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Archives for 2012

2012 Digital Video Advertising Report

This month, Adobe released its first Digital Video Advertising report. The 2012 report shares data extracted from over 2.5 billion video ads that Adobe served in the second half of 2011 across multiple premium video providers and its customers, such as MLB, Fox News, E!, Comcast, and more.

The 2012 Digital Video Advertising report makes it clear that the number of video loads is going up and viewers are becoming more tolerant of online video ads. Some highlights from the report’s key findings follow:

  • Mid-roll video ads have the highest completion rates at 87%. That’s 20% higher than pre-rolls and 30% higher than post-rolls.
  • Video ads served to mobile audiences get higher completion rates (94%) than they do in any other environment.
  • The completion rate for video ads shown during live content is 85%, which is 23% higher than ads shown in video-on-demand content.
  • On average, 5.5 video ads are served within long-form, professional content with a completion rate of 70% vs. 3.4 ads per stream for short-form (less than 5 minutes in length) professional content, 0.6 ads per stream for long-form user-generated content, and 0.4 ads for short-form user-generated content.
  • Completion rates in professional content are higher (72%) than completion rates in user-generated content (63%).
  • Most overlay ads are delivered with user-generated content while most linear ads are delivered across professional content.
  • Mid-roll linear ads in professional content are performing better than mid-roll linear ads in user-generated content.
  • Click through rates are higher for ads in video-on-demand content (2.17%) than live content (0.43%).

This study shows that broadcast and online ad delivery and consumption are becoming increasingly similar. Completion rates for pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll video ads increased between the first and second halves of 2011, and viewers are becoming more and more willing to watch ads in order to get access to premium video content.

Online video advertising might still be in its infancy, but these trends show that the practice isn’t necessarily viewed as negatively by consumers as brands might think. The trade off has to be perceived by consumers as valuable enough for them to sit through an online video ad in order to view content. The trick for brands is striking the right value balance.

What do you think? Leave a comment and share your thoughts on the state of digital video advertising in 2012.

Image: Adobe

Authenticity: Meet The Team

GE has recently refreshed their home pages, creating a number of stories around how GE works focusing on:

  • Moving
  • Curing
  • Powering
  • Building

One very good section within these pages is “Meet the GE Aviation Team”, a selection of video profiles which are some of the best I have seen. The employees filmed show a genuine pride, excitement and interest in the job they do and the company they work for.

We like this because of the authenticity; too often video profiles of employees leave you with the impression that they have said what they think they should say and not the reality. However, rather than feeling as though these have been scripted by the management team, they provide a real insight into the company and culture of GE employees.

GE Aviation Team

Moving Beyond Data Paralysis in Marketing

In article written for Ad Age, Xerox chief marketing office Christa Carone discussed a topic that I write and talk about frequently — the risks of falling victim to data paralysis. Christa shared a story about a recent repositioning initiative at Xerox that was nearing launch, but she felt in her gut that a key creative piece tied to the initiative wasn’t right. Research told a different story, but she relied on her knowledge, experience, and intuition and pulled the piece.

Money had been spent and the clock was ticking, but in a demonstration of true leadership, Christa made the decision to hold up the launch and retool the creative. Sacrificing results for creative that she knew in her heart, mind, and gut wouldn’t deliver the highest results wasn’t an option.

Christa’s story is an inspirational one, and it’s worth a read. I continually talk about the risk of data paralysis and how having access to so much information can make businesses slow to act. Furthermore, data can be massaged to tell a wide variety of stories. A single set of data can be turned into a variety of charts and graphs to highlight specific pieces of information.

I’ve seen it happen more times than I can count. The CEO loves a specific product, so the data presented to the CEO based on market research is massaged to support the CEO’s preferences. I don’t agree with that practice and don’t do it myself, but it’s a reality in many organizations. Too many people are too afraid to lose their jobs to stand up and tell the true story. Instead, they tell the stories executives want to hear. The result — failure.

Bottom-line, at a time when data is easy to get and has become the sole criterion for decision-making, Christa Carone did what few marketers are willing to do today. She recognized a moment when her marketing experience, knowledge, and intuition trumped the data and made the executive decision to question that data, likely making a lot of people angry.

Christa’s goal was simple. She wanted the Xerox repositioning to be as successful as possible. Doesn’t that define a great marketer, employee, and leader? Should companies expect any less? The logical responses to those questions are “yes” and “no” but that’s not always the reality in companies today.

What do you think? Leave a comment and share your thoughts on the state of marketing, data paralysis, and intuition.

Image: Carlos Sanchez

Making a Hero of the Twitter Feed

Unusually, Novo Nordisk have embedded their Twitter feed into the hero slot at the top of their Sustainability section. If included at all, this is usually in the sidebar or in the footer.

The emphasis indicates the importance to Novo Nordisk of communicating with stakeholders – and dramatically draws attention to their Twitter feed. Only the last three tweets are included, which means the font used can be large, with plenty of whitespace.

And, of course, it makes a change from big hero images…

CSR, Women and Violence

Today I had thought to report on some ideas for constructing a sustainable economy.  Some other time.

Instead the ever readable Akhila Vijayaraghavan, founder of international CSR consultancy The Green Den, has written a potent blog about the treatment of women in her native Indian society.

In particular she points to the recent deaths of two baby girls named Neha Afreen and Falak, who have died through severe battering within the last 6 weeks.

Here is a bit more detail of the cases: those of a sensitive disposition should look away now.

[Read more…] about CSR, Women and Violence

Seagram’s Rebranding Focuses Sophistication

Seagram’s (distributed by the Coca-Cola Company) is known for its Ginger Ale and line of mixers such as club soda, tonic water, and so on. In an effort to differentiate its brand as the choice for sophisticated adult consumers, Seagram’s launched a rebranding effort that includes a new logo and package design. The rebranding coincides with the Coca-Cola Company’s plans to expand the brand into new markets.

You can see the old and new logo below.

Check out the new package design below.

And see the new can design below.

The line of Seagram’s products will maintain a consistent design with color used to differentiate flavors. For example, can designs will retain the metallic color palette shown in the image to the left. Similarly, the simpler Seagram’s crest design will be used as a supporting element but notice how it still becomes a centerpiece of the design? It’s very clever.

Overall, this rebranding effort is excellent for a brand that wanted to position itself against the traditional soft drink category and stake its claim in the market of adults looking for a modern brand to offer at parties and events for mixing sophisticated cocktails.

Simple design and metallic colors might seem like an overused trick to represent brands that want to be known as high quality, luxury brands, but when the trick is executed well, it works. This design, by Hatch, demonstrates the importance of restraint in branding — a concept that’s typically associated with brand strategy, extensions, and so on but as the Seagram’s rebranding demonstrates, also applies to brand identity.

The Seagram’s product line will look much more relevant on the shelves in the liquor aisles of stores than the previous design. Of course, the rebranding will draw both supporters and detractors, but one thing is for certain — this rebranding is an improvement over the previous identity and is better aligned with the company’s goals for the brand.

What do you think? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.