GroupM's Rob Norman Presents a Taxonomy for Video Advertising

The taxonomy below is a hierarchy in descending order from television as we have known it through to those video advertising experiences that most resemble television39s ability to carry video advertising to those that represent a new video paradigmIt makes no reference to scale but has significant suggestions most notably that the longer the duration of the quotcontainerquotamp160or program the more likely it is to be viewed with quotsound onquotamp160as a default and represent an appropriate adtocontent value exchange with the consumer Longer content is a better carriage vehicle for all but the most electrifyingly compelling ad experiences By extension those wondering about or encouraging the migration of TV dollars to quotdigitalquotamp160might pause and consider what it is they are actually asking forA Taxonomy for VideoGroup 1amp160TV or quotAs TVquotTV Aamp160linear viewing stream with interruptive commercials default sound onOn demand and time shifted TV Aamp160linear viewing stream with interruptive commercials default sound onDigital TV Aamp160linear overthetop viewing stream of TV program content full length sound on with interruptive commercials amp8211 the so called full episode player default sound on Hulu Fox Now Watch ESPNWeb videoamp160destinations Shorter but getting longer form video desktop or mobile mix of sound on or off with commercials that are often skippable YouTube PreferredGroup 2amp160quotAs TVquotamp160Assuming a View Duration StandardIn app videoamp160Mobile user initiated with a content container sound on when initiated YouTube mobile The New York TimesWeb video In stream user initiated desktop dominated mix of sound on and off AOL Yahoo etcOutstream video Mostly desktop some mobile autoplay mix of sound on or off TeadsGroup 3amp160Requiring a New Class of Creative AssetsVertical video Short form with or without a content container default mostly sound on Snapchat Discover and Live Stories Twitter MomentsFeedbased video Mobile autoplay without a content quotcontainerquotamp160default sound off Facebook Twitter TimelineGroup 4amp160Advertising Not Welcome Here YetSVOD Streaming video on demand often subscriber paid and often commercialfree Netflix HBO Go Amazon Instant Video default sound onFor advertisers this is a relevant taxonomy and one that might guide both them and their agency partners in both the development of creative assets and media plans It presents a clear case as they might say in some of Cannes39 more traditional restaurants of horses for courses Running quotconventionalquotamp16030second TV ads in feed shows a similar lack of foresight as running radio ads on TV It won39t work and tests will only prove that the best possible outcome is some level of brand recall and minimal understanding of the intended communicationIn the Medium Term Three Dominant Scenarios May Play OutTV and quotAs TVquotamp160experiences which commercials as we know them will persist and in which the money will follow the audience It will evolve much will be skippable and creativity will either shorten or seek an earlier quothookquotA middle ground of mostly short form commercial content which will be traded with guarantees on view durationamp160and quotsound onquotamp160consumption and with those guarantees will be quotAs TVquot GroupM39s current standard applies here a verified human exposure to 100 of the video window with audio on and 50 of the adamp160viewedAn entirely new creative class that recognizes both the constraints time and attention and the opportunity scale and sharing of the feed Perhaps those use cases will be focused on the animation of the static images we associate with print rather than a compression of quottraditionalquotamp160videoOf course hybrids will evolve Feeds will pursue longer and sometimes exclusive quotAs TVquotamp160video Digital TV and web TV will embrace newamp160and more interactive ad formats linear TV will experiment with reducing ad loads in a hope for retention of audienceThis all seems straightforward enough but demands an improvement in measurement both within and across the categories of video described Among the most desirable measures we might hold quotviewsquotamp160as the lowest possible bar Not for the first time we appeal to the industry broadly to think about cohorts of users from heavy to light cohort demographics and behaviors and time spent with both content and commercials among each cohort In addition codifying quotdownstreamquotamp160behaviors like engagement will become increasingly valuable as the advertiser continues to pursue the dual goals of reach and effectivenessWith that we have a market we can address with media allocation and creative rigor we can focus on making ads that fit the environment in which they appear and raise the bar not uncommon in Cannes of consumer experience and advertiser return on investmentThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggers amp160amp160

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GroupM's Rob Norman Presents a Taxonomy for Video Advertising

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