“All online ads will be video”: an interview with Cameron Yuill
“It’s like porn: hard to describe but you know it when you see it,” said Cameron Yuill, founder and CEO of AdGent Digital, when asked what makes a good video advert. And Yuill is certain that it won’t be long until all online advertising is video, and even has a name for this prediction – ‘Cam’s Law’. Newsline caught up with him to discuss the implications for brands and advertisers.
Cameron, you recently stated that soon all online ads will be video. Why do you say this and what impact do you think this will have on the advertising industry?
It doesn’t take a genius to see the trends. My prediction is firmly guided by data. comScore’s recent report that Americans watched 11.3 billion video ads in December set a new peak. In December 2012 ad views were twice as many as in January 2012, representing a 59% year-over-year growth.
The popularity of video advertising is growing astronomically and all signs point to the death of static and banner ads.
Video ads might get seen better because you are forcing the viewer to watch (most of them) before they get to the content they really want to see – but what about news platforms where the copy is viewable in the centre of the page? You can’t force someone to watch a video ad before reading the morning news…
There is an implicit trade that happens everyday on TV. You get to watch the news (for free) if you watch ads. That same trade can happen on other screens. As consumers, we will be the ultimate losers if we are not prepared to watch an ad before accessing content from publishers.
It’s simple maths. Publishers need the money to produce quality content. We either pay for content via a subscription model (and most people don’t want to do that) or we watch ads.
What do you think your predictions mean for online newspaper brands? If the data says banner ads don’t work, will it mean newspapers will need to look to subscription based models to stay afloat?
It still amazes me that newspapers don’t get it. If they give away their content for free they are probably going to die. So here is a simple model that works: They should offer content to anyone that wants to read it but make people watch a 15 second video ad before they can read the article.
If people want to skip the ads they subscribe to an ad-free version of the newspaper.
What about those that can’t afford video ads? Particularly small, local businesses that we know drive local economies? Banner ads might be less effective, but surely they will always have a space for brands.
There are plenty of video producers that can produce a television quality video for very low cost that virtually any local business can afford. That said, given the tiny marketing budgets that most local businesses have they should probably skip digital display all together.
Why do you think video is so popular amongst consumers, and how can brands and advertisers make their original content stand out? What makes a good video advert?
Video is popular because it is engaging. What makes a good video advert? It’s like porn: hard to describe but you know it when you see it.
Moving on… There’s an obvious problem with mobile advertising, in the fact that it often doesn’t work. How can video advertising overcome this, on both tablets and smartphones?
There are standard ad units on mobile; the issue is that most of them suck. Did someone say ‘fat fingers’? Video interstitials are full screen so are far more compelling.
We’re already seeing video ads on the London Underground – in place of traditional billboard posters – is this the start of video advertising revolution?
Screens of all sizes are now cheap to produce. We are going to see more and more of them in all sorts of places. The age of the ‘internet of things’ has arrived.
Do you factor in consumer fatigue into your predictions? Will there simply be too much ‘noise’ out on the web if ads all go video?
Arguably there is too much noise on the web now. The good part of that is that the next piece of content is just a click or a tap away.
And finally, you’re a huge tablet advocate – and it’s certainly true that tablet sales have sky rocketed – yet most of us spend all day long in front of a PC at our desks, pretending to work with the sound off. That’s not changing any time soon…
Yes, I am a huge tablet advocate! That said, it is dangerous to assume everyone is like ‘us’, i.e. tied to a laptop during the day. Most people in the world are not. In fact, most people in the world are on mobile devices all day.
You didn’t really answer that question, but unfortunately we’re out of time…