Canadians are the global leaders when it comes to online video consumption, but a new report from video advertising network BrightRoll Canada and the Interactive Advertising Bureau of Canada (IAB) indicates a significant gap between consumption and marketer investment in digital video.
Based on responses from more than 100 decision-makers and media buyers at leading agencies across the country, the 2011 Canadian Video Advertising Report indicates that advertisers have been slow to match Canadians’ viewership of digital video with advertising dollars.
According to Aug. 2011 estimates from comScore Canada, 90% of the country’s internet audience – an estimated 22.3 million people – watches online video monthly, consuming an average of 279 videos each (which works out to 6.2 billion video views each month).
However, only 8.8% of survey respondents indicated that they included digital video in 80% or more of their RFPs last year, despite the report’s claims that agency personnel believe it to be more effective than either TV or social media.
The study found that price continues to be a significant barrier to increased advertising investment, particularly since there is a dearth of studies demonstrating best practices for driving ROI and a lack of research showing if and how digital video GRPs compare with those of traditional TV.
More than half (55%) of survey respondents cited price as the biggest barrier to the growth of online video, followed by limited reach (12%), lack of targeting capabilities (11%) and poor inventory quality (9%).
However, 21% of respondents predicted that online video would be the advertising category to see the greatest increase in media spend this year, tied for second with social media (mobile video was first, with 27% of respondents).
Pre-roll video remains the dominant online video format, with 97% of respondents including it in last year’s media plans – either alone or in combination with companion ads adjacent to video player environments. The report predicts that pre-roll video will continue to be the dominant ad form across all of online, mobile and tablet platforms in the next 12 months.
The report stated that industry standardization is an important factor in the growth of digital video advertising. While internet advertising associations and their publisher members are rapidly adopting technologies to improve the implementation and tracking of digital video advertising, the survey found that 77% of respondents were unaware of systems such as VAST (Video Ad Serving Template) and VPAID (Video Player Ad Interface Design).
“As industry stakeholders across the world work to establish standards to expedite digital video advertising maturation, it’s clear from the results…. that much work remains to be done to build awareness of the benefits of adopting these new standards in the Canadian market,” said the report.
The study’s findings mirror those of a report prepared for Toronto-based Casale Media by the research firm Advertising Perceptions that was released last week.
