Blinkx Rolls Out Un-roll for Online Video Ads
Blinkx, a video search engine, has introduced Un-roll Unit, which is
claimed to be an immersive branding experience. It aims to give
advertisers an opportunity to leverage the impact of online television
and engage users with a brand throughout the video.
According to the Blinkx company, the Un-roll was developed in-house by
Blinkx in response to the industry's need for an alternative format to
traditional pre- and post-roll advertisements.
Available through blinkx AdHoc, a contextual advertising platform for
online video, the Un-roll will integrate a brand with relevant
programming on the Web and serve up multiple touch-points, including
contextual overlay ads and logos, throughout the viewing experience.
This
ability to weave a brand into online television is to achieve higher
rates of consumer engagement.
How it
works:
- The unit begins with a
branded curtain that draws back to reveal the video and a branded
Blinkx video player when the video has fully buffered.
- As the video plays,
touch-points such as overlay ads and logos appear at contextually
relevant moments within the video, generated by Blinkx's patented
technology.
- The video ends with a
clear call-to-action and the viewer has the option to continue the
experience on the brand's Web site.
"Although click-through rates for pre-roll advertisements tend to be
positive, some viewers are reluctant to watch 30 seconds of advertising
for videos that sometimes last only one minute. Now, using the Un-roll,
brands and agencies can tell their story through highly targeted
advertisements within online television,” says Suranga Chandratillake,
founder and CEO, Blinkx.
The
company reveals that blinkx engineers tested approximately 40 different
formats before settling on the Un-roll format, which had the lowest
"annoyance factor" and strongest brand identity stickiness. In tests,
the Un-roll format maintained between 2 and 12% click-through rates, and
less than 20% of users clicked away from the video before it was
finished. Only 15% clicked away because of an ad. Blinkx estimates that
the format will maintain a 3 to 5% click-through rate over time.
