To address these challenges, Mixpo today launched SmartVideo Frameworks, customizable video ad components that enable advertisers to easily overlay rich interactivity, which can be personalized in real-time based on audience, and yield detailed performance data and insights.

Compelling video ad overlays increase consumer engagement and positive brand impact.  Last year Microsoft Advertising, for example, conducted a six month longitudinal study (here) of 20 campaigns to test the impact of ad engagement on brand:

 Microsoft Advertising has proven the importance of online advertising for brand advertisers by demonstrating a clear link between online ad engagement and measures of positive brand impacts.

As far as online measures of brand engagement were concerned, higher dwell scores [read: active video ad engagement] leads to:

• More branded searches.
• More traffic to the brand site.
• More engagement at the brand site.

 An additional case study with a high profile Technology advertiser further demonstrated

that a campaign with dwell scores 50% higher than average delivered significant uplifts in key offline brand metrics. The measures that showed increases included brand awareness, brand favorability and purchase intent.

Interactive overlays for video ads are not new for the industry or Mixpo. The unique, incremental benefits of Mixpo’s new SmartVideo Frameworks are that they:

• Provide quick-start templates for specific industries.  Political campaigns, for example, need to change ads quickly for real-time response without sacrificing visual impact and engagement.  Retailers want to update video ads with weekly circulars, coupons, and special offers, but want the ability to plug and play instead of getting bogged down with time-intensive creative.  TV broadcasters need to update topicals same day – news and talk programs change content daily if not multiple times a day.  Advertisers need quick turnaround that doesn’t sacrifice rich visuals that increase dwell scores.

• Can be personalized in real time based on audience.  Mixpo SmartVideo Frameworks’ overlay elements can be changed based on location, gender, age, and interest.  National auto OEMs often want to drive traffic to thousands of local dealerships.  SmartVideo Frameworks can be configured to automatically show different dealer hours, locations, and inventory based on viewer location.  They enable retailers to show different coupons by region or different products based on age, gender, and/or behavior.

• Generate real-time reporting for each individual overlay element.  Advertisers want to know more than just click through rates – they want to know details about specific interactions.  Political campaigns, for example, don’t just want to know the number of clicks to their websites; they want to know what percentage of viewers posted their ads to Facebook or clicked to find a map to the nearest polling locations.  CPGs want to know how many consumers browsed through the recipe library embedded in the video ad.  Broadcasters know what percentage of viewers clicked to play additional program previews and clips.

• Supply brand impact results.  Advertisers can see quantitative impact awareness, perception, and intent.

• Deliver automatic multivariate testing and optimization.  Different aesthetics, overlay elements, and messaging will yield different results.  While it’s possible to leverage prior learning to determine which alternatives to use based on desired outcome, there’s no crystal ball that will tell advertisers up front what will optimize results – i.e. whether overlay X versus overlay Y will driver greater engagement.  Mixpo Frameworks automatically perform A-B testing (or A-B-C-D…) and change impression mix based on which execution is having the greatest success.

• Offer Flash and HTML5.  Mixpo provides advertisers the ability to run video ads across multiple screens – computer, tablet, smartphone.   

Our new SmartVideo Frameworks make it easier for advertisers to add rich overlays to their video ads to increase brand engagement.  Mixpo’s reporting tells advertisers which overlay elements are performing best.  We provide the option of personalizing the content of overlays based on audience profile for greater relevance.  And our ads continue to run as both Flash and HTML5.

With SmartVideo Frameworks, Mixpo continues to add in-demand capabilities to its one-stop solution for smarter video ads.

Here is an excerpt:

It’s no secret TV viewers are not only time-crunched, but also multi-tasking across multiple devices while watching their “must see” programs. In fact, according to Nielsen, 40% of smartphone and tablet owners use their devices while watching TV.

Most stations continue to promote their line-up through a mix of on-air spots, radio, and even out of home (OOH) advertising. However, stations can not afford to overlook advertising that reaches the other screens capturing the minds and eyeballs of its target audiences.

