- Mike Shields

NEW YORK MTV Networks’ Digital Fusion has partnered with Target to unveil a potentially high-impact ad treatment for online video called The Scrubber, which -- at least in this case -- incorporates Target’s colors and logo into a video player.

The two companies have presented a demo of The Scrubber using a video clip from the site NickJr.com. The "Scrubber" name appears to refer to the way Target’s messaging and brand imagery envelope the player itself, as well as any corresponding ad units. For example, during a short clip featuring a craft project for kids, Target branding takes over the bottom of the video screen, as the company’s recognizable bull's-eye logo actually serves as the video’s playback timer -- moving from left to right through the duration of the clip.

Also, as the video streams, the Target bull's-eye interacts with several branded icons placed within the bottom border of the player, triggering various overlay ads to appear on the screen touting different, theoretically timely offers. 

In addition to the iconography, Target also runs a brief pre-roll ad message prior to the clip as part its Scrubber treatment. Plus, the retailer’s logo is seen persistently in the lower right hand corner of the player.

The Scrubber is the latest product of MTVN’s Project Inform initiative, a proprietary research effort aimed at discovering the most effective and user-accepted forms of online video ads.

MTVN officials have yet to announce when the new Scrubber unit will go live, or on what specific sites it would appear.


Nielsen Business Media