Pre-roll adverts are the largest slice of AOL’s video advertising revenue – but the outfit nevertheless thinks the format will be challenged.
“Pre-rolls are the majority of what we do, the (TV) assets are already there,” AOL’s video president Ran Harnevo tells Beet.TV. “Acceptance of pre-rolls is going decrease. Brands will have to become publishers.”
That is what AOL’s Be On division does, helping brands like HP, Carlsberg and LG create, syndicate or distribute their own marketing in the guise of extended video content.
“Branded entertainment should perform much better,” Harnevo adds. “We’re not pushing (viewers) an incentivized message before the real message – it is the real message.
“It (is) much more engaging and powerful and has to be significantly more valuable to the advertiser and, therefore, more expensive.”
Harnevo was interviewed by TouchCast co-founder Erick Schonfeld at Beet.TV’s annual executive retreat in Vieques, Puerto Rico.
