AOL Video Keeps Hangin’ On, Producing 15+ Original Web Series
<< Back to MediaPost
VidBlog AOL Video Keeps Hangin’ On, Producing 15+ Original Web Series Gavin O’Malley, Oct 03, 2011 01:52 PM
Last we checked, AOL was still hanging its hat on the whole “content company” thing.
(Never mind that it’s producing no notable fare — of the genius or blockbuster variety; its largest acquisition to date is more aggregator than creator; and, with the flip of a switch, Facebook just established a far bigger reach for premium media.)
Forging ahead, AOL just debuted a new slate of original programming spanning more than 15 Web series — from Heidi Klum’s guide to fabulous living to Mark Burnett’s abridged takes on literary classics — each of which will be programmed and distributed across AOL Huffington Post Media Group sites.
To more effectively monetize the lot, AOL has also tied up with Publicis Groupe’s VivaKi to explore new and improved ad models.
Per the new partnership, AOL plans to dive even deeper into VivaKi’s ongoing research effort, The Pool, which conducts research and testing in the online video space.
In its first three waves of research, or “lanes,” the ASq — which lets viewers choose the ad they want to watch — was selected as the most superior online video ad model, even out-performing pre-roll ads.
By VivaKi’s count, ASq has so far certified 15 publishers, including AOL; has supported more than 150 client campaigns across 35 advertisers; and garnered more than 400 million impressions.
Going further, VivaKi and AOL hope to identify other formats that provide more personalization and social components within the online video user experience.
AOL Video has established itself as one of the top-10 video platforms online with 43.9 million unique viewers and 403.6 million U.S. streams per month, according to AOL, citing comScore data.
Unfortunately, AOL’s track record with innovative ad models is spotty at best. Take Project Devil, a large-ad format with interactive panels that dominate a Web page, and one of CEO Tim Armstrong’s greatest gambles. Despite his best efforts, Reuters recently reported that publishers have been slow to adopt the format.
According to Tracey Scheppach, VivaKi’s EVP, Innovations Director and co-founder of The Pool, the first model that will go into field trial testing consists of a pre-roll overlay within a video player. It gives the viewer an option to click and expand the ad into a branded toolbar, which provides viewers with multiple ways to interact with the brand.
The second model is a slate ad format, which asks whether the viewer would like to watch a full :30 ad or a :15 ad, and then answer a question immediately following the ad.
The third and final model is a pre-roll overlay that provides buttons for Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social platforms. To reinforce the sharing option, this model will also include a billboard at the end of the pre-roll or at the end of the content.
This lane is expected to kick off in November, and will be open to all VivaKi clients.
According to Scheppach, results are expected by early 2012, while official names will be given to the three models during process.
