In February, Virool’s Chief Revenue Officer, said to the industry, “This is the year of advertainment.” In 2015, brands proved that there is a new standard for made-for-web content, and we’re well aware this is only the beginning.
At Virool, we know it is undoubtedly one of the best times to be a content creator. As budgets shift away from TV, we see brands embrace the space for storytelling that the web allows. No longer confined to 15-second and 30-second spots, advertisers are pushing new boundaries in emotion, length and distribution.
This breed of content is what we call “Advertainment.” The foundation of advertainment isn’t new, in fact, advertisers have known for quite some time that the best way to engage an audience is through storytelling. However, as an industry we’re at the crossroads where many advertisers simply want to repurpose their TV spots for the web. As experts in video distribution, we can tell you that this doesn’t work.
Audiences are moved to action by emotion, and the web provides the perfect canvas to elicit engagement on new levels. It’s not that longer videos are inherently more engaging. There are plenty of Vine videos that prove six-second videos can be hilarious, shareable and yes, extremely engaging. To create videos that evoke deep emotions and trigger a subconscious connection to a brand from the audience – we need to prioritize the story. Viewers don’t hate ads; they hate ads that disrupt their experience without adding value.
Yahoo, Razorfish, DigitasLBi, and Tumblr put out a fantastic study on millennials, where they revealed that 45% of millennials don’t find branded content engaging enough to share. However, one-third of those millennials are willing to engage and share branded content and ads, but only if it’s good. It’s time that more brands give the audience a reason to share. And while we can work to perfect the targeting and placements – a video can only be as successful as it is compelling.
In a recent interview with Forbes, Alex Debelov, Virool’s CEO discussed why emotion makes up the DNA of all viral videos. The author, Baldwin Cunningham, captured it perfectly when he said “The heart of advertising lies not in display units or fullscreen takeovers, but in stories that make people laugh, cry, and feel connected to something bigger.” Which is the precise reason that our mission at Virool is to “make advertising human,” and why we’ve run a year long “Race to Zero Gravity” contest to find the best in advertainment.
It begins and ends with humanizing the brand through authentic emotion. Today, we ask you to make a commitment to compelling content.
It’s time to get engaged to #advertainment. Check out our new Advertainment hub for all things video marketing, no matter what industry you are in.
The post It’s not advertising. It’s advertainment. appeared first on Virool.