afaqs! news bureau
Digital

Vdopia offers branded skins for online video ads

Airtel, Tata Sky, Big TV, Axis Bank and Hewlett-Packard (HP) have opted for the branded skin ad format

Online video ad network Vdopia has unveiled a new online video ad format called branded skin to capture a bigger share in the online video advertising market. The online video advertising market stands at Rs 30 crore and is expected to grow by 300 per cent to reach Rs 100 crore in 2009, according to a recent study released by Ernst & Young.

Vdopia already offers pre-roll and post-roll video ads in which a video ad runs before or after the video content showcased in the video player. The branded skin format will actually enable advertisers to use the outer covering, called the skin of the video player, for advertising purposes as well.

Vdopia offers branded skins for online video ads
The ad network will allow advertisers to use the outer covering of the video player to display their product, logo and brand message at the bottom of the skin, where the ‘play’ and ‘stop’ buttons are displayed. Advertisers can also opt for an extended outer covering in which the size of the branded skin is increased to fit a banner ad on the right side of the skin, apart from the regular brand or logo placed at the bottom.
Vdopia offers branded skins for online video ads
Another type of branded skin option being offered by Vdopia includes an over-lay branded skin, in which a 'clickable' branded animation will be played over the video

Vdopia claims that it has the technology to showcase different branded skins for the same video content displayed on a website. Speaking to afaqs!, Saurabh Bhatia, chief business officer, Vdopia, explains, “Technology enables us to showcase different branded skins to a single consumer who refreshes the webpage and sees the video content displayed on the website again and again.

“Also, we can display different branded skins for the same video content on a website to different users based on their geography and demography.”

Bhatia adds, “We can display 2,000 different branded skins for the same video content being watched by the same user.”

The company has already started pitching advertisers to use the branded skin format for brand building or lead generation campaigns. It has also developed an interactivity feature inside the branded skins which enables viewers of the video content to click and get directed to a microsite to get details about the brand or product.

Advertisers can also use the interactivity feature to generate leads. They can insert a form inside the extended skin or in a microsite, which a viewer can access by clicking on the branded skin.

Vdopia has already roped in various advertisers such as Tata Sky, Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Big TV, which have opted for branded skins in which their product is displayed at the bottom of the video-player skin. Airtel is using the over-lay branded skin option. Other brands which have signed up for branded skins include Axis Bank, Kurkure, 7-Up, Nokia, Mitsubishi Outlander and Cadbury Bournville.

Bhatia says, “We expect 15 per cent of our revenue to come from the branded skin ad format.”

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