Posts Tagged ‘overlays’

Features-in-action: QR codes in VideoAds

Wednesday, May 4th, 2011

QR, or Quick Response, codes have been described as quick ways to get “people from the physical to the virtual without having to type a really long URL.”

For example:

  • A band put QR codes onto a T-shirt. People who scan the codes download an MP3 of one of the band’s songs.
  • A library replaced some printed signs with QR codes that lead to digital maps of the book stacks.
  • Which Wich sandwich shop increased cookie sales by including a QR code on their sandwich bags that delivers a free cookie coupon.

But QR codes can also be used effectively to extend digital ad campaigns from one platform to another. Read on to see a proof-of-concept example of a QR code incorporated into a VideoAd.

How QR codes work

Example QR code

Scan code for Mixpo office location

QR codes look like this. Smartphone users with a barcode scanning application (free apps are available for most smartphones) can scan the codes using their phones’ cameras to quickly access information, such as coupons, maps, files, videos, and more. (For a crash course on QR code tools, tactics, and best practices, see Top 14 Things Marketers Need to Know About QR Codes.)

QR codes are often black and white but, as this code shows, you can also customize them to reflect brand colors or a special promotion.

Try it Have a smartphone with a barcode scanning application? Scan this QR code for a map to the Mixpo offices.

Anyone can generate a QR code using one of several free applications online (we created this code using qrstuff.com). Advertisers can track how many scans QR codes receive, which types of devices scan them, and more.

Proof of concept

We added the QR code displayed above to the following VideoAd as an overlay. We set up the overlay to pause the video. This gives viewers a chance to scan the code or click continue.

In addition, we added a Print action to the QR code overlay. Viewers who prefer to scan a printed version of the code can easily print it out.

To see the QR code overlay in action, roll over the VideoAd to play it.

Our proof-of-concept example illustrates how QR codes can easily be included in VideoAds. It also hints at what makes QR codes truly effective.

Effective QR codes offer something of real value to people who scan them. And, just from a practical perspective, the reward must be optimized for display on a mobile phone.

Here are a few ideas, besides map locations, for how you might use QR codes in VideoAds:

  • Offer a mobile-users-only coupon.
  • Open a virtual business card.
  • Provide detailed product specs.
  • Purchase tickets.
  • Provide a PayPal “Buy Now” link.

OK, so QR codes work in VideoAds. But, just because you can include them, is there any reason you should bother? A February survey revealed that 32 percent of smartphone uses have scanned a QR code. Of those, 72 percent said they were more likely to remember ads that include a code.

More information

QR code overlays are just one of many interactive and dynamic features you can include in online video advertising. For additional examples see:

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Features-in-action: Flash widgets

Monday, April 11th, 2011

Flash widgets are intelligent, programmable Flash format files (.swf) that sit as overlays on top of the content of an online VideoAd.

What kinds of intelligence can these intelligent overlays contain?

  • Animation
  • Live feeds
  • Custom search queries

While animation plays a role in making ads entertaining, in this post we’re going to focus on live feeds and custom search queries.

Incorporating these kinds of intelligence into ads goes well beyond entertainment. Intelligent overlays are powerful because they make video ads more relevant.

For example, intelligent overlays:

  • Keep ad content current and meaningful over time by providing a constant stream of up-to-date information.
  • Make content meaningful on a viewer-by-viewer basis by personalizing the video ad experience.

Relevance appears to be one of the most important determiners of how well an ad performs. Studies comparing length and relevance have shown that targeted 30-second ads outperform untargeted 15-second ads in both clickthroughs and video completion rate.

Example: Live feed

You can associate an intelligent overlay with almost any type of live data feed for which you can specify an account name or URL.

For example:

  • A TV station can include a live feed of weather-related tweets in a tune-in ad for its nightly weather forecast.
  • A financial institution can keep viewers up to date by including a live feed of the latest interest rates.

Play the tune-in VideoAd represented by the thumbnail to see a live Twitter feed of eyewitness news weather alerts.

Example: Personalized ad experience

You can associate intelligent overlays with dynamic search URLs to provide viewers with personalized results.

For example, viewers of a:

  • Fast food restaurant ad can click an intelligent overlay to see map directions from their current location to the nearest franchise.

  • Financial services ad can type a zip code into an intelligent overlay to see a list of local agents.
  • Retail ad can type a product name into an intelligent overlay to see search results in the retailer’s online catalog.
Expanding display ad thumbnail

VideoAd with widget overlay

Play the VideoAd represented by the thumbnail. Type a western Washington zip code (such as 98101) into the overlay and click Go.

