This article includes content provided by Spotify. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'.
Tell us a little about Ebuzzing and what you do.
Ebuzzing is a global video advertising distribution platform, co founded by Bertrand Quesada and myself. At Ebuzzing, we distribute online video campaigns through a network of 40,000 media, premium websites, blogs, apps and social media sites. Since starting in 2007 we have developed three offerings under the Ebuzzing umbrella: Ebuzzing Social which distributes videos into blogs and social streams to stimulate and create engagement and conversation about a brand, Ebuzzing Media which uses an Ad-Selector to gate premium content and Ebuzzing Impact which is made up of innovative rich media formats based on a performance model. All our brands and formats are designed with the user in mind, so they are all user-initiated, skippable, interactive and focused on engaged views.
How does online video stand up against other advertising mediums?
We are currently in the middle of the online video boom. With video and social media predicted to drive 20% annual global growth in internet display over the next 2 years, and 56% more time being spent watching an online video ad in the last quarter of 2012 compared with the previous quarter in Europe, brands and agencies are starting to realise the unprecedented opportunity to engage with their consumers through online video.
Whilst online video advertising has all the advantages of a standard TV spot, the increased opportunity that this medium creates is the user engagement and granular targeting it provides. Not only can video viewers share and comment on the ad but they can physically interact with the content itself, view the ad seamless within the content they are reading, click through to brand pages or even buy products from the end-screen. Additionally, with the advancement in targeting and emotion sensing technology online video not only allows advertisers the possibility to target their content by gender, age, demographic and location by actually understand how the viewer feels about the video content. This means the right content gets in front of the right audience.
Should online video be seen as a competing or a complimentary medium to TV advertising?
Complimentary. With the changing of user viewing habits, more and more people are viewing content on a variety of different devices, and often at the same time. A recent IAB/Nielsen study showed that by running an online video of a campaign, then showing the campaign on TV could boost brand recall by 33%. Combining TV and online video can also raise unduplicated reach by 4%.
Does online video advertising need its own approach or does video designed for TV work well too?
Video designed for TV can work well online, as you would expect. But by only using repurposed TV ads brands are missing out on the biggest asset of online video – interactivity. If a brand creates a unique, interactive video, where a user can decide the outcome for example, they are more likely to have a successful campaign; engaging, high-quality content always works best.
What's next for the online video advertising industry?
It's a very exciting time for online video. Not only is it growing rapidly in terms of spend but technology continues to evolve allowing us to push the boundaries of innovation. For the near future however, I see 4 keys trends: the power of choice, the power of social media, native advertising and rich interactive experiences. The power of choice will put the user in control by giving them the choice to view the video content they want to see. In exchange they will gain access to premium content for free.
Social media will continue to, and increase, in the importance of online video advertising. Stimulating conversation and engagement around advertiser's videos with the huge potential of earned media is a core focus for many brands. In fact at Ebuzzing we see, on average, 22% earned media on top of an average campaign.
Native advertising will see the integration of video within content providing the user with a seamless advertising experience which sits naturally into the flow of their online user journey.
And finally, rich, interactive experiences are becoming the norm. Look at brands such as Heineken who engage their audience by providing them with high quality experiences where the advertising becomes the content itself. Video formats such as interactive overlays and end screens which allow users to purchase products, view the inside of a car, or play a game are pushing online video advertising to the next level.
What's next for Ebuzzing?
Ebuzzing's next steps are to continue to innovate and offer our clients the latest technologies within online video advertising. We have recently introduced BuzzIndex, which allows advertisers to analyse and predict the performance of their video based on emotion sensing and from our own benchmarks. We have 50 people in our R&D department so this is a core to our business. We will also be looking to cement ourselves within the US market and alongside our current office in New York; we will be opening up a West Coast office by the end of the year.