Summarizing a recent panel on video advertising at adtech, this article states the obvious that users really don’t care much for the pre-roll advertising they are being forced to watch prior to getting the video content they want. No surprise there, but then it gives some fairly credible information that consumers react so negatively to the experience that the forced messages may adversely affect the brands or products being advertised.
A recent study by IBM, titled “The End of Advertising as We Know It,” found that 40 percent of the 2,400 consumers and 80 advertising executives it surveyed found ads during an online video segment more annoying than any other format.
Well, that’s not good. The nuts and bolts are that if you have to do it, the shorter the pre-roll, the better you will be. 10 seconds is about all you are going to have to get your message across, pretty much putting pre-roll in the same image-only ballpark as a good banner. Going any longer will put you in the annoying category, and frustrated viewers are unlikely to be converted to happy customers. And what is the main source for longer advertisements? Repurposed television spots. Once again, and the LR Faithful can sing along by heart… simply sticking your TV product into an online player doesn’t work for the Interactive audience. Yeah, yeah, shadoobie.