Results of a year long study done by Sky and the Internet Advertising Bureau is one of the most extensive done that provides insight into the role of online video advertising.  You can read about the study in it’s full detail here, but I have highlighted some areas of interest below.

The study included 6,000 participants, testing 11 brands, 24 campaigns, and 5 ad formats, across 6 websites featuring news, entertainment, and sports content.

Pre-roll video delivers highest brand recall. Despite the level of potential annoyance, pre-roll video combined with a companion banner delivers the highest brand recall at 47% compared to use of pre-roll only at 44% and branded video player at 43%.

Quality content has an effect on brand recall.  As mentioned in a previous post, viewers understand the trade-off between waiting for an ad to play in order to get quality content and also whether or not that ad content is memorable.

Branded video players deliver call to action. While pre-roll may have the highest brand recall, branded players have the highest CTA response.  ”Formats that provide dwell time, such as branded video players were found most likely to deliver a higher call to action response, with a 1.23% click-through rate average across all campaigns.”

The bottom line:  6% of people recalled a video ad and clicked to make an immediate purchase, while 54% chose to delay a purchase or investigate the brand in their own time. Brand recall was higher at work and click through rates where higher at home.

So if you want to catch peoples attention, best to advertise during the day time, but if you want action, save it for the evenings.

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Preview Networks is Europe’s largest preview distribution network. We serve websites, social networks, mobile apps and internet TV. Our content is available on MSN, MTV, Brightcove, IMDB, iTunes, The Times, MySpace, The Guardian, El Pais, El Mundo, Le Monde and more than 1,500 other online media. We work with more than 300 entertainment companies including Sony, Fox, Disney, Warner, Universal, and Paramount. Learn more on previewnetworks.com