Marketers begin to assess hd video ads

DoubleClick and ad web Brightroll are among the firms to introduce ad units that purchase Adobe's Flash participant 9 support for high-def video, and advertisers including Intel and Epson have already jumped in. Both offer user-initiated, in-page units that can expand to full silver screen and play in high-def. DoubleClick's engineering senses whether the user has the bandwidth and participant capability to grip HD earlier serving the ad.

Adobe itself was one of the first to place HD video ads. It worked with DoubleClick to create and distribute the ads as part of its "Flash on" political campaign. The attempt sought to reach two grouping of prospects: broadcast and media industry professionals, and media savvy consumers. One goal was to high spot how people currently enjoy content powered and enabled by Flash.

"We wanted to get out there and remind people of the ubiquitousness and public presentation of Flash power," said John Travis, VP of brand selling at Adobe. According to Travis, Flash participant 9 was installed by over 90 percentage of connected PCs inside the first year of release.

Epson has run HD ads as well, also through DoubleClick. The enhanced resolution seemed a good fit for a company that green goods printers. "DoubleClick... Approached us and we said count us in," said Jordan River Kretchmer, associate creative manager at pantryman, Shine, Stern & spouse (BSSP), the creative agency for Epson. Kretchmer said banners have performed well for Epson in the past, but cyclosis video hasn't.

Both Adobe and BSSP said battle was strong. According to Adobe, people spent five to 10 times thirster with its HD ads than the norm time spent on a similar ad unit.

Not surprisingly, entertainment companies are most interested in the offering. "We've had a large proportion of theatrical advertisers," said Ari Paparo, group product manager for advertiser products at Google. He said DoubleClick is actively marketing the capability to clients, and that publishers have experienced no pushback. "Since it's user-initiated, there's little risk."

Video sites have yet to embrace HD content in a major way. Hulu has an HD Gallery, consisting of movie trailers. And ABC brands its video player in HD though only some of its inventory plays in high def. YouTube has yet to make the leap. Ultimately, there simply isn't much HD inventory.

BSSP's Kretchmer expects HD to become the de-facto standard for shooting ads. "I personally foresee a future where HD is the only definition, where there is no 4x3 ratio," he said. While the agency is not using HD video in any current campaigns, it is top of mind going forward.

"It should be something consumers expect, and something clients should expect their agencies to do," he said.