How to Improve a Video Campaign
on iMedia Connection
by Nir Shimoni, May 16, 2006
Eyeblaster VP Nir Shimoni explains how to create a video campaign that gets eyes and clicks.
Although the opportunity to drive TV-quality advertising online has been hyped somewhat over the last 12 months, with claims that pixel-perfect repurposed TV ads can even be made interactive without long loading times and without a loss of quality, the truth is that the quality of online video ads that have run has ranged wildly, until recently .
Anyone in our business is familiar with the criteria that have driven this inconsistency: bandwidth, the user's screen resolution, the technology used to encode and serve the ad and the quality of the original source file, as well as multiple other variables. Seriously, despite the hype, how many cinema perfect video ads have you seen -- or for those of you in this business, how many have you run -- in the last 12 months?
Of course, we all know that video can be very powerful, and that the use of video goes a long way in boosting brand response and ad interaction rates, which we've seen go as high as 50 percent for video campaigns. This is one key reason why video has been hyped so much, and why it's on the rise on the business end. Last year, an impressive 40 percent of the ads that we served used video (up from 20 percent the previous year). According to eMarketer, online video ad spend will exceed $1.5 billion in just the United States by 2009.
Despite the past year's hype and these august projections, only now has the time come when video quality seems to be making meaningful strides. In small-to-medium banners, it can actually look like the real deal. So, how can we help our clients get there?
Your client's original asset will dictate the quality ceiling
The actual issues with the quality of an online video campaign start with the size of the video asset. Advertisers must realize that they can't expect TV quality online if they supply puny .mov, .flv or .swf assets that pixelate as soon as they're scaled. If you receive a video file that was very small and there is no room to replace the asset, advise the client of the potential issue. Especially if the client has seen the original video on their television at perfect quality and they expect the same online, they need to know that their results online will come down to the size of that original asset and its optimization.
Encoding counts too
Another common challenge with video quality is the way that the video has been encoded. Too many agencies are taxed with finding the optimum quality video level, though technology companies have recently come to their aid with new encoding tools that can automatically optimize quality levels.
How will it be served?
Of course, the quality of video is also affected by the way it is served. As a company that is serving more gigabytes of video streaming than any other rich media vendor, we are well aware of the several methods of serving video that eliminate the need to cache it, or load it all first before playing. Streaming allows the video to display as it is downloaded. The video player downloads the video in "packets," organizes it in a buffer and pulls data from the buffer to display the video frames. The buffer size is usually small, which means there is a short loading time. However, video play might be jumpy in cases when the buffer is not filled quickly enough (i.e., the user's bandwidth does not match the movie's bit rate).
With streaming, there is a two-way communication between the user and the server, which means that instructions from the user can be sent to the server; this enables advanced features such as "seek and stream" changes according to bandwidth.
Another alternative is Progressive Downloading, which falls between full caching and streaming. Progressive downloading (also known as http streaming) takes the video size into consideration when determining the buffer size. Buffering continues until the remaining download time is shorter then the movie play time. For rich media needs, progressive downloading is usually the best option because quality is ensured independent of user bandwidth.
All this technobabble is becoming increasingly important to creative agencies that need huge video assets so they can scale down and convert them for use online. Never has this become more important than with the arrival of full-screen video to the United States.
Considering interactive full-screen?
Our company can deliver full-screen video, so users have the chance to experience video in the most full and impressive way, sized up to 1024x768, which is obviously pretty cool. And 95 percent of computer users have this resolution, so for many users this can be true TV quality, providing the original video source file is of high quality and the video is encoded correctly. However, if either of these is executed poorly, the result is a terrible video clip that will turn users away from the ad.
The use of video, full-screen or otherwise, is a giant signal to the rise of brand response campaigns. Marketers often debate the web in terms of branding vs. direct response, but the use of rich media formats and features, and especially video, has eliminated this discussion. Even the old critics now have been forced to agree that video advertising -- and interactive full-screen video advertising -- makes brand response the most powerful digital marketing medium imaginable.
Quality issues may have been holding back the development of the brand response model online. But ad-serving companies have developed techniques and technology to counter. Full-screen video shows how far video online has come just in the past year. Now we can show Tom Cruise prancing about to a sixties television soundtrack and then engage the user into a direct response by letting them interact with the video-- they can push elements of the microsite into the full-screen ad. Or show more video, character profiles and gallery stills with competitions, newsletters and preview screening data-capture options.
Brand response works across all verticals-- car ads that show tantalizing curves in full beauty that also let users book a test drive and order a brochure. Airlines can immerse users into the luxury of full-size beds but also let them plan their journey and book their flight in the ad. Advertisers are even exploring the possibilities of video creative which is purposefully shot for the web, which can lower costs and be more effective.
The brand response list is endless within what is finally a substantial palate. Video technology and quality may finally live up to the hype of the past year, but only when the criteria herein are addressed as a matter of course. Be sure to address these criteria whenever engaging clients who want their video to look as gorgeous online as it did on television. You'll be glad you did.
by Nir Shimoni, May 16, 2006
Eyeblaster VP Nir Shimoni explains how to create a video campaign that gets eyes and clicks.
