Hulu: The Creative Imperative in the Fight Against Ad Blocking

In Huluamp8217s research with Leflein Associates weamp8217ve found that just 7 of TV viewers avoid ads at all costs The rest of the viewing population is on a spectrum of varying levels of advertising acceptance Marketing Sherpa just published data echoing Huluamp8217s showing that just 8 of consumers donamp8217t want to receive any updates or promotions from companiesSo rather than enter into an antagonistic battle of the adblocking bots what if advertisers and publishers alike do more to engage viewers Engage them especially on interactive platforms where viewers are in control of their own experience At Hulu we encourage all ongoing explorations underway to evolve advertising and brand storytelling and offer three areas proven to increase consumers enjoyment and receptivity of ads not to mention brand recall and of course purchase intent Choice interactivity and creative storytellingCHOICEBASED ADVERTISING in an ondemand environment mirrors viewers ability to choose their preferred content platform and viewing location resulting in a much more enjoyable ad experience Huluamp8217s best known choicebased ad is called the amp8220ad selectoramp8221 which allows viewers to select the ad they prefer watch the ad for a convertible or the one for a minivan for example Choice is also a powerful tool for advertisers as it reorients the viewer from a posture of skepticism looking for reasons to distrust the message to one of confirmation looking for signals to affirm the choice they made Cognitive dissonance is the key to why choice based ads work in that once viewers choose the ad they want to see they look to confirm that they made the right choice This reorientation results in greater ad and brand recall In our research choicebased ads can increase topofmind recall 250 compared to a linear TV adINTERACTIVITY is intrinsic to the Web experience and continues to redefine our relationships with technology and media It has also become an important part of the ondemand video viewing experience In advertising interactive and twoway ads increase an ads recall with a viewer Dr Duane Varan CEO of MediaScience has done research that shows that one interactive ad delivers the impact of seeing a linear ad three times without the overexposure fallout amp8220Itamp8217s a powerful multiplier which ups the ante considerablyamp8221 notes Dr Varan Viewers who engage with interactive ads on Hulu spend considerably more time with those ads than the 30seconds that a standard video ad affordsCREATIVE STORYTELLING has always been at the heart of great advertising and this amp8220lawamp8221 has not been repealed The 1to1 amp8220personal playlistamp8221 proposition of digital video not only allows for better targeting and potentially greater relevancy of ads for viewers it also allows for a different approach in how advertisers communicate with viewers Hulu research shows that following a 30 second ad with a 07 second ad in any of the subsequent ad pods increases not only top of mind awareness by 160 but purchase intent as well by 16 Sequential advertising is welcome in an on demand world and offers the opportunity for brands to tell the same kinds of engaging stories that viewers seek out in their very personal viewing experienceWith on demand viewing and Internet streaming viewers are in control of their own TV experience It is vital that the advertising experience evolves to mirror this shift in viewing behavior Just as they expect content providers to curate the viewing experience to them consumers expect advertisers to do the same Brands and media companies must start incorporating key characteristics of the viewing experience including choice and interactivity into their ongoing relationships with consumers or we may see more viewers shift away from ad acceptance to ad avoidanceImages courtesy of Corbis The opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageMyersBizNet management or associated bloggers

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Hulu: The Creative Imperative in the Fight Against Ad Blocking

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