Video ad with map directions overlay

Video ad with map directions overlay

Play the VideoAd represented by the thumbnail. Click the Map overlay to see personalized map directions.

Intelligent widget overlays are just one of many interactive and dynamic features you can include in online video advertising. For additional examples see:

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Give viewers the coupons they want

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

According to a MediaPost research brief, more than 20 percent of the US population uses coupons found online. Google searches for “Printable Coupons” increased 67 percent over a year ago. A Razorfish report says that the number one reason consumers followed or liked brands on Twitter or Facebook was access to exclusive deals or offers.

In an iMediaConnection article, Emily Girolamo points out that women are overtaking men online (56 percent of Facebook’s audience are women). What do these online women want? Brands that show they understand women’s worlds by giving them something of value to make their lives easier and smoother.

Now, you can take advantage of these timely trends and preferences by integrating printable coupons directly into your Mixpo Xspots as overlays.

For viewers, coupon overlays mean getting their hands on redeemable coupons without ever leaving a video ad. No webpages to visit. No browser window printing confusion to sort out.

For advertisers, coupon overlays mean maintaining complete creative control over the coupon’s appearance and the ability to easily track the number of times a coupon is printed.

Experience for yourself how smoothly printable coupons work by clicking the coupon in the following demo Xspot.

More Information

New to Mixpo? Explore our website today to learn more about dynamic video advertising.

Mixpo customer? Learn more now about adding a printable coupon to an Xspot by signing in to your account, opening the Client Resources home page, and then searching for “coupon.” In the topics about overlay actions, coupons are described in the Print action section.

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Personalize each video ad viewer's experience

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010

Local relevance. That’s what turns online video ads from one-sided sales pitches into personalized interactions with your brand.

With the latest Mixpo platform feature release, you now have an additional easy and effective way to make Xspots relevant on a viewer-by-viewer basis: the Map Directions overlay action.

In case you’re new to Mixpo, overlays are text, image, video, and widget objects that you place on top of the video content in an Xspot. For example, an auto dealer’s Xspot might include a text overlay that invites viewers to sign up for a test drive. A restaurant Xspot might include an image overlay of its logo.

As the examples imply, you can associate overlays with actions. The auto dealer’s text overlay is associated with a Lead Capture action. Viewers who click the overlay open a customizable form where they fill in their names, email addresses, and more. The restaurant’s logo is associated with a Link action. Viewers who click the logo open the restaurant’s website home page.

To add a Map Directions action to an overlay, you provide a destination address – the address of your dealership, restaurant, retail outlet, event, or other key location. Viewers who click the overlay see a tailor-made Google maps Get Directions page. The page shows viewers how to get from the zip code where they’re sitting to the destination address.

Google maps Get Directions page

Google maps Get Directions page (click for larger image)


To experience a Map Directions overlay for yourself, play the following Xspot of a recent Mixpo bowling party. Click the Find the Mixpo office overlay that appears a few seconds into the video. (If you can spare a few minutes, take in the rest of the video to enjoy our team at play. While you’re there, explore some of of the other dynamic and interactive features that you can add to your own Xspots.)

Is your business national or regional with franchises or dealerships in a number of cities or zip codes? By adding a geotargeting variable as the destination address, you can automatically show each viewer the closest location.

More Information

New to Mixpo? Explore our website today to learn more about dynamic video advertising.

Mixpo customer? Learn more now about overlay actions and geotargeting by signing in to your account, opening the Client Resources home page, and then searching for “actions” and “geotargeting.”

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Live feeds bring customers closer to brands

Monday, July 26th, 2010

Consumers are more likely to buy from or recommend brands they follow on Facebook and Twitter.

Why? Brands with a social media presence engage their customers. This engagement brings customers closer to the brands.

Because Xspots are dynamic, they also provide advertisers with opportunities to bring customers closer. Four dynamic features with which you may already be familiar include:

  • Auto-optimization React automatically to viewer preferences and get the best performance by optimizing an Xspot while it’s running.
  • Message targeting Deliver the right message to the right viewer at the right time using geographical and other targeting methods.
  • Rapid response Respond to breaking news or date-specific offers by changing creative on the fly without re-trafficking ad tags.
  • Interactivity Increase engagement opportunities with links, forms, coupons, surveys, social media sharing actions, and other interactive features.

Now, advertisers have a new way to build rapport between customers and their brands. Xspots can include dynamic widget overlays that contain built-in animation and intelligence, such as XML, RSS, and other live feeds. As the Xspot plays, the widget continues to update in real time.