Although the opportunity to drive TV-quality advertising online has been hyped somewhat over the last 12 months, with claims that pixel-perfect repurposed TV ads can even be made interactive without long loading times and without a loss of quality, the truth is that the quality of online video ads that have run has ranged wildly, until recently .
Anyone in our business is familiar with the criteria that have driven this inconsistency: bandwidth, the user's screen resolution, the technology used to encode and serve the ad and the quality of the original source file, as well as multiple other variables. Seriously, despite the hype, how many cinema perfect video ads have you seen -- or for those of you in this business, how many have you run -- in the last 12 months?
Of course, we all know that video can be very powerful, and that the use of video goes a long way in boosting brand response and ad interaction rates, which we've seen go as high as 50 percent for video campaigns. This is one key reason why video has been hyped so much, and why it's on the rise on the business end. Last year, an impressive 40 percent of the ads that we served used video (up from 20 percent the previous year). According to eMarketer, online video ad spend will exceed $1.5 billion in just the United States by 2009.
Despite the past year's hype and these august projections, only now has the time come when video quality seems to be making meaningful strides. In small-to-medium banners, it can actually look like the real deal. So, how can we help our clients get there?
Your client's original asset will dictate the quality ceiling
The actual issues with the quality of an online video campaign start with the size of the video asset. Advertisers must realize that they can't expect TV quality online if they supply puny .mov, .flv or .swf assets that pixelate as soon as they're scaled. If you receive a video file that was very small and there is no room to replace the asset, advise the client of the potential issue. Especially if the client has seen the original video on their television at perfect quality and they expect the same online, they need to know that their results online will come down to the size of that original asset and its optimization.
Encoding counts too
Another common challenge with video quality is the way that the video has been encoded. Too many agencies are taxed with finding the optimum quality video level, though technology companies have recently come to their aid with new encoding tools that can automatically optimize quality levels.
How will it be served?
Of course, the quality of video is also affected by the way it is served. As a company that is serving more gigabytes of video streaming than any other rich media vendor, we are well aware of the several methods of serving video that eliminate the need to cache it, or load it all first before playing. Streaming allows the video to display as it is downloaded. The video player downloads the video in "packets," organizes it in a buffer and pulls data from the buffer to display the video frames. The buffer size is usually small, which means there is a short loading time. However, video play might be jumpy in cases when the buffer is not filled quickly enough (i.e., the user's bandwidth does not match the movie's bit rate).
With streaming, there is a two-way communication between the user and the server, which means that instructions from the user can be sent to the server; this enables advanced features such as "seek and stream" changes according to bandwidth.
Another alternative is Progressive Downloading, which falls between full caching and streaming. Progressive downloading (also known as http streaming) takes the video size into consideration when determining the buffer size. Buffering continues until the remaining download time is shorter then the movie play time. For rich media needs, progressive downloading is usually the best option because quality is ensured independent of user bandwidth.
All this technobabble is becoming increasingly important to creative agencies that need huge video assets so they can scale down and convert them for use online. Never has this become more important than with the arrival of full-screen video to the United States.
Considering interactive full-screen?
Our company can deliver full-screen video, so users have the chance to experience video in the most full and impressive way, sized up to 1024x768, which is obviously pretty cool. And 95 percent of computer users have this resolution, so for many users this can be true TV quality, providing the original video source file is of high quality and the video is encoded correctly. However, if either of these is executed poorly, the result is a terrible video clip that will turn users away from the ad.
The use of video, full-screen or otherwise, is a giant signal to the rise of brand response campaigns. Marketers often debate the web in terms of branding vs. direct response, but the use of rich media formats and features, and especially video, has eliminated this discussion. Even the old critics now have been forced to agree that video advertising -- and interactive full-screen video advertising -- makes brand response the most powerful digital marketing medium imaginable.
Quality issues may have been holding back the development of the brand response model online. But ad-serving companies have developed techniques and technology to counter. Full-screen video shows how far video online has come just in the past year. Now we can show Tom Cruise prancing about to a sixties television soundtrack and then engage the user into a direct response by letting them interact with the video-- they can push elements of the microsite into the full-screen ad. Or show more video, character profiles and gallery stills with competitions, newsletters and preview screening data-capture options.
Brand response works across all verticals-- car ads that show tantalizing curves in full beauty that also let users book a test drive and order a brochure. Airlines can immerse users into the luxury of full-size beds but also let them plan their journey and book their flight in the ad. Advertisers are even exploring the possibilities of video creative which is purposefully shot for the web, which can lower costs and be more effective.
The brand response list is endless within what is finally a substantial palate. Video technology and quality may finally live up to the hype of the past year, but only when the criteria herein are addressed as a matter of course. Be sure to address these criteria whenever engaging clients who want their video to look as gorgeous online as it did on television. You'll be glad you did.
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