Forward-looking networks and syndicators are investigating, purchasing and placing video ad buys to get in front of mobile audiences and, if you haven’t, it’s time to align your media plans with today’s media consumption habits.

You may be asking, “why video ads instead of display?” According to eMarketer, video ads are 60% more effective at building awareness than banner ads; consumers who watch video ads are far more likely to remember shows, channels, and times. Also, video ads are a “gimme” in terms of workflow because banners require separate creative effort.

Video assets – for example a: 15 preview for an afternoon talk show – can be instantly transformed into an ad using video ad production platforms. If you’re producing a promotion for on-air, it’s a bonus to use the same promo online – with a sprinkle of interactivity and localization.

For more of this article, including five tips on how best to use online video to promote tune-in, visit the RBR site.

This guide is a free resource with insights from top digital political experts using online video ads today. Inside, there are insights as to why political advertisers are using video, tips for maximizing video advertising performance, and more.

Contents include:
• The Rise of Political Video Advertising
• Video Persuades, and Much More
• Video Ad Formats and What They’re Good for
• How Much Does This Stuff Cost?
• Video Ad Glossary, case studies, etc.

Features insights from top digital political ad experts from both sides of the aisle:
• Michael Beach, founder, Targeted Victory
• JB Britten, digital media director, Smart Media Group
• Eric Frenchman, chief Internet strategist, Connell Donatelli
• Jeff Jacobs, president and creative director, NextGen Persuasion
• Eli Kaplan, founding partner, Rising Tide Interactive
• Josh Koster, Partner, Chong + Koster

Why not take a look for yourself? Download from ClickZ.

Missed ClickZ’s Digital Political Guide 101? Learn more.

VAST supports linear video ads (pre-, mid-, post-roll) and non-linear ads (overlays during content).   This standard is simply a list of components that a video player uses to display and manage tracking metrics for a video ad. The template operates as an XML “wrapper” to deliver flat video ads (simple video with no additional features or functionality) or VPAID-enhanced video ads with interactive elements.  Without this wrapper the standard way an ad was delivered and played within a player wouldn’t exist.

VPAID is a detailed definition of the communication between an ad and a video player that controls player behavior. A VPAID ad is served within the standard VAST wrapper with an interactive file (typically a Flash-based .swf) instead of a standard non-interactive video file (typically an .mp4). This VPAID-enhanced .swf enables the entire video player screen to be an interactive canvas and include interactive elements such as pausing the video, clicking on coupons, and interacting with dynamic overlays.

VAST plays a crucial role in the simplification and monetization of in-stream video advertising.  The current VAST standard, VAST 2.0, enables video ad platforms to serve much more than simple video files, it also:

• Includes an optional companion ad to serve along with the in-stream ad
• Allows for flexibility in the format of a video ad to deliver a  simple or interactive experience
• Contains options for reporting on video metrics (impressions, clicks, duration, etc.)

While this functionality is great, the rapid progression of this ecosystem has outpaced current standards. That is why the next wave of standards needs to go further in addressing the following areas:

• Video ad and video player compatibility across the ecosystem by :
  • Enhancing campaign speed to market using clearly defined rules for VAST and VPAID compliance to avoid errors and bad viewer experiences. Existing standards are often viewed as an optional check list, resulting in a wide range of compatibility issues across video players
  • Maximizing the potential of the creative executions with advanced definitions of player capabilities that improve a player’s ability to detect and play the richest version of an ad, especially when multiple ads are served within a VAST tag
• More content monetization options by providing standards that outline how to run multiple linear ads in a row without content interruption
• More market transparency by expanding standards to ensure players have the ability, when data is offered by a player’s host site, to pass back placement information on site location, player type, and more where a video ad has been played

What do you think should come next?  Feel free to comment below or tweet us @mixpo.

As part of this launch we also introduced SmartVideo for in-stream. Any SmartVideo ad can now run as in-stream, in-banner, in-app, or in smartphone browsers.

