ADPOCALYPSE! (Q5)
Unfortunately this is going to be a post where it was tough to find more "scholarly" resources, being a fairly recent event. I only recently heard about Adpocalypse from a video by Hank Green on the vlogbrothers YouTube channel, which was posted on the 21st of April, due to an insane backlog in my Watch Later playlist. I realised that it was linked to the 5th essay question:
"Explore a variety of media is used within the context of branding or transmedia storytelling. Does variety dilute the effectiveness of an advertising campaign or story?"
I'll try my best to explain and elaborate on why.
Ads are everywhere. Brands are clamoring to get every millisecond on attention they can get out of you, and they will pay websites for every pixel or annoying pop up they can get.
Enter YouTube, the massive video-sharing social media site currently owned by Google. With billions and billions of total views on their videos, it is a pretty unique social media platform due to the fact that it shares ad revenue with its content creators. The most-subscribed YouTubers can earn up to the millions, excluding brand endorsements and sponsored videos, but even small time niche creators with a few thousand subscribers can get their small crumb from the proverbial pie.
Adpocalypse is a portmanteau of "Ad" from "advertising" and "Apocalypse". It is currently used to refer to YouTube taking drastic action to tighten their advertising algorithms after backlash from companies who were afraid that their brands were being advertised on videos which did not fit their corporate image. This happened around the 31st of March, with many channel owners noticing a sudden cut in revenue from YouTube.
Since then, the Adpocalypse restrictions have been loosened somewhat, but many YouTubers speculate that "things will never quite be the same".
Which brings us back to the essay topic.
Many companies have realised that a lot of their target demographic no longer use traditional media like TV's or radios as much as YouTube for their entertainment. As brands shifted their ads to that 5-second space on a YouTube video before someone clicks "skip ad", a potential concern which they had failed to anticipate was the wide array of content available, and how viewers might perceive their brand's association with the videos they were advertising on.
"Does variety dilute the effectiveness of an advertising story or campaign?"
In this case, it seems like a very strong possibility. Ad placement can positively or negatively affect the impact and impression it makes to its audience. While YouTube is still a valuable advertising space, brands need to be careful not to end up being shown on the same page as terrorists or misogynists. While these mishaps are probably due to Google's Adsense tracking user data and cookies to target ads towards different users, the fact that a company's ads end up on a controversial video leads viewers to perceive it as tacit support towards that video.
As designers, it's important to be mindful of where your ads are being shown, and if possible, to utilise this link to maximise its impact. It's not just about what the ad is, but also what happens before, after, and while this ad is showing that can affect how it ends up being perceived.
References:
Dean, J. (2017). Screenshot of a banner ad on a video where two women hold up an ISIS banner. [image] Available at: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C7i7UItW4AAMMwK.jpg [Accessed 28 Jun. 2017].
Harris, R. (2017). Improving our brand safety controls. [online] Google. Available at: https://www.blog.google/topics/google-europe/improving-our-brand-safety-controls/ [Accessed 28 Jun. 2017].
Kim, J. (2012). The institutionalization of YouTube: From user-generated content to professionally generated content. Media, Culture & Society, 34(1), pp.53-67.
Ligato, L. (2015). YouTube Is Crushing Cable TV, According To Google. [online] HuffPost. Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/youtube-vs-cable_us_55acf44fe4b0d2ded39f5370 [Accessed 28 Jun. 2017].
Pashkevich, M., Dorai-Raj, S., Kellar, M. and Zigmond, D. (2012). Empowering Online Advertisements by Empowering Viewers with the Right to Choose. Journal of Advertising Research, 52(4), pp.451-457.
"Explore a variety of media is used within the context of branding or transmedia storytelling. Does variety dilute the effectiveness of an advertising campaign or story?"
I'll try my best to explain and elaborate on why.
Ads are everywhere. Brands are clamoring to get every millisecond on attention they can get out of you, and they will pay websites for every pixel or annoying pop up they can get.
Enter YouTube, the massive video-sharing social media site currently owned by Google. With billions and billions of total views on their videos, it is a pretty unique social media platform due to the fact that it shares ad revenue with its content creators. The most-subscribed YouTubers can earn up to the millions, excluding brand endorsements and sponsored videos, but even small time niche creators with a few thousand subscribers can get their small crumb from the proverbial pie.
Adpocalypse is a portmanteau of "Ad" from "advertising" and "Apocalypse". It is currently used to refer to YouTube taking drastic action to tighten their advertising algorithms after backlash from companies who were afraid that their brands were being advertised on videos which did not fit their corporate image. This happened around the 31st of March, with many channel owners noticing a sudden cut in revenue from YouTube.
 |
| "Grow your... Islamic State..?" (Dean, 2017) |
Since then, the Adpocalypse restrictions have been loosened somewhat, but many YouTubers speculate that "things will never quite be the same".
Which brings us back to the essay topic.
Many companies have realised that a lot of their target demographic no longer use traditional media like TV's or radios as much as YouTube for their entertainment. As brands shifted their ads to that 5-second space on a YouTube video before someone clicks "skip ad", a potential concern which they had failed to anticipate was the wide array of content available, and how viewers might perceive their brand's association with the videos they were advertising on.
"Does variety dilute the effectiveness of an advertising story or campaign?"
In this case, it seems like a very strong possibility. Ad placement can positively or negatively affect the impact and impression it makes to its audience. While YouTube is still a valuable advertising space, brands need to be careful not to end up being shown on the same page as terrorists or misogynists. While these mishaps are probably due to Google's Adsense tracking user data and cookies to target ads towards different users, the fact that a company's ads end up on a controversial video leads viewers to perceive it as tacit support towards that video.
As designers, it's important to be mindful of where your ads are being shown, and if possible, to utilise this link to maximise its impact. It's not just about what the ad is, but also what happens before, after, and while this ad is showing that can affect how it ends up being perceived.
References:
Dean, J. (2017). Screenshot of a banner ad on a video where two women hold up an ISIS banner. [image] Available at: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C7i7UItW4AAMMwK.jpg [Accessed 28 Jun. 2017].
Harris, R. (2017). Improving our brand safety controls. [online] Google. Available at: https://www.blog.google/topics/google-europe/improving-our-brand-safety-controls/ [Accessed 28 Jun. 2017].
Kim, J. (2012). The institutionalization of YouTube: From user-generated content to professionally generated content. Media, Culture & Society, 34(1), pp.53-67.
Ligato, L. (2015). YouTube Is Crushing Cable TV, According To Google. [online] HuffPost. Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/youtube-vs-cable_us_55acf44fe4b0d2ded39f5370 [Accessed 28 Jun. 2017].
Pashkevich, M., Dorai-Raj, S., Kellar, M. and Zigmond, D. (2012). Empowering Online Advertisements by Empowering Viewers with the Right to Choose. Journal of Advertising Research, 52(4), pp.451-457.
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