Is adland in a rut when it comes to online video?

When it comes to video advertising, it can seem like the advertising world is stuck in a rut. I am here to bring a potentially controversial newsflash: there’s more to life than online video ads.In fact, statistics show that we use our mobile devices for consuming video content more than ever before, meaning that investment in mobile video advertising is even more pertinent. These days we do everything that we used do on a desktop or laptop on our smartphone and tablet devices. From using social networks, to watching television shows and booking a trip, in all of this, video remains the largest and fastest growing segment of mobile traffic.The inherently on-the-go element of mobile means you can reach your selected audience even when they are without a wi-fi or a sit down connection. The “mobile-first” attitude of younger consumers is driving the consumption of mobile media. In 2014, mobile video amassed over 25% of the share of online video hours watched, and the figure is predicted to increase drastically by 2019 (Ooyala, Global Video Index Report Q2 2014). In the US alone, a report has shown that by the end of 2014 mobile had overtaken desktop as the most used device with 52% to desktop’s 40% of device time (comScore 2014).With all this knowledge and data the question to ask is when will mobile ad strategies catch up with the consumer? The ideal is to be ahead of the game, but in this case consumer behaviours have vastly overtaken current investment. Even if your brand is spending its dollars on online video, investment in mobile means unadulterated attention in an immediate time span, and encompasses both these mobile web video ads and in-app opportunities. In fact, when on mobile, we spend over 88% of our time in-app compared to 12% in browser (comScore MobiLens 2014).Often the reluctance of brands to invest in mobile stems from a lack of knowledge as to how to best utilise the power of mobile. eMarketer predicts that by 2016 mobile ad spending will have surpassed the $100 billion mark and become the majority of ad spend for digital advertising. Most significant for Asia is that China will be the second biggest investor after the US, with its spend forecasted to triple. Japan and Indonesia will become even bigger key markets also.With such a vast and rapid period of investment and change underway, brands will need to seek a mobile partner who they can trust and which places transparency as key. Having a mobile partner who will consult with you about your brand’s needs, long term goals and key audiences is essential to ensure ads end up in front of the right audience at the right moment and time, as well as in a brand safe environment.The future being mobile-centric is apparent and the fact that there’s more to life than online video has now actually started to seem like yesterday’s news.