The possibilities are virtually limitless.

For example, a political Xspot might include a Twitter widget that streams the candidate’s most recent Tweets as the Xspot plays.

Or, as the following innovative demo Xspot illustrates, a lottery ad might include a widget that updates daily to show winning numbers.

More information

Interested in learning more about what dynamic Xspots can do for your ad campaign? Visit our Industries page now.

Mixpo customer? Learn more today about adding widget overlays to Xspots by signing in to your account, opening the Client Resources home page, and then searching for “widget.”

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Posted in Agencies, Author, New features, Product features, Publishers, TV and Xspots | No Comments »

Adding Xspot interactivity just got easier

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

Repurposed TV content performs well online. Better, in fact, according to a recent study, than content designed specifically for the web.

But, when repurposing TV creative, advertisers must remember that, as Phil O’Neill, director of analytics at VideoEgg, put it, “the web is not the same as TV.”

“Your [online] audience,” says O’Neill, “will spend more time with the brand’s message if they can become immersed in, and engage with, the content.” Including interactive elements, such as multiple videos, Twitter and Facebook links, lead capture forms, surveys, coupons, and maps, in a video ad “increases interaction rate, the time spent with the ad and ultimately drives impact to the bottom line.”

In the Mixpo platform, its always been easy to add interactive text, image, and video overlays on top of the video content in an Xspot. With the release of 3 new features, managing those overlays just got a lot more convenient.

Independent Media Library

The old way Images and video clips in an account’s Media Library were tied directly to the account’s Xspots. If you deleted an Xspot, you deleted its images and clips from the Library. If you added an image or clip, it was automatically placed in an Xspot.

The new way You can upload images and clips directly to the Media Library. They stay there until you delete them, regardless of whether or not they are used in Xspots.

Multiple overlay Timelines

The old way All overlays added to an Xspot appeared on the same Timeline. They often sat on top of one another and overlapped, making it difficult to get to overlays you wanted to change.

Overlapping overlays on a single Timeline

Overlapping overlays on a single Timeline

The new way You can have up to 3 overlay Timelines in any Xspot and you can move overlays freely between them.

Overlays on multiple Timelines

Overlays on multiple Timelines

Replace overlays

The old way You took a bunch of time to add, position, and format a text, image, or video overlay. Then, you discover that the image changed or you needed a different shape to contain the call to action. Your option? Delete the overlay and start over.

The new way You take the time to add, position, and format an overlay. Things change. You click Replace Overlay and the new overlay replaces the old, while retaining all of the old overlay’s action, formatting, and transition settings.

More information

Mixpo account holders: Learn more about the new features by visiting the Client Resources page, and then searching for media library, multiple timelines, or replace overlays.

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Mixpo poised to move video ads forward

Monday, April 19th, 2010

In a post on the Marketing Channels – Video column at iMedia Connection, David Rossiter calls interactive video “a powerful beast.”

Interactivity, Rossiter says, “encourages consumers to get to know our products and services before they even reach our site.” Video “outperforms virtually all other ad formats in aiding brand awareness, online ad awareness, brand favorability, and purchase intent.” Combining interactivity and video is the “technological equivalent of selective breeding, with the result resembling a powerful beast that manifests all the best qualities and genetic traits of its pedigreed parents.”

Rossiter describes Mixpo as one of the specialized vendors who recognize the importance of interactive video and are “poised to help move it forward.”

Read Rossiter’s description of the Mixpo platform and learn more about dynamic video advertising.

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Build political lists with Xspots

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

Never miss an opportunity to get someone’s email address. That’s the key piece of advice the article called Online Advocacy Tools: Email Lists gives to advocacy organizations and political campaigns.

“Successful campaigns,” the article continues, “make every effort to convert casual visitors into active supporters,” who, typically, become a primary source of contributions.

Using easy-to-customize calls to action, you can convert any Mixpo Xspot into a list-building tool. Because viewers who join a list through an Xspot have chosen to watch and interact with the ad, they represent a highly-qualified group of leads.

Watch this Scott Brown demo Xspot to experience the list building features for yourself.

While the Xspot plays, expand the INFO menu and click the Volunteer Today! link. Click the Become a Scott Brown Supporter! overlay to open a custom lead capture form.

Note These lead capture calls to action are for demo purposes only and weren’t actually used during the Scott Brown campaign.

Learn more about dynamic video advertising for politics.

Contact us to learn more about building lists with Xspots.

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Posted in Measurement and metrics, Product features, TV and Xspots | No Comments »