The Onion News Network has launched: some funny moments, but what I found even more interesting is the ad placements.
Dewars Scotch Whiskey first popped up on the Web 2.0 radar as a sponsor in the last week of Ze Frank’s the show, although only with small banner ads under the videos themselves. For the Onion News Network there’s a 5 second pre-roll then a 20 second post roll. Both ads tie into the sites content (news), with the longer post roll taking a humourous take on news and the Dewars product.
The difference in what we’ve seen previously? The ads are entertaining themselves without becoming an annoyance, after all most people can live with a 5 second preroll, and the 20 second post roll is so seemless that many will sit through it as well, where as 30 second ad spots taken/ inspired by TV commercials don’t work well in the medium, particularly when delivered preroll. Credit to the creative team at Dewars, and a question: are we seeing the future of online video advertising/ sponsorship? I’d think yes, it just works and works well. Would I go out and buy the product based on the advertising, yes, if I still drank Scotch Whiskey regularly (I don’t, but that’s not the point), and I’d do it because the ads entertained me and in all honesty I’d do it to support the company because they are willing to risk their advertising spend in an area I believe in that is otherwise not strongly supported by other advertisers, particularly in the non tech field. In terms of branding it also works to a broader audience, Dewars is not a name I’d immediately think of when thinking of Scotch Whiskey, I do now and so will others.
