Interstitials and avails are out, but what's taking their place? See how the video climate is changing for automotive, and how your brand can keep up.

It is clear in 2008 that we have moved far away from the age-old formula of advertising where interstitials were king (pre-, mid- and surround-roll). People aren't watching video online like they do at home in front of their 65-inch plasma; they decide where and when they want to view content.

The time has come to stop focusing on "avails" in media but rather on those small segments of "avails" in consumers' daily lives. Video strategy and planning is at a new height as we move toward complete consumer empowerment through interactivity.

The big questions this year are: where exactly is all the online video content coming from, and who is producing it? And, concurrently, what are the best ad products available today?

Video production
There is a new generation of content producers taking control of video creativity in our industry: interactive agencies, web publishers and consumers.   
Digitas and AKQA recently announced new divisions dedicated to helping clients leverage new and emerging opportunities to create and distribute media content. Mark Beeching, Digitas' global chief creative officer, said, "As traditional production and distribution hierarchies erode, video is set to explode into exciting new ways of reaching audiences… this explosion opens up infinite new possibilities for brands to play."

On the publisher front, Jumpstart Automotive Media launched its Labs group in late 2007 to support clients and publishers with creative strategy, syndication and new product innovation (including film and video production). Labs will utilize internal and partner-company resources to produce unique and relevant video content on behalf of OEM, regional and mega dealer clients.

And then there is the ever growing world of users generating and sharing video. EyeSpot CEO Jim Kaskade said, "Consumers want to make content their own. The publishers who make that possible will come out on top in 2008." Eyespot is one of those companies making user-generated video easier for both publishers and consumers by helping with uploading, editing and sharing. Users encountering Eyespot's technology on a publisher's site can drag-and-drop video clips, mix and match rights-cleared content with user-generated content, and send content to their friends online or via mobile.

In regards to automotive, here's an example of a local dealer utilizing EyeSpot for content as advertising:

Video advertising
Video advertising online continues to evolve as fast as the production of it, ultimately enhancing the user experience with brands both inside and out of the video. With this quick-changing evolution comes a lack of video standards but a ton of innovation and new thinking!

Delmond Newton, chief executive officer of Fever Beverage USA, recently discovered that sales of his new energy drink skyrocketed with a mere mention in a music video featuring rapper Ludacris. Rather than spending money on TV commercials and other traditional advertising vehicles, he's discovered the power of content integration with the help from a company called NextMedium.

NextMedium is hoping to standardize the product-placement marketplace. Playing matchmaker of sorts, the company has created Embed, where advertisers can find shows, music videos and movies on which to appear, and producers can find advertisers willing to pay for placement. Brands can search the marketplace for opportunities by keyword, demographic or even experiences for desired communications. Analytics then help show the value of each opportunity and historical brand integration performance. NextMedium CEO David Bluhm said, "making product placement more efficient and available to smaller advertisers could help TV networks offset the shift of advertising dollars to the internet."

Outside of the content development question, the use of video advertising as the standard continues to evolve. Here are a few of the latest examples: (click on graphics for full demos):

1. Video bugs are a less intrusive and user-initiated video format that is poised to replace pre-roll. This execution allows the user to decide if the video ad is relevant enough to explore it more deeply. It is especially powerful with longer form video, like this one from Car & Driver (disclosure: a sister company of Jumpstart). Also, the number of elements available to check out is beneficial as well, acting much like a flash overlay microsite.

2. Multiple video units provide a nice opportunity to not only capture a consumer's "avail" and showcase video but to give them a selection to choose from or tell a story as well. This unit utilizes expanded real estate to highlight the commercial spot but also offers separate videos to showcase additional features. The core benefit of a unit like this is to get multiple angles of video content in front of a prospective buyer.  This idea can be translated to any business focused on multiple product features.

3. Video widgets are fun, web-based mini-applications that can be ad-served as rich media ad formats, published into personal web pages and shared virally. The ability to grab this unit and share among all the social media destinations provides a powerful opportunity for significant reach. This type of campaign also presents users with different opportunities to "get into" the product -- in this example, users can play games, view the trailer or even buy tickets to see a film, right from the widget. A way to translate this to automotive would be to inlcude the commercial spot, a game or application that offers a deeper glimpse into the brand and an actual lease or financing offer.

What's next?
Everybody acknowledges the ability to target and optimize on performance -- which digital marketing provides -- is quickly pushing the medium forward. But many are forgetting about the power of creative, especially pertaining to the sound, sight and motion of video. We are taking the most powerful creative medium from the last 50 years and overlaying it with precise targeting, interactivity and performance effectiveness. Let's do it right and focus on the message, delivery and, ultimately, the consumer!

Chad Beasley is VP of marketing at Jumpstart Automotive Media.