We continue to build our technology based on what video ad ecosystem stakeholders are telling us they want. We garner such information through our daily interactions with publishers, networks, agencies, and advertisers as well as through more formal channels.

Last month, for example, we conducted a poll of nearly 100 publisher, networks, and agencies to confirm whether the numbers aligned with our core focus. Combining the results with our own empirical experience as well as research published by others, we came away with five key conclusions:

1. Demand for video advertising continues to grow faster than any other online ad format – a fact that the industry is seeing reported by a myriad of sources (aka no surprises here). According to eMarketer, video ad spend is expected to double its share of online ad spend by 2013.
2. As shared via a research study conducted by BrightRoll in Q1 of this year, advertisers state that “targeting” is the benefit they value most when it comes to online video ad campaigns.
3. Advertisers not only want their media buys to be targeted, but also their creative. They want video ads that are tailored for unique audiences – personalized, if you will – not one-size-fits all. Here’s some relevant data from our survey (Figure A):

Figure A

4.  Advertisers also want their video ads to…

•  Run on any screen.
•  Support multiple formats – not just in-stream – given that different formats influence different facets of brand building and the motivation of consumers through the purchase funnel. Some good, relevant data from eMarketer that we translated into an infographic in Figure B below.
• Be engaging – interactive in a way that’s compelling.

Figure B

5.   Up until now, providing the audience-tailored, interactive video ads that can run on any screen, any format that    advertisers want has been easier said than done up until now. Getting to the goodness that advanced video ad technology promises has to date been hampered by implementation hurdles ranging from a fractured vendor ecosystem to time-consuming complexity. Advertisers want dynamic and engaging campaigns, but they don’t want it to come at the cost of delays and headaches. Our survey results reflected these challenges (Figure C).

Figure C

Mixpo’s SmartVideo platform addresses the opportunity and challenges of next generation video advertising holistically. Through the SmartVideo platform publishers, networks and DSPs, and agencies are collaborating with advertisers across several industries to create video ad campaigns that are more:

• Engaging by adding compelling interactivity inside video ads.
• Relevant by tailoring videos on the fly based on a wide array of audience profile variables.
• Flexible in that video ads become screen and format agnostic.
• Insightful by providing advanced analytics that cross-tabulate video engagement metrics with granular audience profile data.

Importantly, Mixpo has wrapped these advanced capabilities in a platform that is easy to approach and consume. Advanced video ad technology made simple.

Just as display evolved from static to rich to dynamic so is video advertising evolving from flat file pre-roll to interactive and, now, to dynamically tailored. We’re excited to be part of this trend and look forward to learning more – and building more – as we go.
 
- The Mixpo Team

¹Source: eMarketer, November 2010
²See table on page 3 of the referenced report

Today, Mixpo and MaxPoint now offer retail brands and agencies the ability to use hyper-local media targeting with their in-banner video ad campaigns. Now advertisers and publishers alike have an easy way of combining dynamic video with the leading digital retail advertising platform.

The partnership enables retailers to deliver messaging dynamically tailored for local consumers in their video display ads to drive in-store sales.

Now CPG and retail brands can use existing video assets, localize promotional offers, and increase physical traffic through dynamic store locators with their in-banner video ads. Hyper-local media combined with dynamic, video display ads helps retail advertisers reach a broader consumer base online, drive better performance, and gain tremendous insights about customers.

Mixpo’s dynamic video ad platform enables advertisers to go to market quickly with precisely targeted campaigns for each local audience, while MaxPoint’s technology brings scale to a local level and identifies the most qualified consumers in neighborhoods to increase in-store sales. The result is a new dynamic retail advertising solution that eliminates waste and delivers localized ads to individual consumers at both a local and national scale.

According to our CEO, Anupam Gupta, “MaxPoint’s technology targets the most qualified online audiences at the neighborhood level, while we work to deploy the most relevant, engaging in-banner video ad for each individual. The collaboration results in the first solution for retail advertisers that ties video view, duration and interaction data together with advanced local targeting for increased ROI for advertisers.”

Click here to learn more about this announcement directly from MaxPoint Interactive’s June 7, 2011 press release.

