Archive for August, 2009

CBS and Pepsi Max Team-up to Place Video Ads in Magazines

Posted in Strategy, video on August 20th, 2009 by admin – Be the first to comment

I guess it’s true. No one reads anymore, even when they’re supposed to be reading. According to a story in USA Today, CBS and Pepsi Max recently announced that they would run an ad promoting the upcoming Fall television season in Entertainment Weekly that shows video clips of upcoming CBS programs. The video runs on a wafer-thin screen and, according to the story, “the sound is akin to one of those talking, musical greeting cards.”

And, remarkably, the player can contain up to 40 minutes of video and play continuously for up to six hours.

The article does not state the cost for producing the video ads and insert. However, as with most things, as the technology grows and become more prevalent, the odds are good that whatever the price is, it will come down over time.

There are several implications of this technology that are interesting to think about. Imagine medical text books with video and sounds of surgical procedures, or health benefits collateral with a video explaining how your health savings account works. Kind of makes me think of the newspapers with the moving images in the Harry Potter movies. 

The improved portability of the video also is impressive. We are now viewing video without the need for a device to view it – no DVD or VHS player or Internet hook-up required. Video just got even more portable, which is quite a statement when you consider the recent advances in just the last two years in video playback on handheld devices like cellphones and PDAs.

I’m not sure of the quality of the video that will be used in the ad. There’s only so much you can expect on a screen that thin and only 2-inch-by-1.5-inch screen. But I’m guessing the quality will be fine for what CBS and Pepsi Max are hoping to accomplish: getting some buzz about the new television season.

I look forward to seeing where this technology is going to take us. Hopefully, I won’t have to explain to my grandkids what a book is. But then again, I have explained to my son all about records and 8-track tapes.

This is progress, right?