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Canon?s video campaign sees 77pc completion rate on mobile

Camera manufacturer Canon recently ran an omnichannel video campaign to boost engagement with its customers and saw a 77 percent completion rate of the video on mobile channels.

The video campaign, which ran in Germany, was originally created for online, mobile and connected TV channels and was developed by YuMe, a provider of video brand advertising solutions, along with the help of media agency PHD Germany. Focused on integrating interactive elements that invited the viewer to look at more information either alongside or after the video, the campaign featured sharp, slow-motion shots of the historic Italian football game Calcio storico, along with YuMe?s Ngage format, allowing the viewer to select other products to interact with on social media or discover more about the displayed content.

"The decision for a true multi-screen campaign has fully paid off,? said Miriam Klinge, group account director at PHD Germany. "This is evident through the VCRs being significantly increased in all channels.

?Together with the interactive elements that YuMe?s Ngage unit allows, this strategy has led to a substantial increase in reach and consumer response,? she said.

Lights, camera, action
The basis of the campaign was structured by YuMe?s Ngage platform, which is an all-in-one video ad unit that combines videos, brands, and several interactive features. 

YuMe?s integrated advertising units are available as a video player on all devices. 

Ngage aims to provide a way for advertisers to implement real multi-screen video advertising effectively and economically. 

To use, advertisers produce a video, and then Ngage optimizes it for different devices. 


In this way, the properties of the devices, as well as the user-specific behavior, can be tailored without having to produce multiple types of advertising media content, opting brands to take advantage of a cross-screen experience that tends to reach a higher number of consumers.

The campaign ran from Nov. 10 until Dec. 31, 2014. 

Across all channels, including mobile, online, and connected TV, there were above-average video completion rates and a high level of interaction was achieved. 

Mobile achieved a completion rate of 77 percent, which is about 18 percent above average. Over the connected TV channel, a completion rate of 78 percent was achieved, and this channel was about 20 percent above average. 

However, online proved to be most convincing with a completion rate of 82 percent, which is 37 percent above average. 

Domination of video
Video continues on its rise to front and center by resonating effectively on mobile, causing more brands to execute campaigns that include it.

For example, with strong engagement rates in its first year, Philips? Designed to Play mobile campaign for its razors has recently been extended with a few tweaks to enhance the performance and better reach young, tech-savvy consumers with fun, interactive videos.

Campaign partners Ogilvy & Mather Duesseldorf and Rapt Media have enhanced the features and added more videos to continue engagement. During the Designed to Play campaign?s first year, the average mobile interactive video viewing time exceeded five minutes, and developers believe the different routes continued engagement and kept viewers watching for longer periods of time (see story).


Budweiser is another brand often using video to grab the attention of its young audience.

Bud Light and Budweiser are among big beer brands that have poured more than $23 million into YouTube videos in the past year to engage millennials who favor craft brews, according to a report from Strike Social.

Bud Light drank up the most YouTube views for its videos - 120 million - and had 15.4 million earned views, while companion brand Budweiser achieved the highest level of engagement, 57.2 million earned views on 106 million total views. The statistics reflect how brand marketers are grasping that reaching the important millennial demographic requires engaging them on mobile and in a place close to their hearts ? YouTube (see story).

Video advertising has truly transformed with the evolution of mobile.

"In the past, online video advertising usually meant the transmission of television ads to the Internet," Ms. Klinge said. The specific circumstances of different devices and the user expectations associated to them were largely ignored. 

?What we have now is video advertising that easily adapts to the respective medium,? she said.

Final Take
Caitlyn Bohannon is an editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York