AOL Predicts the End of Pre-Rolls, the Rise of Branded Video
Pre-roll ad impressions are shooting up, but one AOL exec thinks the format is on the way out. Instead, brands will have to create their own content.
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Pre-roll adverts are the largest slice of AOL’s video advertising revenue, but the company nevertheless thinks the format will be challenged.
“Pre-rolls are the majority of what we do, the (TV) assets are already there,” AOL’s video president Ran Harnevo told Beet.TV. ”Acceptance of pre-rolls is going to decrease. Brands will have to become publishers.”
That is what AOL’s Be On division does, helping brands like HP, Carlsberg, and LG create, syndicate, or distribute their own marketing in the guise of extended video content.
“Branded entertainment should perform much better,” Harnevo added. ”We’re not pushing (viewers) an incentivized message before the real message -- it is the real message.
“It (is) much more engaging and powerful and has to be significantly more valuable to the advertiser and, therefore, more expensive.”
Watch the video below for more comments. Harnevo was interviewed by TouchCast co-founder Erick Schonfeld at Beet.TV’s annual executive retreat in Vieques, Puerto Rico. Article and video used courtesy of Beet.TV.
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