ONLINE VIDEO SPEND: LONG FORM CONTENT

I’ve been beating on for ages to anyone that will listen about the fact that the 30 second commercial is dying a death.

And an article which came out in New Media Age yesterday has given me more grist for my mill.

According to a survey of UK media agencies undertaken by AOL’s branded video distributor Goviral, long-form video content now comprises 35% of total online video spend.

Have a look at this short film UA client Tim Key wrote for Innocent Smoothies starring Kriss Akabusi. Tim worked collaboratively with the Innocent creative team and director Jonathan van Tulleken and I have to say everything went without a hitch (well, that’s what they all told me!)

And I’ve mentioned Insanely Driven before, a long-form film directed by Jorg Tittel and Alex Helfrecht at Oiffy for Reckitt Benckiser which Oiffy also helped to produce. Here’s the trailer:

Half of the people surveyed said they now have a dedicated person or team responsible for online video at the agency they work at, and 60% use a video distribution platform to circulate long-form content.

And more than 50% use an advertising agency to produce long-form content rather than production companies or digital agencies. Which has rather turned my theory that ad agencies don’t seem to be receptive to collaboration on long-form content on its head.

René Rechtman, from Goviral said, as more people are switching off from traditional online advertising formats, long-form content offers the scope for richer storytelling, providing brands with the opportunity to converse with their audiences in more creative, exciting, and ultimately, shareable ways.

If you are an expert in the art of the 30 second commercial, you can always ring me up and I will be able suggest a whole raft of UA writers who could help you wrestle with something much longer – easy!

INSANELY DRIVEN – RECKITT BENCKISER

I’m sure you will agree with me that when I mention the name Reckitt Benckiser, you don’t immediately think of a company at the forefront of the current advertising revolution. After all, they sell products like detergents, stain removers and pain relief tablets.

Middle of the road I hear you thinking, safe, family orientated …

Well I’m afraid you are going to have to think again.

Reckitt Benckiser’s advertising agency, Euro RSCG and digital production house Less Rain, worked with UA client Jörg Tittel and asked him and his partner at Oiffy, Alex Helfrecht, to direct and help produce an interactive film for them.

Here’s the trailer:

Jörg is one of those breathtakingly gifted people who “gets” new technology and is totally unafraid to push boundaries. Like some of our other clients here, he is way ahead in the world of telling stories in new mediums and on developing platforms.

He studied theatre at New York University Tisch School of the Arts and the Stella Adler Conservatory. To finance his degree, Jörg wrote for videogame magazines such as Next Gen Magazine, the Official Dreamcast Magazine and the Japanese Famitsu.

For Jörg, the worlds of theatre, film and games made sense together. On a mission to combine them further, he worked as a writer and game designer at Treyarch/Activision, where he helped adapt Minority Report into a videogame.

As I said, he likes to focus on cross-platform projects and he has also worked with Oscar winning BreakThru Films in partnership with ITV Studios to produce a science fiction TV and videogame series he created called eX.

You can see just a few of Jörg’s and Alex’s other projects on the Oiffy website.

For Reckitt Benckiser, Jörg and Alex directed 35 minutes of interactive film content designed to sit online (insanelydriven.com), as well as being released across iPad and iPhone in April. The viewer enters Insanely Driven, a mad, interactive world where every choice you make says something about you.

The length of an online film is traditionally a couple of minutes, but this is soon going to be a thing of the past as our viewing habits change. And this film is a fine example of that.

I think it is very brave of a company like Reckitt Benckiser to take a risk and embrace the future so positively.

Have a look at INSANELY DRIVEN – I bet, like me, you watch it to the very end!