Pre-roll Pretence
Written by Lawrence Johnson | March 18, 2008
Sean X Cumming’s post The X Factor: Why Online Pre-roll is Dead (iMedia) foretells of the impending demise of online pre-roll video. He points out that it boils down to five points, namely: 1. How the client end is managing the buy; 2. How it is measured; 3. Ad content; 4. Ad content plasticity; 5. Consumer tolerance.
This all happened very rapidly first by agencies endeavoring to repurpose creative assets or who were so enamored with television preferred to simply push this format though internet without regard for the underpinnings of this media. And then there are those who would so happily frame the tactic under the guise of branding strategy without concern for valid measurement or true impact.
This reminds me of what Marshall McLuhan pointed out a generation ago when he suggested: that the message of any medium or technology is the change of scale or pace or pattern that it introduces into human affairs. The railway did not introduce movement or transportation or wheel or road into human society, but it accelerated and enlarged the scale of previous human functions, creating totally new kinds of cities and new kinds of work and leisure. (Understanding Media, 1964,). What McLuhan writes about the railroad applies with equal validity to online media.
Misalignment of messaging with the target channels and audiences is misguided and inefficacious. And this is quite independent of the content being disseminated. So let’s refrain from the simple reflex of repurposing content through the wrong channel without a thorough understanding of its underlying nature and our target audience’s disposition when engaging such channel. Maybe one day we will get it.
This is particularly pertinent for user-generated clips.
Anick Jesdaun points out in a Forbes.com article – that was preceded by a pre-roll video – Advertisers Shun User-Generated Video, that advertisers have simply decided to stay away from user-generated videos out of concern of being tied to objectionable content.
Video sharing sites like YouTube have set programs to foster safe advertising programs by pre screening video producers and imposing best practices. However efforts to foster quality, trust and relevance are undermined by the fast and steady commoditization of videos. If these channels cannot buttress brands compelling need for differentiation they will go tell their story somewhere else.
