Business listings sites, Internet yellow pages properties and other local media firms want to get into the video ad business, but that doesn’t mean they want to be in the business of video ads. As properties like Citysearch, YellowBook, Superpages and even Clear Channel get serious about providing video ad products to small business clients [SMBs], a handful of video production services have emerged to meet their needs.
Several business directory sites and local review sites have introduced video ad enhancements in recent months. Yellow Book USA began testing video ads earlier this month, some of which have been produced by DMM (Denver Multimedia), a 12-year old TV commercial and infomercial production house that just got into the local video ad business about a year and a half ago.
Idearc Media’s IYP provider Superpages.com has also started testing video ads with multiple vendors, while IAC/InterActiveCorp’s Citysearch launched a video ad business listings up-sell in May through a partnership with advertorial video maker TurnHere.
Because consumers generally respond to video at higher rates than other display ads, said Sterling, “I think perception of the value of video will allow it to be priced higher than some other products.” Superpages, for instance, will charge somewhere below $1,000 for a :30 Web spot.
New company AditAll is going the automated route in the hopes of attracting small businesses with simpler tastes and smaller budgets. The soon-to-be-launched firm expects to charge an average of $400 for :10-:15 online video spots built using a mixing platform that offers about 20,000 rights-cleared stock clips and soundtrack archives.
Other firms like Spot Runner, EZShow and Visible World have also taken the more pre-packaged approach, which, though less personalized, makes for lower prices, streamlines production, and may lead to fewer service headaches from picky clients.
Small businesses also typically have modest advertising budgets so may be reluctant to spring for an online video. Superpages.com plans on offering the feature to a broad base of advertisers later this fall, charging advertisers $990 to produce a 30-second spot, the company said. Advertisers pay for clicks on the ads.
Some small business owners are leery of the pay-per-click model. Ms. Cree, for example, says she must pay Superpages.com $2-$4 each time Web surfers click on her video ad. Now, she budgets for $300 worth of clicks a month and says it typically runs out halfway through the month, which means the video ads disappear until the start of the next month. She says her business has received a boost from the video ads and that they were worth the money.
Pat Marshall, chief new media officer for Yellow Book, says his company tells advertisers that their online videos must be more informative than a typical TV commercial but that they don’t have to be boring.
“For certain lines of business where it’s all about showing the aesthetics where you want to demonstrate what your facilities look like and that you’re first class all the way, it’s perfect,” says Donnelley spokesman Tyler Gronbach.
Online video ads may appeal to a wide range of businesses such as law firms that want to present the faces of the proprietors as a selling point, says Charles Laughlin, program director for Kelsey Group Inc., a market-research firm.
In a one-week time period alone, Mr. Achmar said, four new customers have told him they called because they saw the video ad.
“The ad shows customers the quality we deliver,” said Mr. Achmar. “And once they see the video they don’t have to go further browsing through the Web site or have to do any reading anymore.”
http://www.baltimoresun.com/technology/bal-yellowpages1001,0,463427.story
Experts believe that running the same video for your Internet marketing campaign as well as on television channels is not a good idea. According to Amit I. Budhrani of Alza Management Institute, “Most advertisers feel that the content for a video advert can be borrowed from their own TV commercials. However, this is not the case. One needs to clearly differentiate between a video advert and an advertisement made for the TV. Video made for a TV can nevër replace video that is required for the Internet. And it will not make a good impression about the company in the eyes of the people since they can quickly make out that the ad has been copied directly from the TV. If this happens then one is likely to löse out on viewers since people will not care to view the ad of the company ever again. Hence the company will loose viewers instead of gaining them. And this will be a very big loss of opportunity.”The conventional 30 second TV commercial will not be as effective when presented on the Internet.” According to Lanctot of Avenue A/Razorfish, “It’s easy to repurpose TV Ads, but it’s not a good idea. Everyone seems to agree, but they keep doing it.”
http://entirewebs.blogspot.com/2007/09/video-marketing-its-different.html
Ad agencies are waking up to online video too.
Chris Allen, most recently a vp at Texas-based media agency GSD&M, has joined media agency Starcom as vp/video innovation director.
Allen will be involved with emerging video investments in the area of streaming video, Video on Demand, and DVR, along with other new media platforms.
He will work out of Starcom’s Chicago office and will report to senior vp/video innovation director Tracey Scheppach.
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003651223
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