Majority of Marketers and Agencies Surveyed in New IAB Study Plan to Increase Digital Video Advertising Spend

Those Surveyed Plan to Increase Spend on Digital Video by 22% in next 12 months

NEW YORK – “An Inside Look at Demand-Side Perceptions of Digital Video Advertising,” a comprehensive survey examining the views of marketers and agencies, reaffirms that the shift in ad dollar allotment has solidified. The study, released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and conducted by Advertiser Perceptions, shows that 69% of marketers and 55% of agencies plan to increase their Digital Video Advertising (DVA), with a 22% growth predicted in the next 12 months. Those surveyed project they will spend 17% of their total online display advertising budget on DVA in the next 12 months. The results of the study were announced at the IAB Digital Video Marketplace where almost 400 industry executives gathered to address the most pressing issues across the digital video platform.

Some of the other key findings of the study include:

– Advertisers are finding that their audiences respond better to DVA, with consumers showing a higher engagement rate with online video.
– DVA is more trackable and targetable and DVA production is less expensive, making it more cost efficient.
– Marketers will migrate TV ad dollars to digital video based on the belief it will deliver better ROI; agencies and television decision makers will shift ad dollars in an attempt to follow their target audiences.
– Among the different available DVA formats (pre-roll, in-banner, expandable banner, mobile video, rich media overlay and post-roll), agencies primarily use pre-roll while marketers are not committed to any specific format. Most respondents believe the appropriate length is 15 seconds.
– The preferred pricing model is CPM.
– A majority of marketers and a majority of agencies believe they should each be responsible for deciding whether to use DVA and how much budget to allocate to it.

There are still several opportunities for increasing the growth of DVA including:

– Improved ROI measurement
– Better standardized metrics
– Demonstrated audience shift to digital

“The study substantiates the buy-side appeal of digital video advertising – the power of sight, sound and motion paired with interactivity,” said Sherrill Mane, SVP Industry Services, IAB. “This bodes exceptionally well for the future revenue growth.”

“There was strong consensus that demand for digital video advertising was strengthening,” according to Randy Cohen, President of Advertiser Perceptions. “It was described best by a senior agency buyer who stated that ‘Digital video is becoming an ever-more common way that our target is consuming what was traditionally broadcast content – and our target is spending more time online, and video is another way to reach and engage the target.’”

All interviews for this study were completed online between November 17- December 6, 2010 in a blind survey. The sample was digital and/or television media decision makers with the intent to spend $1 million or more in the next 12 months. There were 500 respondents total, 148 marketers and 352 agencies, with 44% percent holding higher level titles. Sixty-two percent of respondents were involved in television decision making and 85% were involved in digital decision making.

The summary findings can be found at www.iab.net/digital_video_perceptions.

About the IAB

The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) is comprised of more than 500 leading media and technology companies who are responsible for selling 86% of online advertising in the United States. On behalf of its members, the IAB is dedicated to the growth of the interactive advertising marketplace, of interactive’s share of total marketing spend, and of its members’ share of total marketing spend. The IAB educates marketers, agencies, media companies and the wider business community about the value of interactive advertising. Working with its member companies, the IAB evaluates and recommends standards and practices and fields critical research on interactive advertising. Founded in 1996, the IAB is headquartered in New York City with a Public Policy office in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.iab.net.