SpectatorBytes

Over the past few years, I have been waiting for the coming of brand advertising dollars to hit the Web. When that happens, the Web is expected to dramatically change. Web publishing and video production will further flourish as brand dollars will help get talent from other media to commit to the Web. However, current evidence suggests that brand advertisers are still simply experimenting on the Web. The big Web networks indicate that growth in premium ads has slowed down as advertisers spend is shifting more to third-party ad networks. What is interesting though is that Ad networks revenues come from primarily from direct response advertisers.

As I see it, there are several reasons why brand advertisers are still reticent about fullyt embracing the Web:

1) The unique value proposition of premium inventory on the Web is not well-defined; the traditional arguments of reach and scarcity do not seem to apply to the web

2) The Web is still viewed as an unsafe place in the eyes of brand advertisers and ad agencies

3) Ad agencies are still struggling to reconcile the efficiency and measurability of the Web with the inefficiency in traditional media such as TV, radio, print. Also, there is an aspect of how to best execute campaigns that combine the Web with other media

4) Ad agencies do not have the capabilities to execute on the Web such as developing several creatives (20-30) for a single brand campaign

The way to address these issues is to develop products that are familiar to brand advertisers and to provide solutions that “package” the Web in ways that make them comfortable. Video ad networks and vertical ad networks seem focused on doing so. Online video are being positioned as a similar product to targeted television ads (with better measurability) and vertical ad networks are being presented as the next-generation cable networks (glam on the Web = Lifetime on TV).

Both of these efforts I see as major catalysts for growth in brand advertising on the Web