1videoadVideo ads and moving images make the Internet richer - but only if they are well made and follow the rules of the medium. Just showing a TV commercial on Youtube is not enough.

For many years, users have become accustomed to the symbiotic self-concept of editorial content and appropriate advertising. Classic display ads, if they are not hidden by corresponding browser plug-ins, form one of the backbones of the digital value chain.

Advertising is usually accepted, but let us be honest: Who nowadays still clicks on a banner or takes notice of it?

Videos - the new star on the advertising sky

We have learned to accept advertising as given and even shield it with the inner eye to focus on the actual content. In the case of text, content is a clear process that can be justified with the evolution of media usage and has virtually become an immovable constant. That is why the digital advertising industry needs a new star in the sky.

The motion picture takes this role with thanks and wows the crowds with content, since advertising that looks static inevitably loses its grip on relevance. The offensive combination of video, with possibly a clever story, is known to increase advertising effectiveness for the brand much more intensely and puts more users under the spell, as a simple banner campaign ever could.

Videos: Click and gone?

Of course, video advertising, in the form of pre-roll spots, offers a great opportunity to embellish the video content of a portal in a simple way. Only once the spot has ended, the actual video can be watched. Just a few portals, like Youtube, allow the user to skip the ads just after a few seconds with a simple click. Moreover, this is a good thing. After all, only the fully watched video provides a great value for advertisers, portals, media planners and marketers, aside from automatically played content in inactive browser tabs.

The effectiveness of in-stream, in-page and branded entertainment increasingly convinces advertising companies to bet on these winning horses in their marketing stall, and not without reason. Video will molt in the next five years to the fastest growing advertising segment and classic display ads on the other hand will suffer severe loss of revenue due to negative growth stocks.

Advertisers have not yet understood video ads

As much as we like these revenue drivers, the question arises, whether marketers should directly apply their learned logic from the TV environment to digital video advertising: What do the users really want when watching a video? Do operators of online portals with the entire digital value chain not depend on their users’ taste?

Several studies show that Internet users do not want to see long commercials. Ideally, they would like to give only about ten seconds of their attention to advertising. Despite all efforts, most advertisers and agencies still do not understand this very simple request. They sprightly place their TV advertising on the Internet and as if they had nothing better to do, they recycle the spot without showing any creativity at work.

Not a cheap secondary usage

Digital creation must be understood for each brand as an important issue - and this fact does not justify in any way a cheap secondary use of TV commercials. A perfect brand presence requires a bit more than the adaptation of a classic offline campaign that is recycled by the brands for their appearances and their advertising presence in the digital ether more in a bad than good way. Hardly any user will be thrilled by old-fashioned TV commercials when they are placed as inevitable pre-roll prior to the favored video. However, a few seconds on the traditional TV usually do not annoy, but the threshold of the user is excessively exceeded on the internet. At least at this stage, it is getting unpleasant for the portal operators and advertisers. In addition, if no clickable call-to-action URL is lodged for the video campaign, due to lack of landing pages, advertisers actually think about saving the investment in video advertising from the beginning.

Boring video commercials are a plague

The future of online videos should not be based on irrefutable and overlapping video advertising. Simply because whoever wants to show long spots on the Internet is dominated by misconceptions. You may want to do that on your own video channel, but the digital advertising island should not be polluted by linear and particularly uncreative commercials. Users do not want to be patronized by sprinkling video advertising online, especially since the Internet is embossed by a context of communication, dialogue and interaction.

The advertising future lies in short and highly creative video spots, which are intended to enthuse users instantly. Hence, marketers should use the chance for their brand presence and finally meet the expectations of the users.

By Daniela la Marca