In this instance, Fox.com is experimenting with in-video clickable ads. It doesn't seem like much but it's a baby step in what will be a long evolution of how end users are able to interact with brands. At the moment, advertorial interaction is optional -- to go beyond just clicking once on the ad space with your mobile video player.
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| Fox.com Interactive Ad |
Fox.com's video player allows viewers to view ads in one of two formats:
1. Watch and interact with a 30-second commercial; or
2. Do nothing and view the video with regular commercial breaks, about 2.5 minutes of ads
However, given the number of commercial breaks, the viewer isn't saving that much time away from the streaming content. So far, I've only seen Fox.com with interactive ads. There are ads of a similar nature on Hulu.com; but these direct you away from the site when you click on them.
Here's an example of Walgreen's interactive ad. Even after watching the ad several times, I have no idea what it's about. But it features two women talking about something. The interactivity asks you if you want to view the ad in Spanish or English. Having been raised by the public school system in California, Spanish is a second language. If you click onto "Spanish", only the text at the top changes to Spanish and the video plays in English with no Spanish subtitles, speakers, or dubbing. It was a very disappointing feature. Or, perhaps streaming video technology switching isn't quite there yet for on-demand custom video plays.
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| Fox.com Walgreen's Ad - part 1 |
If a user clicks "English" play the default ad; if a user clicks "Spanish" play the Spanish speaking ad. One would hope user engagement would be as simple as that.
The Walgreen's ad falls short of the basics.
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| Fox.com Walgreen's Ad - part 2 |