Expanding the successful Smart Ads program, Smart Ads for Video leverages Yahoo! user data to make in-banner video ads personalized and optimized to its vast audience, as Yahoo noted earlier today on their advertising blog.

As our CEO, Anupam Gupta, noted today, “Yahoo! is a leading provider of display advertising and by partnering, Mixpo will offer more brand advertisers the opportunity to run highly targeted dynamic video campaigns at scale, and extend what they are doing on TV to online in a smart way.”

Yahoo’s analysis of Nielsen data suggests that brand awareness and purchase intent strongly increase when online is combined with the emotive impact of TV advertising. Smart Ads for Video delivers rich, video-based brand experiences in a banner ad format. Now brands can reach Yahoo’s 180 million users with new, engaging and relevant advertising using their video creative and powered by Yahoo! Data for higher performance.

Mixpo’s dynamic targeting helps deliver and optimize messages based on geography, time of day, age, gender and behavioral data so advertisers can tailor campaigns for different audience segments.

Plus, with Mixpo’s real-time data and reporting, advertisers gain insights about which ads perform best for any segment and can easily update and adjust messaging accordingly to enhance campaign results.

“We’re excited to have Mixpo as an official Smart Ads Program partner, and this new offering will help marketers apply dynamic ad technologies for branding programs at scale and with simplicity,” said Dev Patel, Vice President of Advertiser and Publisher Solutions at Yahoo!

Smart Ads for Video powered by Mixpo.

For more about the Smart Ads for Video program, as offered by Yahoo!, please click here.

For example:

• A band put QR codes onto a T-shirt. People who scan the codes download an MP3 of one of the band’s songs.
• A library replaced some printed signs with QR codes that lead to digital maps of the book stacks.
• Which Wich sandwich shop increased cookie sales by including a QR code on their sandwich bags that delivers a free cookie coupon.

But QR codes can also be used effectively to extend digital ad campaigns from one platform to another. Read on to see a proof-of-concept example of a QR code incorporated into a VideoAd.

How QR codes work

Scan code for Mixpo office location

QR codes look like this. Smartphone users with a barcode scanning application (free apps are available for most smartphones) can scan the codes using their phones’ cameras to quickly access information, such as coupons, maps, files, videos, and more. (For a crash course on QR code tools, tactics, and best practices, see Top 14 Things Marketers Need to Know About QR Codes.)

QR codes are often black and white but, as this code shows, you can also customize them to reflect brand colors or a special promotion.

Try it Have a smartphone with a barcode scanning application? Scan this QR code for a map to the Mixpo offices.

Anyone can generate a QR code using one of several free applications online (we created this code using qrstuff.com). Advertisers can track how many scans QR codes receive, which types of devices scan them, and more.

Proof of concept

We added the QR code displayed above to the following VideoAd as an overlay. We set up the overlay to pause the video. This gives viewers a chance to scan the code or click continue.

In addition, we added a Print action to the QR code overlay. Viewers who prefer to scan a printed version of the code can easily print it out.

To see the QR code overlay in action, roll over the VideoAd to play it.

Our proof-of-concept example illustrates how QR codes can easily be included in VideoAds. It also hints at what makes QR codes truly effective.

Effective QR codes offer something of real value to people who scan them. And, just from a practical perspective, the reward must be optimized for display on a mobile phone.

Here are a few ideas, besides map locations, for how you might use QR codes in VideoAds:

• Offer a mobile-users-only coupon.
• Open a virtual business card.
• Provide detailed product specs.
• Purchase tickets.
• Provide a PayPal “Buy Now” link.

OK, so QR codes work in VideoAds. But, just because you can include them, is there any reason you should bother? A February survey revealed that 32 percent of smartphone uses have scanned a QR code. Of those, 72 percent said they were more likely to remember ads that include a code.

More information

QR code overlays are just one of many interactive and dynamic features you can include in online video advertising. For additional examples see:

• Features-in-action: Video Redirect
• Features-in-action: Social media integration
• Features-in-action: Flash widgets

What kinds of intelligence can these intelligent overlays contain?

