband called not long before I left work yesterday to prepare me for the worst: My computer may be dead from a freak accident.

He was watching a show on a network-supported steaming site when the stream went to commercial break. He reached for his PDA to play a quick game for the :30 duration of the ad and knocked something off his desk, which landed squarely on the off switch to my computer's power supply. Attempts to power everything back up were greeted with an "Error Loading Operating System" message. We thought we'd crossed over into the territory of reformatting or worse, hand over your credit card for a new computer. This morning he poked around the BIOS and restored my operating system.

While the Wall Street Journal reports AccuStreamiMedia research finding ad revenues from streaming video and audio reached $1.37 billion, a 38 percent increase over 2006, are Web watchers paying any more attention than TV watchers when the sponsor takes over the screen? Just because the computer is a lean forward medium, and the user is likely sitting closer to the screen doesn't mean there's any more likelihood they'll offer their undivided attention.

Posted by Enid Burns at 5:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Time Warner Cable to Kill Video Advertising?

This can't portend well for video advertising, or for sites and portals that sell video ads (are you listening, AOL?).

Time Warner Cable just announced they'll be rolling out a sort of pay-as-you-go plan for broadband subscribers. Rather than the usual all-you-can-eat monthly package, they're going to experiment with "tiered levels of service based on how much data [consumers] download per month, rather than the usual fixed-price packages with unlimited downloads."

Pricing information is as yet unavailable, but aside from the fact TWC is obviously targeting users of P2P file sharing services, they're also going after users who download (or stream?) large amounts of video.

Well, that's just ducky for online video advertisers and the publishers, sites and portals who sell video inventory. Time Warner-owned AOL certainly comes to mind. Train consumers to equate online video usage to going on a meter -- rather like making long-distance landline calls or filling up at the gas pump -- and they're likely to think twice before hitting that play button, no?

Initially the trial will only affect new TWC subscribers in Beaumont, Texas. A quick search indicates the populace there -- thankfully -- has other ISP options.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 1:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 3, 2008

Late Night Talk, and JibJab Stabs at '07

Late night talk shows came back from hiatus despite the writers' strike, and while I don't often watch, I caught the intros for "The Tonight Show" and "Late Night." Jay Leno's monologue was punchy; David Letterman's was not so much. Letterman's writers may have negotiated special terms in order to come back to work, but their hearts are still on strike, trust me. The other thing going for the Tonight Show, it debuted JibJab's roast "In 2007."

Posted by Enid Burns at 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 20, 2007

Changes Abound at Roo

Lots of executive changes at online video network Roo. The company announced today that KIT Capital and Roo have signed an Executive Management Agreement and JumpTV president and chief operating officer Kaleil Isaza Tuzman will take over as chairman and chief executive officer. Roo founder Robert Petty will keep his vice-chairman post on the company's board of directors.

Roo's board of directors also had some significant changes, as Simon Bax, Stephen Palley, Scott Ackerman and Doug Chertok have all resigned. Tuzman will have the option of naming four new members at a later date and subject to shareholder approval. Finally, ROO also announced it had let go of 21 percent of staff to be more "efficient."

Posted by MatthewNelson at 1:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

December 10, 2007

Stumbling Upon Gaptidings in Action

Last week walking around Soho during lunch someone on a street corner asked, "Do you want to send a video holiday greeting?" I had a loose agenda of holiday shopping, so my immediate reaction: "No." But then I turned around to see a truck skinned in the Gap's "crazy stripe" pattern and realized it was a Gap promotion with work from yahoo for the Gaptidings campaign we published today.

Click the present to see my greeting to ClickZ readers. Of course the truck's generator competed with me and won, I think.

Posted by Enid Burns at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 29, 2007

EyeWonder Offers Ad Widgets. Are Your Ads Worth Sharing?

Here's one for all you marketers with widgets to promote. EyeWonder
has begun offering multi-function, sharable (a.k.a. "widget") ads within display units through a partnership with Gigya.

Gigya does not create the widgets. Rather it has the technical chops to guarantee existing widgets can be syndicated to numerous blogging platforms and social networking sites. It offers reporting as well.

In other words, if you already have a widget or want to let EyeWonder create a multi-paned video widget for you, you can stick it in a rich media ad and rest easy in the knowledge that it will be able to talk to Facebook, MySpace, Blogger, WordPress and other platforms.

Here's a sample: