Are Shoppable YouTube Videos the Walkmans of Ecommerce Ads?

  • Earlier this spring, YouTube began testing a feature that embeds links to external sites within videos and advertisements. Right now, the feature forces the video to pause when you click on the links, which is disruptive and similar to using a Walkman versus an iPod.
  • “This is the Sony Walkman of ecommerce and video,” says Darrell Whitelaw, executive creative director at IPG Media Lab. “The thinking is spot-on, but the execution is just awful.”
  • YouTube recently teamed up with Juicy Couture for a fashion ad that links directly to the product pages of the clothes seen in the video. Juicy Couture says the technology shows strong ROI potential.
  • Other brands like Gucci have created similar shoppable videos for YouTube with third-party technology, “but this is the first time an advertising platform the size of YouTube has enabled shoppable videos and video ads,” Fast Company writes. “Advertising creatives say it’s a move that hints at — but doesn’t quite encompass — the future.”
  • In the coming years, media experts envision shoppable ads that enable consumers to purchase within videos by clicking any product in the video and buying it.
  • “Every evolution starts with something like this,” Whitelaw says. “I’m not taking away from the quality of it. It’s amazing that someone actually did it and got a client to say yes, let’s jump in and do this new thing. But you still have to look at the fact the next one — that perfect, beautiful experience — that’s going to be the one that gets people to buy.”

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