By Darren Yan
Business Manager (Database Sales)
The AsiaOne Network

The television and newspaper have been the two most widely used mediums by advertisers to maximize the reach of their products and services.  Presumably, this reach is a result of the limited broadcast spectrum and newspaper license issued by the government respectively, which allows these media owners to establish distribution channels that reaches individuals in an economic manner.It is obvious that the two mediums communicate the advertising message in a different mode.  The television has the capacity to deliver the message in a multimedia format that encapsulates the visual and audio elements that are creatively expressed in a 30 second format used by broadcasting stations as the standard advertising unit.  This visceral creative in the video advertisement hopes to evoke the emotion of viewers that will either raise the awareness of the advertiser or motivate them to make a spontaneous follow-up action following the viewing of the advertisement.  An example of such an ad that encapsulates these two elements is from Monster.Com.

Given the deliberate thought process that goes into the development of the video advertisement (not to mention the production cost which rises in tandem with the creative effort), it is perhaps frustrating to see the video ads being stymied by the lack of reach from broadcasting stations that segments the daily programming schedule into different time belts with varying advertising rates.  Accordingly, advertisers with restricted budgets can run their video advertisements in limited frequency in the time belts which are most widely watched by viewers.  Alternatively, advertisers can run their video ads in other time belts with relatively lesser audience but at a higher frequency.

This approach seems to run counter to the assertion that television is a medium which advertisers can use to maximize reach.  While broadcast stations may position their rates as competitively structured with low cost per reach, the reality is that this metric is meaningless if the frequency of advertisement is limited.  Realistically, consumers who are exposed to the video advertisement will perhaps need to view it more than once to appreciate the advertising message. It is this reality that advertisers must accept as the true economics of advertising on the mainstream television medium.  This harsh reality is magnified further by the growing use of digital video recorders (DVRs) which allows the advertisers’ target audience to bypass their video advertisements in an increasingly time-shifting viewing environment.

Many progressive advertisers have since turned to the Internet to distribute their creative video productions.  Broadband penetration has been growing on an annual basis which accompanies the declining trend of dial-up subscriptions still offered by Internet service providers. As such, there are many channels available today that takes advantage of this high broadband penetration for online video distribution.

The obvious choice would be YouTube, which is perhaps the most consistent rich media site on the Internet today.  There is also Facebook which allow videos to be uploaded and viewed by the network of friends associated to the user (who placed the ad in the site).  Finally, there are branded portals which offer rich media video solutions for advertisers seeking to distribute their video advertisements to the supposedly large online community. 

While the Internet is clearly an alternative channel to distribute advertisers’ video messages, it is perhaps more important for the advertiser to appreciate the advantages the Internet offers over the television medium.  The most obvious advantage is the scientific measurement of the number of online users who viewed the video advertisement.  Unlike the television medium (specifically viewers receiving free-to-air channels on non-cable boxes) that tracks viewing on random sample of panelists, the online medium gives advertisers metrics such as the date, time and viewer’s geographical location (based on the user’s IP address).  These tools are readily available on YouTube to measure the effective distribution of the uploaded video.

The commercial solutions offered by portals offer a more sophisticated array of online tools for advertisers.  For example, AsiaOne’s Targeted Video Commercial service allows the advertiser to select the segment within the portal to distribute the video advertisement.  This allows the advertisement to be targeted to a specific target audience who will presumably appreciate the video’s subject matter and context.  Moreover, advertisers will know the percentage of all users who finished viewing the entire video advertisement.  Finally, advertisers can maintain a consistent brand positioning by customizing the design of the panel (or what is commonly known as the skin of the video player) that broadcast the video advertisement. 

At this point, it seems that the advertiser has an economic solution to distribute their video advertisements that sufficiently meets their objectives of maximizing reach.  However, I would argue that advertisers should now consider the influence of social media as the next evolution of online video advertisement, or what I term it as video advertisement 2.0.  In another article of mine, I put forth the argument that social media is now a mainstream medium which is embraced by millions around the world.  As such, it is perhaps fitting to integrate the elements of social media into the production of the video advertisement so as to take advantage of this medium. 

Hence, the Internet is an alternative video advertisement channel, and the economics is definitely more compelling than television.  What is recommended, however, is for advertisers to take advantage of the social media element in their video production process.  A carefully thought out advertisement will achieve a multiplier effect to extend the reach of the advertiser.  As the start of this article suggest, it is the objective of the advertiser to  maximize reach, and this is certainly one way to do so.  

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