Mixpo
Mixpo's platform allows marketers to convert their TV spots into rich media creative, manage their placement and related campaigns, and obtain comprehensive reports on the ensuing results. The company is best known for servicing local advertisers and SMBs, and the demand is certainly there; according to a report from Borrell Associates, Inc, spending on local online video advertising among small businesses is expected to reach $7.6 billion by 2013. For national advertisers and agencies, Mixpo can help them ensure brand consistency at the local level, for example by allowing them to maintain control over TV assets used online by franchisees.
Once a TV spot has been uploaded to Mixpo's online platform, it can be transformed into an "Xspot" by adding overlays that make the video interactive, including clickable objects and text box calls-to-action. Links to brand sites, local sites, microsites, and lead generation forms can also be added to enhance the video's engagement factor. Overlay variables can display geo-targeted messaging so that state and city names alternate depending on the viewer's location.
Media buyers are bound to appreciate the simplicity of the Mixpo platform; interactive ads can be sent to the advertiser for approval directly through the online site, or copied and customized for each publisher in a media plan. Mixpo has partnership agreements with local media publishers like Comcast and Tribune Newspaper Company, which now support the ads.
Veeple
Veeple is designed with convenience in mind; since 2006 it has been enabling marketers to make any video interactive after it has already been produced by adding clickable elements through overlays. This means that TV spots can be improved for the interactive web environment and video ads from past campaigns can be modified and revitalized for new campaigns -- all without having to invest in additional production costs. Says Veeple CEO Scott Broomfield, "With the introduction of the iPad and soon the iSlate, we are now truly in the generation of interactive video," and he and his company are prepared to help marketers leverage the resulting opportunities.
Through Veeple's online platform, hotspots and annotations can be added to video clips, along with links to related documents like PDFs and PowerPoint information. For this reason Veeple's platform is well suited for both B2C and B2B campaigns. An advertiser can promote her company's services through the video ad, for instance, and drive interested parties to supporting materials that will coax the consumer further down the purchase funnel.
One feature offered by Veeple that's particularly useful is its object recognition technology. Advertisers can use it to easily select the objects they wish to make clickable or enhance in some other way. Also of value is its recent introduction of search engine-friendly embed codes. With this first step in VideoSEO, Veeple users can increase the reach and viewing frequency of their videos by adding relevant keywords to their video details prior to deploying their video ad. Both the video title and keywords are embedded in the URL link to the video for the benefit of search engines.
With an arsenal of features and tools at our disposal to help us transform both offline and online video into rich, interactive experiences, one has to wonder how this up and coming trend will influence the video segment moving forward. Will there come a time when interactive video is the norm, and the video ads we're most accustomed to today are widely considered tedious and inert?
If so, we can rest assured that -- just as in natural selection -- the most powerful and effective of its kind will come out on top.
David Rossiter is creative director at Enlighten.
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