I attended the Online Publishers Association research presentation “Eyes on the Internet ‘07” today in New York. The research focused on online video advertising and consumer behavior; with more than 400 people in attendance (this was one of eight presentations), it was clear online video advertising and consumer behavior is one of the hot topics right now.
Here's the one (run-on) sentence summary: Running 30-second pre-roll advertisements with a companion static banner or box ad that is related to the main video content provides the highest return on investment for the advertiser by increasing brand awareness and likeability.
OTX Research did an online survey of 1,422 U.S. online video users (through e-mail recruitment), in a mix that extrapolated to be representative of the U.S. online population. Respondents had to have viewed online video in the past to participate. About 80 percent of the respondents had broadband Web access.
Each respondent was exposed to a streaming video clip (two minutes long) with an advertisement – the content came from OPA members and was evergreen in nature. Interactive agencies provided current or previously run video ads and a companion static ad. What they were trying to understand was the impact of advertising based on length, pre-roll or post-roll (placement), with or without companion ad and the type of ad (original online or repurposed television ad).
They tested several possible combinations to assess the relative importance and impact of those attributes.
On viewing behavior:
44 percent of respondents said they watch online videos at least weekly. Just a year ago, that was only 24 percent. More than 70 percent said they watch online video at least monthly.
Online video viewers skew male and young(er) than the general Internet using population.
News, weather and “entertainment” are the video categories people watch most frequently: 36 percent say they watch news and current events more than once per week, with weather right behind that.
Television shows or segments are viewed less frequently – just 25 percent watching television shows or segments more than once per week.
News and entertainment reach over 70 percent of online video users.
Mobile device-based viewing is also increasing rapidly, but it still accounts for a small amount of the total online video consumed.
On effective advertising types:
Pre-roll ads with companion ads are most effective in driving brand awareness. OTX's David Brandt joked about this being the “Chicago” model, i.e. “Vote early, vote often,” but in the online advertising world, it’s “Brand early, brand often.” There was a 29 percent drop off rate in post-roll ads.
Ad length and type drive likeability – 30-second advertisements, with longer storytelling ability, meant a 22 percent lift in brand likeability. The 15-second ad did not provide nearly the same lift. Repurposed television ads did slightly better than original, Web-only ads (perhaps because they were familiar to some respondents).
Ad likeability is the key driver of consideration – Likeability is an important predictor of whether the consumer will consider the brand at a later time when making purchasing decisions.
Ad length drove consideration – Length is the dominant driver of consideration, with 30-second ads providing a 23 percent lift in brand consideration.
People like ads that are related to the video’s content.
The full OPA/OTX study will be available from the Online Publishers Association soon (see the press reease for now). If you are in Los Angeles on June 27 or San Francisco on June 28, you can see the presentation (register here -- it's free!).