Sequential advertising for online video

Advertisers who want to make a big impact within online videos might want to consider a dominating creative ad strategy soon to be offered by Heavy.com.

by Helen Leggatt

New ways in which marketers can make the most of online video advertising, while improving the user experience, are coming in thick and fast these days. The most recent is sequential advertising. This advertising format enables advertisers to run a narrative thread of ad spots throughout a video or content block, sometimes employing a creative storyline.

The treatment is not dissimilar to that used by newspapers that run a series of one advertiser’s print ads over several pages, or surround sessions on websites.

Sequential advertising offers a way of engaging viewers instead of repeatedly exposing them to the same creative or a series of disjointed ads. “We’ve seen a real problem with some advertisers,” said Heavy.com’s co-CEO, Simon Assaad, via MediaWeek. “They want a deep relationship with users, but you can get really worn out watching the same piece of creative again and again. With the sequential ads, its still a relatively interesting experience for users.”

Heavy.com is currently testing sequential advertising with a lemonade brand and, as yet, no product placement has been incorporated.