Many people may have the impression that video ads are not negligible, but the results are unpredictable until they are placed. Irep Inc. is working on prototype video production based on our knowledge and experience of running a high-speed PDCA cycle over many years in banner and listing ads. This post will explain the prototype video production, a method of refining the video ads through repeated verification of factors leading to purchase intent through the PDCA cycle.

What is Prototype Video Production?

– Common concerns in video production

When implementing video ads, there are many cases where you are unsure of what to appeal to the viewers to make them buy your products or are worried if your investment leads to sales. Maybe you are investing in ads with many uncertainties.

The two major concerns we hear about video advertising are: “concerns in planning and production” and “concerns after the ad placement.” These can be detailed as follows.

<Planning and production>

• What appeals to who
• How to structure the ads: appealing points, scenes, directions
• Only wanting videos that lead to results with the lowest cost possible

<After the ad placement>

• Cannot clarify what led or did not lead to the results
• Cannot make improvements to future ads based on the results

The prototype video production can solve your planning and production concerns.

– Prototype Video Production (Irep’s Proposal)

The prototype video production method first breaks down the video ads into factors such as product acceptance, appealing points, benefits, offers, and copies. Then we analyze the winning elements that lead to attitude change (e.g., purchase intent) per element and incorporate them in a single video ad.

Our strength is in programmatic ads such as banner and listing ads, and we have been pursuing the maximization of their effectiveness through rapid PDCA cycles. The prototype video production was developed based on that experience, discovering the most effective combination of advertisement factors through countless PDCA cycles.

Video ads have more information and variables than text and images. So, to ensure the results, it is essential to follow these PDCA cycles: 1. Research the best combination impacting the purchase intent, 2. Plan the video content in detail to maximize its effectiveness before production, and 3. Review the results and make improvements. The prototype video production incorporates this cycle to produce compelling video ads.

– Cases suited for the prototype video production

We have been telling you that prototype video production is the best way to maximize results with video ads. But because this is a multivariate verification method, it is not suited in every case. Suitable cases are:

• There are many advantages compared to competitors
• There are many points of benefits
• There are many offers available such as free shipping, No.1 customer satisfaction, and XX award winner for NN consecutive years

– Basic Workflow of the Prototype Video Production

There are three major steps in the basic workflow. The first is to analyze the product/service and target through market and target research. The second is to verify the factors such as product acceptance, appealing points, and benefits that impact the purchase intent. The third is to create a video using the most effective combination.

(Figure 1: Basic Workflow of the Prototype Video Production)

How to Verify the Factors Impacting the Purchase Intent

– Methods

There are three ways to verify the impacting factors: 1. Surveys, 2. YouTube ads, and 3. Local TV commercials.

(Figure 2: Three ways to verify the factors impacting the purchase intent)

You should select which method to take according to the budget, schedule, and objective. However, verification with YouTube ads and local TV commercials tend to have difficulty specifying the video elements that changed the attitude. They also require time to get the results and cost for producing the videos. That is why we generally recommend surveys. On the other hand, with YouTube ads, you can use the actual data for verification. With local TV commercials, you can run verifications in a similar environment if you want to produce TV commercials. So what you need to do, is to clarify what you want to verify and select the best method that suits your budget and time.

– Survey verifications

With survey verifications, the verification types depend on what you want to clarify and what you already know. It is important to combine each verification type according to what is already evident.

There are four major verification types, as shown below. For example, if you need to examine detailed elements such as benefits that lead to interest and purchase intent, important and attractive points for purchasing the product, and acceptance of the offer elements, you can use the appealing element verification (type 1). If you already know such detailed elements, you can use type 2, the concept acceptance survey, to find the optimal element combinations. These two types can be grouped together as “What to say” verifications. We recommend running “How to say” verifications (types 3 and 4) for appropriate expressions.

(Figure 3: Types survey verifications)

– YouTube ad verifications

The workflow of a YouTube ad verification is as follows.

(Figure 4: The verification steps of a YouTube ad verification)

The key point of a YouTube ad verification is determining the best creative through the “unit cost per conversion of named search (View Through NQ unit cost).” This is our unique indicator that visualizes lifts in a named search for assessment.

– Local TV commercial verifications

The workflow of a local TV commercial verification is as follows.

(Figure 5: The verification steps of a local TV commercial verification)

The key point of a local TV commercial verification is selecting the area. It is required to choose multiple areas with similar conditions, considering a variety of variables such as similar waveforms in the number of named searches, similar approach efficiency, and similar target ratios. The creatives are judged based on the difference (lift) between the performance of the non-placement area and the placed areas.

Summary

This post outlined the concept of prototype video production and its three verification methods. To maximize the effectiveness of video ads, it is important to avoid making the creative a black box by verifying factors that lead to purchase intent repeatedly through PDCA cycles. We hope this post helps you what to think about when producing a video ad.

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Irep Inc. is an award-winning global digital marketing agency based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Our headquarters are in Tokyo and our network spans more than 20 countries. In Japan, we are ranked No. 1 for performance-based marketing. We also offer highly specialized market entry, as well as integrated marketing and localization services. Since 1997, our data-driven solutions have effectively led our diverse international clientele to continuous success in Japan, Asia, and beyond.

Irep Inc.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/irepinc
Email: info@irep.inc
Address: 900 Concar Dr. Suite 400, San Mateo, California 9440