Like the Omega watch in a James Bond movie or an Apple Mac being used in The Bill, online video affords the advertiser many opportunities to place or integrate their products into the footage. Added functionality and interactivity makes this particularly attractive to advertisers.

The internet enables a new interactive video experience, one where the video stops being a linear experience and starts to become more immersive. Why use a fast forward or rewind function when you can just hyperlink to not only the moment in the video of interest but also the object within the frame at that moment? Once this object is found the viewer can interact with it, tag it, comment on it or simply click to buy. This experience can be part of a distributed embedded video player, therefore regardless of where the video is viewed – the brand’s own site, social networks or blogs – all interaction, including tags and comments are tracked and therefore centrally managed.

Implications for advertisers

This ability to take advantage of product placement is commercially available now and easily integrated into existing as well as new campaigns.

Campaigns that have already used this technology in viral films allow viewers to click on items such as garments of clothing within a moving video, seeing initial click through rates of up to 56%. When videos are scripted for this experience the click through rates are even more impressive.

Having the ability to identify objects within a video opens up a number of other opportunities for advertisers:-

• Contextual advertising - when a viewer interacts with an object the advertising can be individually served within the player. E.g. the viewer could be watching a programme about cars; by clicking on a car they like within the programme it could trigger a more detailed advert specifically about that vehicle and its features.
• Direct purchase from the video - link a viral video to an ecommerce opportunity. E.g. during an advert about a clothing range, the viewer could click on an item they like within the video and be taken to a purchase page on an online shop.
• Product review - centrally manage all comments and tags associated with the object in the video regardless of where the video player is viewed or the site the comments are made on.
• Video search - search for specific objects within video clips. E.g. if watching an advert, the viewer could select from a list of objects to be taken directly to the point highlighting the product they are interested in.
• Social video - invite viewers to comment and tag videos collaboratively via tools such as live messenger.

Summary

In summary the technology is here right now to enable greater interaction with video and the tools are simple to use and available to all. This level of interaction creates greater brand engagement and can even be used to allow the user to manipulate and test out a product in a virtual replica of real life situations. The potential for advertisers with such tools is limitless and unique to the medium.