Hawthorne Videoactive Manifesto

There’s a new advertising revolution and it’s all about video.
By Tim Hawthorne, James Hall, Scot Wilcox and Steve Kelley

1. Rapidly developing communications technologies, an explosion of fragmenting channels and dramatically changing consumer behavior are redefining advertising formats and creative strategies alike.
2. The problems all advertisers are facing: (a) How do we now reach our audience in an engaging, persuasive and relevant manner? (b) What are the most effective new advertising channels? (c) What are the optimal creative executions? (d) How can I possibly properly manage and exploit all the new ad channels and technologies?
3. Creating new ad models requires innovation and experimentation. The emerging new world of advertising is converging around the medium of interactive video communications. We call this VideoactiveTM  Advertising. And it’s all about the immense persuasive power of multi-platform video, and the revolution in deploying it effectively in our rapidly evolving new world of integrated television and digital advertising.
4. Videoactive Advertising transcends all other forms of traditional persuasion media by giving the viewer a virtual experience which is immediate, impactful, emotional, compelling, memorable, sharable, interactive, highly targeted, self-selected, randomly navigated. And accountable as well.
5. Videoactive Advertising will become ubiquitous through the convergence of traditional television and video-based digital advertising while incorporating response mechanisms. Engaging, interactive, accountable and ROI-driven, Video-centric interactive advertising can thrive across many technologies: TV, the internet, digital billboards, cell phones, video games ... and several that haven’t yet been invented.  This symbiotic union of video through analog and digital platforms represents the new ‘Gold Rush’ in the advertising arena. ‘Old think’ is giving way to revolutionary ‘new think’ about how to optimize this powerful opportunity.
6. Videoactive Advertising is exciting. Bewildering. Downright terrifying for advertisers everywhere. Assaulted from all sides by new technologies, delivery platforms and channels and challenged by the growing and lightening fast Consumer Voice, dazed and confused ad men and women, rather imperiously, even now are calling it the “New” Golden Age of advertising. But, the line between success and failure is razor thin.
7. But “nobody really knows anything.” Nobody knows for sure where video advertising is heading, nor where it will wind up in 10 years, or even next year. As we move from an information age to a fast moving and uncertain networked information age, companies will need to adapt to the network to thrive. The Hawthorne Videoactive Report (http://www.videoactivereport.com/) is a daily eNewsletter dedicated to delivering the latest “New, Views & Insights on Interactive Video Advertising.” All designed to help ad people and marketers keep-up and stay informed about this ever-changing emerging world. And to collaborate within a transparent network to grow the Videoactive knowledge pool and best practices.
8. The 60 year history of television advertising has been based on a model of interruption: “Now we pause for this brief commercial message.” This intrusive advertising model will soon just be one of many options consumers will have as to how they view advertising.
9. In the not too distant future, if someone never wants to see a commercial ever again, many won't have to. With DVRs, TiVo and Video on Demand, millions of people will soon be able to live "commercial free" off the "commercial grid." And that “grid” is now a 500 channel universe – soon to grow exponentially into a five thousand then fifty thousand channel universe.
10. Despite current conditions of advertising “overload,” where consumers increasingly ignore or are repelled by irrelevant or repulsive marketing communications, through collective stewardship of new principles, advertising can benefit society by: (a) communicating new, important goods and services, (b) promoting economic growth, expansion, competition and technological innovation, and (c) enhancing society’s quality of life.
11. With technology adding the catalyst, the consumer is taking control. Consumers are ‘talking amongst themselves” about your brand and products. They either ignore or embrace your advertising, or will produce better commercials than your ad agency. Successful Videoactive Advertising passes control to the consumer, and interacts with them in a bottom-up approach to build trusting customer relationships. And sales.
12. Everyone hates to be "advertised to" but loves to be entertained and informed about things they are passionate about or find relevant to their lives. Videoactive Advertising can deliver this opt-in, entertainment-and-information experience optimally.
13. Consumers engage videoactive content by opting-in. Because of this, Videoactive Advertising is always welcome. Videoactive engagement:
• is always emotional, but informational too
• offers perfectly transparent methods for participants to gather the information they seek
• is not pushy, and sees little benefit in a captive and passive audiences
• uniquely expands outreach beyond sofas full of couch potatoes
• respects the viewers who thereby respond positively to the brands

14. So, how do we find a balance between a world devoid of advertising and the commercial ghetto of "Minority Report"?
• Relevancy + engagement + interactivity = Videoactive.
• Relevancy allows us to see just the commercials that are important to our lives.
• Engagement allows us to "derive a benefit" from it.
• Interactivity allows us to make choices on how we gather more information in order to make a rational purchase decision.

15. The basic formula for success in the emerging New Media advertising business will be a long proven success principle: “It’s about time.”
• Videoactive Advertising’s fundamental persuasion principle comes from successful Long-Form advertising: “The more you tell, the more you sell.”
• The more they interact, the longer they’ll be engaged. The more they’re engaged, the more likely they are to buy.
• Good videoactive will integrate response-based TV advertising best practices with New Digital Media, where multiple opt-in segments deliver a Long-Form-type engaging experience.
• Buoyed by historical databases and zip+ targeting to guide media placement and creative treatments, videoactive engagement matches products to the people who want them.
16. Marketers experienced in DRTV are especially equipped to optimize their marketing investments with integrated Videoactive Advertising. With an understanding of highly measured and accountable television advertising, they’re well positioned for this new era of advertising.
17. But, marketers must be smart enough to "discover" new techniques to engage and harvest the order or customer information via Videoactive Advertising. Those new techniques will go far beyond many of the "basics" of DRTV. Rather, they'll be a mash-up of hard-nosed "ask for the order" techniques and the softer "entertain them" and "branding" approaches. New territory for the savvy advertiser.
18. DRTV’s role in New Media is showing great impact by driving pre-enthused and pre-educated traffic to the Internet, where frequently more television orders are placed than via toll free numbers.
19. Whatever the new media, DRTV will thrive in a Videoactive Advertising world that is now demanding accountability and ROI, hallmarks of DRTV for 60 years. DRTV’s influence will be felt more in message content and structuring than anywhere else.  The formulas we currently employ for making a DRTV sale will have dramatic impact on how New Media selling messages will be assembled.  This interactive marketing know-how will be DRTV’s most important advertising legacy in the 21st century.
20. Effective Videoactive engagement requires bold thinking. And also bold thinkers. We have no maps for our new destinations; the brave must blaze our new trails. Ultimately what works in Videoactive New Media advertising will be decided by consumers. There will be much experimentation, and many failures, before we find the razor’s edge of success. We may not yet fully understand the “edge,” but we do understand the “razor.” It is the emerging, converging world of Videoactive Advertising and the revolution in thinking-and-execution that will harness its immense benefits. The Hawthorne Videoactive Report is designed to keep you informed, involved, inspired, entertained and on the cutting edge.