Cisco Unveils Videoscape

Judging by the buzz, not just on Twitter, but also across the blogoshere, Cisco’s announcement about its new Videoscape product was one of the most hotly anticipated at CES. Essentially the new system aims to tie together television from broadcast, cable and Internet companies, and allows them to be delivered to any kind of device. The announcement is evidence that Cisco is especially bullish on Internet video, which it expects to constitute 90 percent of consumer Internet traffic by 2014.

Time Warner + Sony + Samsung = The demise of the cable box?

Time Warner Cable’s partnerships with Sony and Saumsung were one of the most interesting announcements at the show, and frankly, given the far-ranging implications, we’re surprised they’re not getting more buzz! In an effort to compete more effectively with online services like Netflix or Hulu, Time Warner has announced that its live and on-demand programming will be available over IP, which essentially means that consumers with broadband-connected TVs would no longer need a set-top box. We’ll be curious to see how long it takes for cable boxes to go the way of VHS players and dial-up modems.

A Plea for TV Everywhere

Okay, so this isn’t technically an announcement, but it’s an interesting piece of content nonetheless. Eighteen months ago, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes first revealed the concept of “TV Everywhere,” the process by which cable subscribers would be able to access programming online and on their mobile devices. Given the rapid adoption of watching content online, the movement seemed like a no-brainer, but consumers have been slow to adopt and the industry hasn’t been able to find a uniform way of authenticating subscribers. During the CES keynote on Thursday, Bewkes and Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg made a plea to the crowd to help them build a solution. No word yet on whether anyone’s taken him up on the offer.

We’re excited to see how all of the announcements at this year’s show come to fruition over the course of 2011. Anyone else have favorites that we missed?

The ones that got it right

“2010 will be the year that video breaks through and becomes part of the mainstream advertising media buy.”

While I like this one for obvious reasons, the data backs it up: Spending on online video reached $627M in the first six months of 2010, up by 31% from the first half of 2009. What’s more, it is the fastest-growing category of online advertising and will remain so until at least 2014, according to recent eMarketer data.

“In 2010, the industry will crack the code for higher-value video advertising. In order to be more valuable, it needs to be a win-win-win situation (e.g. viewers enjoy more relevant ads, publishers generate more revenue, and advertisers get more targeted ads with more engaged viewers who drive direct action).”

The richness and interactivity of online video continues to help advertisers connect with their target audiences in new and more engaging ways. Moreover, premium online video ads outperform TV ads across the board: general recall (65% vs 46%); brand recall (50% vs. 28%); message recall (39% vs. 21%); and likeability (26% vs. 14%). And when it comes to driving direct action, online video has a demonstrable ROI for ad dollars, as evidenced by a Nielsen and BrightRoll study that linked video ads to a 6% increase in in-store sales for a leading CPG brand.

The ones that missed the mark

“’Click through will die as measure for the effectiveness of brand-building campaigns. The movement against the “last click” gains momentum.”

The click through metric has been the subject of serious controversy for awhile now, but whether we like it or not, it’s one that advertisers and vendors alike are familiar with, which is why it won’t be going away anytime soon.

“The rollout of VAST will be championed by the IAB and member companies in early 2010, but fizzle out completely due to lack of publisher adoption. Little to no progress will be made.”

Not only is this one wrong, it’s beyond wrong. We saw increasing adoption of both VAST and VPAID standards across the board in 2010. BrightRoll’s own ad exchange – BRX — announced support for both standards earlier this month, and our annual survey of leading online publishers found that 77% were VAST-compliant and 61% were VPAID-compliant.

“Viral video will move from art to science: Viral video analytics will become sophisticated, and we will end up with a more scientific approach to viral campaign planning.”

While I know plenty of agency executives who wish this were true, the fact is that unless your brand involves babies or cats, making a video viral is neither cheap nor easy, and marketers who spend significant time and money trying to turn out these videos are wasting their resources. Even if they are able to capture that winning combination of luck, creativity and timing, there is still no guarantee that it will be sticky enough to go viral.

“TubeMogul will be purchased by Adobe.”If the recent Groupon debacle is any indication, acquisitions are anything but predictable, and while 2010 witnessed plenty of consolidation in this space, this is one acquisition that never got off the ground.

So there you have it. What are your predictions for 2011?

1. The largest video properties won’t produce any video. Grade: A

Not only did the majority of the top 10 video properties, as measured by ad volume, not produce any video, but it is hard to find many content producers in the top 20. For example, NBC is #21, ESPN is #27 and Disney is #29. The aggregators, syndicators and networks were the dominant growth stories of 2010, and it is hard to see that train slowing down as we enter 2011.

2. Stream fraud becomes online video’s click fraud equivalent. Grade: B-

Although there were a handful of cases of video fraudsters getting caught with their hands in the cookie jar, most stream fraud went unnoticed in 2010. It’s unclear whether agencies are simply content to look the other way or whether the overreliance on ineffective verification services clouds the problem, but regardless, stream fraud continues to be a profit machine for the bad actors. Without a consistent performance metric across video inventory sources, this problem is not going away any time soon.

To read more, visit MediaPost

A few months ago, however, comScore announced that it was launching a new measurement system that ranked video ad networks by actual reach of ads delivered, as opposed to just their potential. While this new measurement system is a step in the right direction, the reality is that I still see potential reach being referenced by smaller players and some media outlets, indicating that further education is still needed.

