Over the Top, or Under a Cloud?

Over the Top, or Under a Cloud?

Over the Top, or Under a Cloud?

Remember Chris Crocker? He found his fifteen minutes by whining about media negativity toward then-beleaguered Ms. Spears, imploring the haters to "leave Britney alone!" Why reminisce? Because the relentless tech-driven onslaught threatening DRTV makes me sympathize with his motivation (while cringing at the painful execution). The latest threat comes courtesy of "Over The Top" (OTT) video--delivering content to TV sets via broadband.

DRTV DANGER AHEAD?

DRTV-specific threats emerge from viewers' evolving ad expectations. Save for bigger, better screens, broadband TV is like TV on the web, portending fewer and shorter commercials. And if viewers bring interactive web expectations to the couch potato plantation, channel-hopping could grow even more. That's actually good news for DRTV. What isn't good is web-trained viewers' reluctance to watch any ad longer than 10-15 seconds.

DRTV formats need time to delineate benefits, demonstrate performance, and present value-based deals their viewers can't refuse. OTT models that don't offer extended commercial lengths hurt our clients. So will the likelihood that many advertisers will want TV results with web tactics--including the popular "cheaper to produce and disseminate because it's the internet" bit. The fact that web ads drive fewer sales may matter less than the perception that old school TV's just too costly. Agencies forced to cut scripting and production corners risk making clients' inexpensive products look cheap--biting these decision makers right in the accounts receivable.

BE PREPARED

Some suggest widgets will work over the top, but the advertisers most likely to gain traction are "lifestyle" brands like Nike or Miller Brewing, whose fans are converted already. DRTV specializes in helping developing brands land new customers. That's hard to do without time and attention.

More promising are the over the top boxes through which programming flows, like Roku and Boxee. If the box--or a component embedded in TV sets--can track location, viewing habits, and the demographic information provided in product registrations, we could target more effectively than ever. Particularly if the boxes can insert ads themselves. We'd have to spend serious money to update our databases, but a few extra columns could yield marketing magic.

Then there's the radical approach: accept what viewer resistance implies and buckle down and make better commercials. Happily, second only to the :30s shown every Super Bowl Sunday, DRTV is the top destination advertising out there. As long-form proves every year, people always stick and click if the ads both engage and inform--qualities quite similar to what they seek in so-called entertainment.

Since OTT may make it more challenging to persuade people to sample long form programs, we may have to recalibrate, and also become expert in :15's that promote our longer form commercials that elicit the ultimate purchase response. Once consumers are watching, the DRTV formula is as potent as ever. However seemingly illogical, it can be forward thinking to embrace old reliables. Content was, is, and will remain king.

So excuse me while I fire up the webcam, and address this OTT assortment of doomsayers. Leave DRTV alone! We know what we're doing.

Previously published in Electronic Retailer,April 2010

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