Why Online Video Is The New Brand Builder

This is a fascinating chart on the shifting trends in media spending as online video advertising finally achieves critical mass:

ShiftDollarsFundDigitalVideo

It's telling that display and broadcast are the two main victims, these are media that have traditionally been used for brand building.

So, as Google ramps up its direct selling ad proposition with its 'shoppable ads', it seems that those spending the money and buying the ads see online video advertising more about brand building than click harvesting.

And you can see why. The final scene of Mad Men was based on the famour Coke 'I'd like to buy the world a Coke' advertisment, not on programmatic selling. Video is an emotive medium that can combine music, drama and sentiment. Try doing that with Adwords...

The old adage "Fifty per cent of my advertising really works, only I don't know which fifty per cent" remains true even in the world of DfP, Adwords and Analytics simply because tracking clicks from ad to  purchase help shift stock, not build brands. Indeed, the opposite may be true.

I once spoke to the online advertising manager of a very successful brand and she told me that they used online display, not text ads, and deliberately discouraged click throughs in order to maximise impressions but lower the cost of a campaign.

In the old advertising world "off the page ads" and teleshopping were minor affairs compared to the mega brand building campaigns from car, fmcg, drinks and cigarette companies. In the world of Google and Facebook everything is 'scientifically' targetted. Every impression, every click can be accounted for.

But this does not build a brand let alone brand loyalty.

And this isn't just reserved for online advertising. Arguably, companies like Tesco have neglected their brand in favour of 'going direct' and it has almost cost them the company.

The irony, of course, is that there is one company above all else that keeps on building and investing in its brand. Apple remains the most valuable brand in the world.