Newspaper advertising is no doubt one of the most effective ways to reach an audience. But there has always been one medium a newspaper ad couldn’t exploit: video.

Last October, the Denver Newspaper Agency began addressing that missing segment by offering advertisers streaming video ads. The service, based on technology developed by Denver-based BroadbandVideo, is aimed at helping print advertisers gain some of the market share that has traditionally belonged exclusively to TV.

Employing technology from BroadbandVideo.com, the Denver Newspaper Agency last October began offering advertisers streaming video ads on its group of six Web sites. Content for the ads can come from the advertisers themselves or from the DNA and BroadbandVideo. 
Photos: BroadbandVideo

The DNA, the joint operating agreement agency that oversees The Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News, is now offering the streaming ads on its network of six Web sites and across all categories, ranging from recruitment to travel.

“The biggest benefit to the advertiser is the ability to create a 30- to 60-second commercial online at a low cost and hassle-free production,” said Tricia Etienne, online recruitment account executive at the DNA.

Etienne, adding that the DNA expects the service to grow substantially in 2004,  said the virtual videos can be packaged into both print and online advertising campaigns. Fees covering video production are bundled within the cost of the ad.

How it works

DNA’s internal creative department develops a print ad campaign and, with the help of BroadbandVideo, those ads are converted into virtual videos complete with voiceovers, music and other elements. BroadbandVideo even has its own collection of stock photography that can be used in the streaming advertisements.

Etienne said some videos are created from something as simple as the text of a liner ad, while others are scripted out by the advertiser.

The video ad’s requirements are spelled out through an ad creation request filed by DNA ad reps via BroadbandVideo’s secured Web site. The request includes a PDF of the print ad and outlines specific requests, such as a female voiceover or jazz music. BroadbandVideo might also be asked to concentrate on particular modes and price points in the ad, said Jock Mirow, co-founder of BroadbandVideo.

“They’re going to enter all that information and also the information on what we call the C-clamp, which is (the combination) of video, plus information at the top and information in the side window and the bottom window - and all of those are customizable,” he said. “Their people produce the content for the C-clamp and we point to those pieces of content. While they’re doing that, we’re producing the video.”

A BroadbandVideo supervisor checks the content submitted to make sure it all makes sense and to ensure that the right PDF is there. From there it is sent to one of Broadband’s producers.

Once the final ad is complete the file is compressed for streaming and loaded onto the servers for a supervisory check. Following approval at that end, the ad is submitted to the DNA for final approval.

“The beauty of the whole thing is that it takes 48 hours or less,” Mirow said. “It’s extremely quick from PDF to online video.”

Digital proofing allows advertisers to revise the video if they wish.

Slice of the pie

Etienne said she believes that the video ad service is an avenue that newspapers can take advantage of to increase market share, but with a caveat.

 “It is not our goal to move share from print to video, but to enhance the advertisers’ newspaper ad with a 30- to 60-second video spot, in addition to their newspaper ad, to increase their reach,” she said.

Etienne said the DNA’s network of Web sites is No. 1 in Colorado with more than 32 million page views per month and more than 2.6 million unique visitors.

“Having a virtual video on one of our Web sites will help the advertiser increase their reach in a highly visible, customized commercial,” she said.

The DNA offers weekly and monthly pricing packages for the streaming advertisements. The virtual videos are available to all advertisers - print and online.

Economically feasible

Etienne said the DNA’s partnership with BroadbandVideo has made it very economically feasible to offer the service to advertisers.

Mirow touts the cost-effectiveness of the package as one of its biggest advantages.

“There wasn’t a huge ramp up cost for this,” he said. “It wasn’t like they were putting out a special section and doing an extra press run. Basically it’s just the development of the virtual in/out system and from then on it’s just repurposing materials that already exist.”

Mirow said this type of service better positions newspapers to compete for TV advertising dollars.

“You cannot go to a television station and have a TV commercial produced for the amount of money that these things are being produced for,” he said. “Besides, you’re up online 24 hours a day so if people want to view your advertisement, it’s right there. They don’t have to wait for it between shows. It really delivers the immediacy of television but with 24-hour-a-day availability.”

A different progression

Mirow said the progression of moving from print to video is exciting for newspapers.

“You think of the big Pepsi ad - a campaign that starts in video and then there are the print ads that are associated with it. Conceptually, this is the other direction,” he said. “We’re taking PDFs and working from PDF into motion video. It’s a different process and it’s kind of fun.”

A big success

BroadbandVideo is currently in discussions with MediaNews Group - parent of The Denver Post - to deploy its service at the group’s additional newspaper properties.

“I think it’s been extremely successful for the DNA,” said Denny Reinert, vice president, sales for BroadbandVideo. “It was voted as their online product of the year recently.”

Although the DNA is not the first newspaper to offer its advertisers streaming ads, Etienne said it uniquely offers videos across all advertising categories. Etienne declined to disclose revenues stemming from the service, but described market acceptance as healthy. “Our revenue to date has exceeded our initial goals by over 100 percent,” she said.

Streaming works for classifieds, too

Another service bringing newspapers closer to the television realm was launched at the Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader in January when the newspaper began airing its Careerbuilder TV program with the help of Digital Media Classifieds.

The half-hour long program airs weekdays from 6:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. on Springfield’s WB affiliate station. The program consists of weekly help-wanted ads appearing in a professionally produced video format.

The News-Leader is Digital Media Classifieds’ 25th newspaper partner to present a weekly recruitment television program.

In February, The Knoxville (Tenn.) News-Sentinel began airing a weekly recruitment TV program that will appear from 6:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. on Knoxville’s Fox affiliate.

In addition, The News-Sentinel will offer recruitment advertisers the opportunity to air individual employment announcements as originally created streaming digital videos on its Web site, www.knoxnews.com. The News-Sentinel brings to 10 the number of DMC’s newspaper clients offering streaming videos on their Web sites.