The value of interactivity in online advertising is not lost on digital marketers. It allows us to trade in a few lines of text for an engaging in-banner branding experience, and to encourage consumers to get to know our products and services before they even reach our site. As marketers, we've incorporated interactivity into our campaigns in countless ways -- to the point where consumers have almost come to expect this feature in the ads they are served.
What if you were to unite interactivity -- a vital element of display advertising -- with video -- one of the most effective ad formats, which, according to a recent study, outperforms virtually all other formats in aiding brand awareness, online ad awareness, brand favorability, and purchase intent? In a way, the process would be the technological equivalent of selective breeding, with the result resembling a powerful beast that manifests all the best qualities and genetic traits of its pedigreed parents.
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This beast exists. It answers to the name "interactive video", and its popularity and praise are both long overdue.
Clickable video has been available to media buyers for years, since its introduction by rich media companies nearly a decade ago. But, lacking a critical mass of video advertising among marketers, and an openness to viewing online video by consumers, the concept was way before its time.
The current popularity of online video (173 million U.S. internet users watched 32.4 billion videos in January) has changed all of that. Video is now on every digital marketer's radar as we struggle to add movement to our messages and leverage our television assets for the web. With the help of specialized vendors who recognize the importance of this medium, interactive video -- also known as clickable video -- is quickly gaining momentum. What follows is a list of three companies that are poised to help move it forward.
Innovid
Since 2007, Innovid has been making pre-roll video ads more dynamic and engaging by adding post-production interactive elements. It's a company to watch; Time Magazine named Innovid CEO Zvika Netter as one of eight "Tech Pioneers Who Will Change Your Life." Innovid's bread and butter is its iRoll -- "the interactive pre-roll" ad. This allows marketers to incorporate traditional online ad elements like rollover functionality that, when activated, pauses the video and delivers a brand experience within the media player.
With Innovid, marketers can transform passive video footage into an interactive experience that delivers real value to consumers and achieves seamless, professional results. A movie trailer can be enhanced with a link that allows viewers to view local show times and buy tickets online. Images can be added to retailer TV spots that, when clicked, reveal a current sales flyer or the latest special offer.
Kraft Foods has used Innovid to leverage its Philadelphia Cream Cheese brand television assets online; it applied a rollover feature that expands to offer links to recipes and additional video of a baking demo -- a video ad within a video ad. It even connects users with the brand's social media presence through a link to "Philly on Facebook."
An Innovid ad for Budweiser that ran in Canada incorporated an online game and contest to garner an interaction rate of 3.92 percent. Says Netter, "If you provide an appealing, added-value experience, you can win the viewer engagement... and what brand will say no to that when you prove it with detailed analytics?"
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