adthropology

Hulu's New School of Advertising: Choice

"When Hulu launched a couple of weeks ago, one of their big promises was to give users choice about how they want their advertising. While this was not available immediately on launch, Hulu is rolling out this capability now on certain content.

Giving users a choice in how they view ads makes for a really great experience. Many people come from the philosophy that ads spliced into a movie ruin the flow, so they would rather watch the pre-roll trailer. Others don't mind the break that the short advertisements provide when scattered throughout the movie. I personally really like the idea of watching a movie trailer before a movie on Hulu. It's an experience that we are all very familiar with. Regardless of your preferences, at least Hulu is giving you some control here."

continue reading at Webware...

Overlay.tv

"The ability to watch our favorite shows on the Internet has been a blessing to many folks who don’t have the time to catch their stories at the regular time they’re on. Anyone with the Internet can watch an episode of 30 Rock at their leisure, but unlike DVR, the Internet doesn’t always offer viewers the opportunity to skip those pesky commercials. The folks at Overlay.TV have come up with a solution for this promotional problem. Instead of getting rid of advertisements altogether, The interactive media startup out of Ottawa’s alternative is to integrate them into the program, via clickable product placement and information within the video player’s real estate, which appears throughout the course of the video. The site allows for ‘internet users, content owners and e-commerce sites to monetize and customize their video assets by overlaying contextual information directly onto online video content and linking to external websites.’ For instance, if you like a character’s backpack, you could click on it and find out where to buy it. If that’s not friendly to viewer and corporate behemoth alike then what, pray tell, is?"

via Josh Spear

When Banners Become Alive...

"From Norway, a campaign that takes online advertising a step further, introducing the concept (a)live banners. Media couldn't be richer than this, since the message in the banner is updated live by a copywriter that adapts it to the news on the page where the ad is appearing."

"Created by Mediafront the campaign had the goal of building interest and awareness in a news/entertainment site called Sol. Three copywriters have taken turns in the commentary chair, producing 150 hours of content for the front pages Norway's largest websites. So far, around 1000 unique ads have been created, using a Pen Tablet and a custom publishing tool via Flash Media Server."

via Adverblog

I Need to Go

"ING takes a step forward in creative advertising.

Checking is a low-interest category. It’s an intangible product. Fees are a nuisance. Balancing a checkbook is pretty mundane. 

Quite frankly, checking is as boring as going to the bathroom.

That got the folks at ING thinking. What if we took another everyday moment? What if we reminded people of its importance? What if we used that moment to say something about our new checking product?

The result: a great piece of creative advertising.

I found my (bathroom) visit surprising, entertaining, even engaging.

Even better, it sells a checking account. This is a great step forward."

via Three Minds

Guinness Hides Its Latest Commercial Online

"London’s AMV BBDO is putting together a kind of treasure hunt for Guinness. Instead of launching the newest Guinness commercial on TV, it’s hiding it somewhere online. “To be the first to see the new ad you must solve a series of clues, codes and puzzles and piece together the new film,” says the agency. “But don’t expect it to be easy. As you know, it just wouldn’t be Guinness if the reward didn’t involve a little waiting.” It might be better if we had the chance to uncover a lifetime supply of Guinness rather than a new commercial, but it sounds intriguing nonetheless. The first clue is the video above, featuring a Mr. Juan Ramon. Posted by Tim Nudd"

via AdFreak

NBC Universal Launches Didja

"NBC Universal is expanding its battle against YouTube and other viral video sites, using the weight of its top-rated USA cable network to launch an all-advertising website called Didja.com.

Set to launch early next year, site will offer a vast archive of current and classic TV spots, movie trailers and other "brand-related content." USA-Sci Fi Channel prexy Bonnie Hammer said the goal is to 'become the go-to destination for on-demand advertising content.'"

via Variety

Yahoo Answers Adds Sponsored Questions

"One of Yahoo's greatest success stories over the last year or so has been the phenomenal rise of Yahoo Answers. While the site has always had contextual links, Yahoo has largely not let brand marketers buy into the site... until now that is.

Yahoo Answers now lets advertisers create sponsored questions. The community at first expressed concern. However, in a blog post the team informed Yahoo Answers fan base that in order to continue the site as a free service, they need to take on more advertisers. Most of the 67 comments added to date have been positive."

"...This is all a natural move for Yahoo and I expect them to introduce advertisers in a similar fashion into their other communities, e.g. del.icio.us and Flickr. Flickr is already piloting programs.

However, there's a lot of risk here to both Yahoo and the advertisers. Go too far and put in too many ads and the community will complain. Help the advertisers add value and don't overdo the sponsors and everyone wins. I would love to see Yahoo solicit the community's opinion on which advertisers they would like to see engaged. Should all be fun to watch."

full article here...

via Micro Persuasion