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Written on 06/12/18 6:06 PM

 

Buffering has become many digital marketers’ worst nightmares. When digital ads are served alongside video, buffering can dramatically impact the success – or failure – of digital ads. Unlike display ads, which occur as a webpage loads, video ad calls often don’t take place until the user clicks the play button, and this prompts the buffering cycle – a vicious one that can lose viewers and heighten user frustration.

 

With digital video ad spending in the US estimated to top $17 billion this year, and growth expected to reach $24 billion by 2020, marketers are betting big on video, according to eMarketer. But what if half your audience is giving up on your video ad before they even get to view it? That’s what’s happening, according to a survey of US mobile video viewers. In fact, nearly 60% of respondents reported that they are frustrated with their mobile video viewing experience at least half the time. And while half of these viewers are giving up, nearly one quarter stop using a particular service completely.

 

Similarly, about 80% of US adults surveyed by Adobe last December said that if a piece of content takes too long to load, they’ll either stop viewing it or switch to a different device.

 

Frustration is running high, and publishers are making efforts to reduce buffering to keep users on sites longer. With more than 75% of worldwide video viewing on mobile devices, this is a problem publishers need to solve and agencies need to work with clients to address when developing digital video ad campaigns.

 

by Jennifer Wiza

Not sure if you’ve been in a new car lately but driving one seems more akin to piloting the Millennium Falcon than any of the cars of our collective youth. Yes, there’s a steering wheel and a seat and a dashboard in simple terms.

But look closely. The steering wheel is a literal command center that has hardly anything to do with directing the car. Dashboards now come with operating instructions. You heard right, operating instructions.

Kidding aside, there’s so much about new cars that’s just amazing. They can park themselves, tell you where to go, and call you when it’s time for an oil change. Cars now have sensors for well, everything. A mechanic can plug into your car’s computer system and pinpoint any malfunction, no matter how tiny. And the new safety features on these cars? Wow.

Cars can now adjust your cruising speed based on the distance between you and the cars around you. They can brake for you if say, you’re fiddling with the cool sound-system and not watching the road. Backup cameras will alert you to unseen dangers, and on and on.

As great as it all is, the National Safety Council found that people may be relying on these systems a little too heavily. After all, if you know your car’s going to warn you of any impending doom, why would you pay real attention yourself?

A new website, MyCarDoesWhat.org highlights many of the new features that cars offer today. More importantly, it aims to educate drivers on how to be safe on the road.

When RPM Advertising pitched the business, it was clear that along with traditional media such as television and outdoor, digital media could vastly increase the chances of accomplishing the brand’s communication objectives. In order to influence and improve the driving public’s relationship with all the new automotive safety technologies, everything hinged on getting people to the website.

So instead of scolding bad driving habits or being too factual or informational, the idea was to disarm people and entice them with a wildly fun and irreverent online campaign.

Using a playful animation style and an incredibly infectious melody, the team at RPM wanted to get people singing along and sharing the video with friends. In time, the viral quality of the communication would be its major strength, creating a groundswell of interest and intrigue.

Although there are no fender benders or distracted drivers, the video uses metaphors such as ninja attackers and one-eyed Krakens to highlight all the crazy things that confront us on the road. The simple truth is that human beings are always the greatest safety feature in any car. And the new video from RPM aims to get the word out at the speed of the Internet. In the end, RPM was not awarded the business. However, the team remains proud of the strategy & creativity of the work presented including the online video, “Crazy World.”

Crazy World commercial from rpmadv on Vimeo.