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Lets face it. The 4 dumb video advertisement types(Post Rolls, Pre Rolls, Video Banners, Video Overlays) available in the online video space today are all designed to do one job - Get the user to click on the ad!

Its not about the dumb click anymore. Brand Equity, Creative Branding and being able to build Brand Images are concerns of the advertiser that need a solution today. The advertiser seeks some new and powerful advertisement types while the videomakers need monetization that can put more dollars in their pockets.

While the advertiser expectations are so low(just a click) from the current ad methods, he will never pay top dollar for these ads. Which in turn means that the videomaker is never going to make any decent money monetizing his video. This problem is only going to worsen as more and more professionally created content comes online. The current ad revenues will not be able to support the higher production costs of these content.

Advertisers and smart video producers are exploring sophisticated and higher paying alternatives than pre/post roll, video overlays and video banners - Product Placement.

In an excellent article, TV Week columnist - Daisy Whitney discusses how Product Placements are becoming a new trend in online video monetization. Some Interesting excerpts :

“Rising online video star Hayden Black, integrated Warner Home Video’s straight-to-DVD movie “Return to the House on Haunted Hill” into the first episode of his online video show.Mr. Black said he sold the Warner placement for an upfront fee and a CPM rate for the month of October. The episode in question, “Dr. Slasher,” has been viewed more than 170,000 times, Black said.”

“Tay Zonday, the YouTube star who rocketed to viral fame with his “Chocolate Rain” video has done Product Placements for the new Cherry Chocolate Diet Dr. Pepper drink in his new “Cherry Chocolate Rain” video. In the song he sings that he was paid a “hefty fee” for the sponsorship. The video has generated more than 2.5 million views on YouTube.”

More people are doing what Lonelygirl15, Kate Modern and Sofia’s Diary did - Product Placements in Online Video.

Read the entire article here.

Watch the video here:

Positioning the brand and then protecting it is the most important task of an enterprise. No compromises can be made and no corners cut when it comes to protecting brand equity.

I was recently traveling from India to the US by a plane of a certain Airline company that I will not name . The Airline company is one of the best run airlines in the word and on my trips to Asia, I make it a point to travel on their planes. I have only had positive experiences with them. On my most recent trip, I noticed something funny on the food tray put before me by the courteous air hostess. On the food tray was a small cup of packaged water with the words “Shake well before use”! printed on the plastic seal top.

“Shake well before use”? It was water. Are you kidding me? Why would I shake water well before use? Were there any settled sediments that I was supposed to agitate before drinking the water?

Then I saw the orange juice(with pulp) in a similar pack. It was packaged by the same company that packed the water and it had the exact same plastic seal top with the exact same words. The food packing company had used the same plastic seal top on both the water and on the orange juice.

The packing company had obviously cut corners or had carelessly let this happen. Either way their brand image had fallen before my eyes. An even greater crime - They had also affected the brand image of their customer - the otherwise praiseworthy airline company. I was wondering for a long time how such a well run airline company could have let such a thing happen. I thought they were the perfect Airlines. They were not. Their brand image had been dented.

The most minor and trivial things can hurt your brand. Its not just you, its also the other companies that you work with that can negatively affect your brand image by doing something stupid. No compromises and no cutting corners when it comes to your brand. You can never be relaxed and laid back when it comes to protecting your brand and its equity.