Video Advertising & Emerging Markets

The last few years have brought endless changes to the digital marketing world, the introduction of native advertising formats, content marketing, the war on toolbars and downloads, the shift to a brand safe programmatic media trading and the rise of video advertising.

These changes urged major advertising networks to adapt fast and think faster about their strategy and assets; we have seen performance-advertising networks acquire technology companies to gain an edge over their competitors and to create a sustainable business. On the other hand, we have seen industry giants taking a leap of faith and becoming more involved in advertising models outside their comfort zone or main assets (Facebook acquiring LiveRail, Verizon acquiring AOL, Yahoo acquiring BrightRoll, and Group M acquiring The Trade Desk).

Ultimately, these rapid changes encourage inventors, entrepreneurs and media professionals to search for a "blue ocean" where they can become a market leader and establish a true asset. The first place to look at is the less attractive markets in the short term and focus on creating a revolution for the long term.

After the explosive growth of video advertising in tier-1 markets in the last few years, and with the help of other components of the digital ecosystem (Netflix, Vimeo, DailyMotion just to name a few) Video advertising is becoming increasingly attractive in emerging markets - hence the opportunity. The numbers are extremely encouraging when it comes to video content consuming, and when it comes to lack of competition to YouTube as a main source for content consumption. The video is available only for the rich - medium small publishers cannot afford to buy video content, or pay for top notch video technology to serve for their users, so if it happens and they decide to serve video content it's a YouTube embed player/content. Hence the opportunity.

Another interesting path leading the way in tier 1 countries in the last 2 years is Out-stream video. With the "blessing" of the IAB of out-stream advertising formats, and collaboration of multiple giants launching their unique out-stream unit (Teads.tv "In Read", SpotXchange "In Content", VMG "InPage", Altitude "Slider") it's starting to take off with a massive appeal for advertisers (much lower eCPMs for serving videos) and a massive opportunity for publishers who don't own video content. 

Never be fooled by the glamour of the opportunity, it is a grueling process of educating publishers and advertisers, tackling endless objections and understanding a different mindset and culture. Nevertheless, if you manage to survive this process successfully, the reward is mighty - creating a market in vacuum will eventually make you a market leader at the very least. 

It is the perfect time to invest in video advertising in emerging markets; you need to be smart and ready for it, with an innovative technology, excellent user experience and a high partner satisfaction awareness.