Editorial Articles

It wasn’t long ago that video on the web was a small box in the corner of a site which users watched passively; however the idea of a one-way exchange between online content and the user is outdated and no longer relevant to today’s online audience.

Instead, video should be used to create engaging & interactive tools, which blur the line between content and media, and are seamlessly integrated into the fabric of a web site.
An excellent example of this is www.4030.co.uk, the website for the restaurant at the top of the Gherkin in central London. The spectacular views enjoyed by diners are the main feature of this venue, something they convey effortlessly and extremely effectively through the use of video on their site. As soon as you land on the site you are transported into the restaurant, becoming completely immersed in this exceptional space. The user has the choice of sitting back and watching, or interacting with the video to personalise their experience. In addition, the site is an example of video and information being fused seamlessly, by allowing the user to browse the content without navigating away from the video.

With this level of interactivity available, brands have to resist the temptation to simply transfer their TV commercials onto their website and hope that it keeps the user engaged for a short amount of time. The video content needs to give the viewer something in return for their time and attention, whether it is a unique experience or a physical reward.

In the case of CBS Outdoor, the return is the creation of something that should get all brands and advertisers excited, especially if you’ve ever stood up in a meeting desperately trying to conjure excitement over the creative for your latest ad idea.

CBS have created a tool where users can upload their work and see it in motion, integrated into their chosen outdoor advertising space. This ranges from a 48 sheet on the underground to the billboard space on the side of a bus. The experience is capped off by the user being able to export the video into their own presentations, to help sell ideas in to their clients.

This is a great example of video being used as an interactive platform to engage people and offer them something unique and useful. Try it for yourself here:

http://www.cbsoutdoor.co.uk/Our-Media/Visualiser/

That is not to say that traditional video sites like YouTube are irrelevant. In fact the desire for content on demand is stronger than ever. But if you are offering video content on your site, you have to do more than hope it merely ‘entertains’ your audience, you have to aim for complete engagement. Nickelodeon recently launched a site that achieved this by making the video content completely user generated, and then offering the user something in return for their content.

Children were invited to record themselves demonstrating why they are SpongeBob SquarePants’ biggest fan. These video entries are then viewed online and on TV, and rated by the public. The reward for uploading, viewing and rating content is the ‘unlocking’ of an Augmented Reality SpongeBob card which, when printed and held up to a webcam, unleashes a dancing 3D SpongeBob into your hand. See it here

http://www.nick.co.uk/summer/.

Augmented Reality is the next level for online video; it allows users to merge their real world with that of a brand. Active brand participation engages the consumer and ensures its values are synonymous with a personal experience, a world away from the passive video broadcast message of just a few years ago.

Author: Matt Jukes, Creative Director, Codegent