Death of the 30 second spot...<< The free ads market - publisher opportunity or threat? | Main | The broadening adoption of engagement tactics >> Julian Smith | April 13, 2006, 11:06 AM There has been much recent debate (and navel-gazing in TV circles) about the death of the classic, "interruptive" 30 second advertising spot on TV as media and audiences fragment, TV viewing becomes on-demand and PVR controlled, and consumers spend more time with online and interactive media. This trend is typified by the recent publication of a book entitled "Life after the 30 second spot" written by Joseph Jaffe , who Nate tells me he was hanging out with in Miami, just the other day. At the same time the concepts of branded content and viral marketing have been gaining prominence in advertisers' and, especially, agencys' vocabulary. The result: an evolution in the nature of audiovisual commercials, with much freer rein on length, content, distribution, channels and often much greater opportunities to be seen. Take this video clip for example. At 3 minutes long, is it an ad or branded content? Has it been created to view on TV, cinema, online or on an iPod even? The fact it has a SKySports logo on it suggests it has been aired on TV, the fact that it is in Google Video suggests it has been copied by a consumer and made viral. Would an ad like this ever have been created to fit into the restrictions of the 30 second spot? Whatever, its probably the best viral video clip I have seen recently!! Ha! For UK viewers see if you can name all the football stars in the clip. If you can, then you were definitely born before the Internet was!! And probably before the computer become a ubiquitous, personal desktop tool!! |