• Animation
• Live feeds
• Custom search queries

While animation plays a role in making ads entertaining, in this post we’re going to focus on live feeds and custom search queries.

Incorporating these kinds of intelligence into ads goes well beyond entertainment. Intelligent overlays are powerful because they make video ads more relevant.

For example, intelligent overlays:

• Keep ad content current and meaningful over time by providing a constant stream of up-to-date information.
• Make content meaningful on a viewer-by-viewer basis by personalizing the video ad experience.

Relevance appears to be one of the most important determiners of how well an ad performs. Studies comparing length and relevance have shown that targeted 30-second ads outperform untargeted 15-second ads in both clickthroughs and video completion rate.

Example: Live feed

You can associate an intelligent overlay with almost any type of live data feed for which you can specify an account name or URL.

For example:

• A TV station can include a live feed of weather-related tweets in a tune-in ad for its nightly weather forecast.
• A financial institution can keep viewers up to date by including a live feed of the latest interest rates.

Video ad with live Twitter feed

Play the tune-in VideoAd represented by the thumbnail to see a live Twitter feed of eyewitness news weather alerts.

Example: Personalized ad experience

You can associate intelligent overlays with dynamic search URLs to provide viewers with personalized results.

For example, viewers of a:

• Fast food restaurant ad can click an intelligent overlay to see map directions from their current location to the nearest franchise.

• Financial services ad can type a zip code into an intelligent overlay to see a list of local agents.
• Retail ad can type a product name into an intelligent overlay to see search results in the retailer’s online catalog.

VideoAd with widget overlay

Play the VideoAd represented by the thumbnail. Type a western Washington zip code (such as 98101) into the overlay and click Go.

Video ad with map directions overlay

Play the VideoAd represented by the thumbnail. Click the Map overlay to see personalized map directions.

Intelligent widget overlays are just one of many interactive and dynamic features you can include in online video advertising. For additional examples see:

• Features-in-action: Video Redirect
• Features-in-action: Social media integration

That’s the advice WebAdvantage.net president Hollis Thomases gives brands who want to target moms.

While Thomases’ ClickZ article focuses on moms, the specific fusing strategies she recommends seem relevant for most audiences.

For example, Thomases suggests:

• Including special offers and discounts in ads that your audience can easily share through their social media accounts.
• Bringing branded social media efforts alive in ads.
• Providing direct calls to action that encourage your audience to connect with your brand.

As the following examples illustrate, with dynamic online video advertising, it’s easy to integrate social media into the overall ad experience in all of the ways that Hollis Thomases recommends.

Include special offers that are easy to share

If an ad includes a good enough deal, viewers will want to share the ad with their friends. But, whether or not they act depends upon how easy it is to actually share.

Special offer that's easy to share

Play the expanding display ad represented by the thumbnail. At the end of the ad, click the Share icon to easily embed the VideoAd in your Facebook News feed or include a link to the ad in a tweet.

Bring branded social media alive in ads

It doesn’t get any more alive than a real-time Twitter feed.

VideoAd with live Twitter feed

Play the tune-in VideoAd represented by the thumbnail to see a live Twitter feed of eyewitness news weather alerts.

Provide direct calls to action that encourage brand connection

These days, one of the most direct and ubiquitous calls to action is a Facebook Like button.

It’s exceptionally easy to incorporate a Like button into a dynamic VideoAd and customize the Like button link.

For example, to keep a running tally of how many viewers Like a VideoAd, associate the ad’s landing page link with the Like button. Viewers who click the button not only Like the ad. They also automatically embed the ad into their Walls.

Advertisers who want to encourage viewers to Like their Facebook pages can associate the page URL with the VideoAd Like button. When viewers click the button, their Likes are added to the tally for the page and they become eligible for special offers available only to the advertiser’s Likers.

VideoAd with Facebook Like button

Play the VideoAd represented by the thumbnail to experience a Like button associated with the ad’s landing page.