At TED.com, a popular site which provides free online access to talks and performances, it is no longer enough to feature “ideas worth spreading.” The online advertisements, which usually run after their videos, must be “worth spreading” too.
Like many free online content providers, advertising is an important part of TED’s business, since it is one of its main sources of revenue. Yet TED has noticed that online ads have been failing to capture viewers’ imaginations, and don’t live up to the interesting content they precede or follow. “If advertising is so great, why the hell is it largely failing on the web today?” asked Chris Anderson, TED’s curator. For marketers, online advertising is both an exciting and daunting platform. Videos have the potential to reach millions of viewers, but the strategies for developing and sharing online ads have yet to be refined. Unfortunately, companies are spending too much time waiting for their campaigns to go viral, and not enough time developing campaigns that deserve to be shared.
To help jumpstart the creative process, TED, in partnership with Youtube, announced a contest last September: create an online video advertisement, between 30 seconds and 5 minutes, that is worth watching for its own sake. Ads should be creative, entertaining, beautiful, or funny—something that people would actually want to share.
The prize, of course, was the opportunity for maximum online exposure. Not only will the top 10 entries stay on the TED winners’ page for the next year, but they will be used as ads on TED.com March 21-27th, and will be featured on the Youtube homepage on March 18th.
Over the last few months, TED received about 1,000 submissions: 40 percent were from major brands, 40 percent were from nonprofits or were public service announcements, 30 percent were from small businesses, and 10 percent came from students and advertising schools.
Who were the winners? Not surprisingly, major brands took most of the top honors. Target and Intel were on the list, and ad agency Wieden & Kennedy produced three winning spots for The Nike Foundation, Chrysler, and Nokia. Runners up included a Volkswagen Super Bowl favorite and a new stunner from Google. You can check out the winners here.
Overall, the contest was a great way to get advertisers to think more creatively about the future of social media. Because ads on TED.com run after the videos, they have to be particularly engaging, but the advantage is that they can be longer, more free form, and are ready to be shared. TED’s message is that to be successful, online ads need to be part of the entertainment, not an interruption. “Let’s not make it the same conversation we’re having on TV,” Anderson told The New York Times. “It’s not an ad, it’s an idea. It’s not an ad, it’s a story.”