Ultimately, I’d like to see potential reach eradicated completely, as it serves no purpose other than to inflate some vendors’ numbers in order to attract advertisers. As the WSJ recently reported, advertisers spent $627 million on video ads in the first half of 2010, up 31% compared to the same period last year. Now, eMarketer is predicting that the category will continue its reign as the fastest growing in online advertising through 2014. These statistics are irrefutable evidence that solid metrics are needed to further cement the category’s credibility. The bottom line is that in order for online video to continue seriously and effectively compete for ad dollars that would otherwise be allocated to TV, marketers need to have trust that the companies they are working with actually reach the audiences they claim to reach. Ultimately, specious metrics like potential reach hurt us all by shrouding the space in confusion.

1. A (Brief) History of Online Video
Okay, so technically this is really only the last five years of online video, rather than an exhaustive history, but we still love this awesome visual courtesy of TechSmith and The Blog Herald that digs into the massive innovation and consumer adoption that’s taken place over the last five years.

2. YouTube Lets Viewers Cruise Past Video Ads
Lots of folks were talking about Google’s new ad unit that gives users the ability to choose which ads they want to watch, or skip the ad altogether, in which case the advertiser isn’t charged. Google says the idea is to give advertisers access to “opted-in, engaged audiences at scale.” Our take? We’re somewhat skeptical that this is truly a viable model… in reality, how often are you going to watch an ad if given the choice? That said, it’s a great option for publishers like YouTube that has nearly unlimited volume that virtually no one else can match.

3. It’s Official: Americans Like Online Video
The October comScore numbers were the subject of a ton of buzz. It’s now become obvious that online video is more than just a passing fad with Americans watching an average of 30 minutes of online video per day. So, if you thought you were the only one watching videos of kittens and Glee behind the scenes and drunken Santas on your lunch break, think again. From an advertiser standpoint, it’s compelling evidence that online video is where the eyeballs are. We’ll be curious to see how long it takes for online video viewership numbers to outpace those of TV. Thoughts?

4. I Stream, You Stream
In response to consumer demand, Netflix has announced a streaming-only version of its popular movie rental service for $7.99/month. The plan will give subscribers instant access to approximately 20 percent of Netflix’s catalog, and is further evidence that consumers are becoming more and more comfortable watching long-form content online. And hey, as GigaOM TV’s Chris Albrecht mentioned in a tweet, you can save a whopping dollar by switching to the new plan!

Check back often for more insights from around the Twittersphere, and in the meantime, have a very happy Thanksgiving from all of us at BrightRoll!

First off, expect to see some video. After all, we’re an online video ad services company, right? We’re surrounded by some of the most compelling and cutting-edge campaigns from some of the world’s best-known brands. It’s what we do. And we’re going to be doing more of it here. And while video’s important, it won’t be the only change. You’ll also get insights into the online video ecosystem from several voices here at BrightRoll and from interesting and influential people in the space— frank discussions about what the industry’s doing right (or wrong) and posts about our favorite videos at the moment, from the relevant to the irreverent.

We’ve got a lot to talk about and we know you do, too. We want to hear it. So leave a message, share your thoughts and stay tuned for more to come.

“Buying impressions is dead, buying engagements is dying… the future is in buying video sharing! You only pay when your videos are watched by self-interested consumers and they can share it with their friends!”

Yes, “shared videos” are being positioned as the new “going viral.” And in a never-ending quest to find media that is completely controllable, yet entirely consumed by self-interested consumers (read: the holy grail) buyers are beginning to ante up.

Unfortunately, the only viral in this cleverly packaged snake oil is the virus you wake up with in the morning when you fully understand what you purchased.

To read more, visit MediaPost

What makes me think this? Mobile video is irrelevant because the medium doesn’t change anything about our ability to offer scale, targeting, optimization or performance media to our advertisers. In addition, mobile video advertising is served in a nearly identical way to online video (i.e., a forced view before the consumption of free content), so the experience of viewing the ad doesn’t change the way it’s consumed or performs.

Touting mobile video ads is the equivalent of touting media tied to a certain type of computer (laptop video ads), browser (Chrome video ads) or type of location (college video ads). Advertisers very rarely target ads based on the type of computer, browser or location category, and it is safe to assume that mobile will not be separated from online for most campaigns in the future.

To read more, visit MediaPost

On October 5, 2009, CBS canceled “Guiding Light,” the longest running television drama in history, which began in 1952. This September, CBS will air the last episode of “As The World Turns,” the Proctor & Gamble production that has been running for more than 50 years. What’s more, ad dollars allocated to soaps fell nearly 30 percent from 2005 to 2009, and then fell another 20 percent in the first half of 2010.

So, why is all of this happening?

The television media has argued that the death of soap operas is the result of both women entering the workforce in increased numbers and the popularity of reality shows, the latter of which provides an alternate means to achieving the emotional gratification originally delivered by soap operas. I would, however, propose an alternate reading of events.

To read more, visit Business Insider

I call this the scale vs. sizzle conundrum and it is causing a wide-range of problems for clients trying to reach measurable campaign objectives. Let’s take a closer look at the problems inherent in this scenario.

Problem #1 – Under-Investing In What Works

I can’t even count the number of times I’ve heard a media buyer ask, “Do you have any new products to discuss?” Yet I can count on one hand the number of times a media buyer has said to me, “Why don’t you come in and tell me what actually works.”

As a result, media sales reps are trained to focus the majority of every conversation on what’s new, because that’s what sells, and ultimately, clients end up massively underinvested in the media and ad products that actually drive their objectives forward.

To read more, visit MediaPost