Video Neutral
Let's say it together....video neutral...
I've read three or four articles today where the concept of "video neutrality" has popped up. Is it the new buzz word? Who knows, but the concept should be taken seriously.
For a long time we've lived in a world of 30-second commercials, 30-minute sit-coms, one-hour dramas, 2-hour movies and 3-hour football games. We watched television on our televisions, we went to the movies to see a movie and we listened to music on our stereo. Life was neat and orderly - Monk would like it that way.
But all that has changed. Today we get our movies on our computers, our music on our cell phones and our TV on our i-Pods. All fine and well for the consumer. What is life without choices?
And with those new choices come new habits. And those new habits and choices have given rise to the concept of video neutrality.
Not too long ago, television was the only place you'd see a 30 second commercial, and all you'd see on television was 30-second commercials (sure there were :15s and :60s, let's not split hairs). "Video neutral" now means that you can't simply create a :30 and had it to your broadcast team to place the ad. What if your new media team wants to use it in an online campaign? What if your print team needs it to run on a magazine's web site? You may even sneak it into theaters or on a DVD trailer.
There is no such thing as a broadcast spot. Video campaigns must be designed and produced to be effective and connected in just about any video form immaginable. They must be flexible, scalable, branded... in short, neutral.