Disclaimer:
The opinions blogged herein represently only those of Rick E. Bruner and do not reflect those of his employer, persons or companies mentioned herein, or anyone else.
Amazon Theater
Video advertising online is hot. Get ready to see lots more of it next year. Most of it, unfortunately, is likely to come in the form of recycled TV ads. What I would love to see more of original web video programming of a high quality and on an opt-in basis. Yes, I know it's a lot to wish for, but a boy can dream, can't he?
A great model for this is Amazon's new series of videos they call Amazon Theater. I've been watching them dutifully as each new one is released. They're all quite entertaining, slickly directed by renowned directors and mostly starring brand-name actors. The e-commerce tie-in is that at the end of each, products shown in the film are featured in the credits among the cast, hyperlinked to corresponding product pages in Amazon's catalog. I'd be curious how much actual conversion they generate, though I suspect it's not tremendous. Still, the movies are quite engaging and help promote Amazon as an innovative brand that I like to continue to patronize because the shopping experience is often as creative as it is efficient and otherwise satisfying.
What I'd really like to see, though, is other brands using advermovies like this as ad placements on other web sites. If I were reading an article on the NYTimes.com, for example, and I noticed a large format ad for some brand that interested me, and it was clear that this was an advermovie with some hook that appealed to me (e.g., a star I recognized or a clever conceit that was apparent in the ad at a glance, I would be likely to click play. What I would appreciate less is that ad playing as soon as I load the page, but if it were an option to watch it at my discretion, I'd likely bite. I do wind down many work days at Screenhead, for example, and enjoy watching films online frequently, so I'm as likely to do so on an "invertising" basis, or moreso, compared to going out of my way to look for video entertainment online.
A great model for this is Amazon's new series of videos they call Amazon Theater. I've been watching them dutifully as each new one is released. They're all quite entertaining, slickly directed by renowned directors and mostly starring brand-name actors. The e-commerce tie-in is that at the end of each, products shown in the film are featured in the credits among the cast, hyperlinked to corresponding product pages in Amazon's catalog. I'd be curious how much actual conversion they generate, though I suspect it's not tremendous. Still, the movies are quite engaging and help promote Amazon as an innovative brand that I like to continue to patronize because the shopping experience is often as creative as it is efficient and otherwise satisfying.
What I'd really like to see, though, is other brands using advermovies like this as ad placements on other web sites. If I were reading an article on the NYTimes.com, for example, and I noticed a large format ad for some brand that interested me, and it was clear that this was an advermovie with some hook that appealed to me (e.g., a star I recognized or a clever conceit that was apparent in the ad at a glance, I would be likely to click play. What I would appreciate less is that ad playing as soon as I load the page, but if it were an option to watch it at my discretion, I'd likely bite. I do wind down many work days at Screenhead, for example, and enjoy watching films online frequently, so I'm as likely to do so on an "invertising" basis, or moreso, compared to going out of my way to look for video entertainment online.
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