The world of video is changing faster than a nuclear-powered remote commander. So how should companies be measuring the success of their video-on-demand initiatives? At iMedia's Breakthrough Summit in Lake Las Vegas, Nevada, Atlas enlightened audiences with its take on the topic.

John Chandler-Pepelnjak, principal analyst at Altas, suggests measurement by brand exposure duration (BXD), which is time spent with a video asset, complete plays and the proportion of viewers who watch an entire asset.

In short, depending on the creative, the brand and the goal of the campaign, success is determined by the brand initiating and executing a spot. To date, success with video has been determined by indirect impact of viewership on product or service sales.

The ultimate goal of digital video is to effectively combine the direct measurement benefits of online advertising with the brand relationship building attributes of traditional media. Online advertising success is measured in clicks and desired actions, while traditional video is measured in reach, frequency and gross rating points (GRPs).

In other words, it is high time some formal calculations are added to the digital video mix. Here's the math behind the metrics: BXD is a calculation of the amount of time a video asset is viewed.

BXD = (views) x (segment length) (percent of segment viewed)

• Views are the responsibility of the buyer
• Segment length is determined by creative considerations
• Percent of segment viewed is a function of segment length, relevance to viewer and creative

Creative drives viewership and, ultimately, the success of video, regardless of the format. Atlas suggested a few guidelines for success in video creative; for example, medium length (60 to 75 seconds) segments seem to have greater viewership.

For the purposes of measurement, creative was labeled in three ways: entertainment, information and sales.

• Entertainment creative works well in any on-demand environment (short or long form) and shows significant lift when a targeted approach is used. It is less formal, and only highly targeted spots receive multiple users.
• Informational creative only performs well in a targeted environment. Segment viewership drop-off is significant when segments are longer than 60 seconds.
• Sales creative shows poor performance overall. Highly targeted segments with value-added content perform better than content that contains only sales information.

The video measurement category is still relatively new and though no standardized metrics exist, the use of video represents yet another opportunity to collect information about how the consuming public will interact with your brand. In the short term, rich data and useful information can be collected across all campaigns.

Kevin M. Ryan is chief executive officer at Motivity Marketing. Read full bio.