If you’re not one of the people building your own “must-see TV” lineup using the video available on the Internet, then take comScore’s word for it: Online video consumption is booming. The digital metrics agency found that last November, U.S. audiences watched a record 31 billion videos online.
But while audiences have agreed that online video rocks, marketers haven’t been as unanimous in their approach to monetizing that popularity. Branded video has gotten a lot of press but is still a very hit-or-miss proposition. And in-stream ads still are much rarer than banners simply placed near a video clip.
But many advertisers are building online video into their media mix by seeking out where the desirable audiences are gathering and making sure their messages can be found there.
When the Milk Processor Education program (MilkPEP), the people behind the “Got Milk?” moustache campaign, decided to grow awareness with teen athletes 12-17, they came upon a suitable video vehicle in “The Ride,” a reality series that followed eight high school quarterbacks looking for a chance to show off their skills at the U.S. Army All American Bowl and, they hope, earn a full scholarship to a top football college (the “ride” of the title).
RIDING ALONG The series of 10 30-minute episodes aired on Fox Sports Net TV affiliates from November through January, but on the Web it could be found at HighSchoolSport.net, a community site that features home pages and schedules for more than 16,000 public high school athletic programs.
Starting with the early November launch and continuing through this winter, MilkPEP has been running homepage takeover ads, banners and pre-roll spots that feature athletes like Denver Nuggets point guard Chauncey Billups.
Peter Lundquist, vice president and general manager of HighSchoolSports.net, a Gannett Web property, says the site is building its appeal with teen athletes.
“If you’re a young football player, you watch ‘The Ride’ and ask, “What would I do in this challenge, and am I better than this person?’” Lundquist says.
For MilkPEP, the series drew an audience they wanted to reach. “’The Ride gave the milk campaign a relevant environment to educate teen athletes on the benefits of making the right choices, like drinking milk,” MilkPEP marketing vice president Julie Buric said in an e-mail. Milk’s “Ride’ campaign lasted eight weeks and might extend to a second showing of the series in August, when fall football training begins. Meanwhile Yahoo.com launched a Web video site last fall that theoretically will have no end — and ConAgra became the first brand to sign an ad contract.
WhatsSoFunny.Yahoo.com is part of the Yahoo TV content family and is designed to offer bite-sized clips from the previous night’s TV comedies. The show produces a new 3-minute program five days a week, and audiences get to vote on the funnier of the two clips shown by its male and female hosts, with vote results available in a Saturday wrap-up.
“Five nights a week there’s some incredibly funny programming going on, and ConAgra was seeking to capture those in a bite-sized way and in a made-for-the-medium environment,” says Erika Nardini, Yahoo vice president of brand packaging.
LUNCH LAUGHS The Web show’s video-snack format and content make it particularly appealing as daily appointment viewing for an office lunch break, so it wasn’t surprising that ConAgra signed a one-year contract to run ads for its convenience-lunch brands including Marie Callender’s, Healthy Choice and Orville Redenbacher.
Each episode includes a post-roll ad for the ConAgra brand and also incorporates it into a feature within the clip show. For example, a feature at the launch was entitled “Ingredients for Good Comedy,” and the episode airing at press time features a “Fresh Mix Mash” segment sponsored by Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers.
Yahoo TV also already offers two other condensed, five-day recap Web programs, “Prime Time in No Time” and “Daytime in No Time.” But “What’s So Funny?” is the first Yahoo online show to include voting.
“We know our audience is deeply engaged with entertainment, and this cements that made-for-the-medium connection,” Nardini says. “Not only are they entertained by the programming, but they can interact and participate.”
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