This is the most baller idea ever.

Like it

I think rapidly cutting between frames might make the video quality of each image very poor (as video compression depends on having most consecutive frames be very similar). If it still looks ok over typical digital cable, and recorded on a typical PVR... then its a pretty cool idea. I mean it would possibly be big news the 1st time you try it. Maybe it would still be viable after the novelty wears off, but certainly worth trying.

Hopefully no one's head will explode...
http://en.wikipedia...._series)#Predictions

Make the prize structure for people to get good intermittent reinforcement and you might have a good idea here. The attention economy (getting peoples attention) is a maturing field. The reward system for such a venture has to support maintaining their interest...either by the nature of the material being advertised or the way it is being advertised. If you move this toward advertising that is very inventive and engaging rather than the crap that is usually thrown at us to try and stick a product in our minds...you might have a gold mine here.

Great idea.

Once suggestion: Rather than a tedious "pile" of ads, make it flow together like a humorous show or long-form music video filled with quick cuts and clever transitions. The style could be like some continuous-shot Coke commercials that follow a character as scenes and people swirl around them.

Take a loose narrative (like a day at the zoo) and every few seconds zoom or pan or hold on an ad as the character goes through the story. Ads could be "embedded" in the scene, be stills or short overlaid teaser video.

When each ad comes into view, flash an AdSqueeze icon and unique ad ID in the corner of the screen so viewers freezing on the ad could follow-up on the web.

It's a novel idea, but personally I couldn't see it worth the cost to advertise. Sure people will look at your ad, but its not targeted and the people are only really going to check if you are real or not. As soon as they realize you are, they will move on.

Also, there is a good chance the people will find the fake ad before they get to yours. Also, there is a high chance that if it just changes each day, that it will be all over the internet each day that everyone will just go straight to the fake ad and not even bother to look at the ad you paid to place.

Thirdly, if you are going be giving out thousands and thousands of prizes each day (assuming this gets a mass market) the prizes really couldn't be that good and maybe people would probably give up doing it fairly quickly and it will just fade into obscurity.

Pixelman's idea would most likely extend the life, but I could still see it getting old quickly.

Gimmicky but if one or two companies adopted this over the long run and made it part of their brand there could be a niche.

E.g. if people knew that every ad for Pepsi had an embedded ad for some other product from their conglomerate, like Tropicana Orange Juice or whatever, and if there was some kind of reward they could get for finding the ad (treasure hunt), then it might always have a following in a certain demographic.

@Gordon- with interlaced video I know you're right. With de-interlaced I believe it's different (i'm not familiar enough w/ digital TV but I know from using various video formats on my mac that pausing a de-interlaced movie is crystal clear). Pause a DVD movie and you'll see. I think the real question is "can you find a network that will agree to air an ad that isn't watchable in realtime?" And the answer to that depends on how ineffectively their traditional ads are performing and how open they are to trying something new.

@Merman- agreed. I have an idea for this. read below. variable ratio reinforcement yields the strongest effect on creating a desired behavior. We'd randomize the frequency at which prizes were granted to keep people coming back. This is the same phenomena that makes anything addictive.

@pixelman- I don't know about the idea of running a show and dropping the occasional snippet ad thing. But there's a kernel of an excellent suggestion in what you propose: for this to remain interesting and not be some fleeting fad that people get sick of, there needs to be a reason to come back and do it again- continuity between ad segments. I don't know exactly what that thread is that ties ad segments together over time but what about this concept:
a "choose your own adventure" style of interaction for the ad scavenger hunt (ie. if you believe this, skip ahead 2 frames. if you believe it should be that, go back one). This branching concept of navigating your own story will make the experience personal and unique to each viewer and invests them more in the story.

@dajackel - thanks for the encouraging words.
"personally I couldn't see it worth the cost to advertise" - you're not our customer. there are plenty of businesses that are priced out of TV but stand to benefit greatly from having a presence. This brings TV within their reach as it would cost a fraction of traditional TV advertising. It's essentially "multiplexing" of the airwaves enabled by DVR, plus it's interactive so it should theoretically engage people more.

to your second point "there is a high chance that if it just changes each day, that it will be all over the internet each day"... and that's a problem?? If that happens don't you think the advertisers will be thrilled? I would argue that we've succeeded if we encounter that problem.

point #3- what about this idea leads you to believe thousands of prizes need to be given away per day?

It would get old quickly if it were done wrong. But having the continuity piece that weaves the story across ads along with the variable ratio of reinforcement for the prize frequency makes interesting enough of a draw. To your point of it not being targeted- this is pure speculation but I see this spreading amongst the younger myspace crowd and becoming more targeted than primetime advertising in terms of who is responding. The beauty of having the prize claimed via the site is that we have demographic data at that point.

good feedback. keep it comin'!

-sean

thumbs up!

finally a TRUE ads that solved a lot of questions other failed to inject in their ideas...
i luv this =)

Sounds nice!

I don't see what makes this unique from my idea. Because this is basically an incorporation. Also, it existed within my own model. I was just trying to aim more away from gimmick FPS flash ads. Because it would have miss directed attention from people giving them an impression that it would always be that way.

Kevin, The essence of AdSqueeze is "ad multiplexing using DVR technology" - the essence of your idea is "co-op traditional TV advertising" and frankly i'm not sure i understand how yours differs from spotrunner.com. Your co-op could theoretically provide customers for this type of advertising at some point but the core of this business is the unique implementation, the "squeeze" factor and the resultant interactive approach to TV watching. We'll work with you to leverage your distribution and get customers if your co-op works. My thoughts (as I commented on your idea) is that TV is too fragmented already for co-opting a traditional ad slot to work.

@jelmer & saigon- gracias!

sean

I frickin love this idea.

Games cool. Advertising contests even cooler. Get the consumer involved is very sweet!

I think you've found a way to make advertising interesting the the consumer again...well other than superbowl spots :)

spotrunner.com is not making ads featuring multiple companies.

Someone did something similar here in the UK years ago, over 10, got lots of media covergae for it and ran adverts trialing the main advert (!) reminding you to video (yep this was the days of VHS) the programme containing the advert so you coul replay it at half speed .

You may need to check for a patent.

I think the PVR and your fake game idea coulf bring this mechanism back to life. Good luck

Advertising is life. Without advertising, there is no promotion and competition for the sale of goods and services and everything stagnates with no choice of brands.
This is a little gem of an idea because it diversifies the available advertising media still further.
A lot of advertising sucks.
Here is an opportunity to make money and make advertising suck a little less.
I'm all for it. Its a different angle and that a big selling point.
Done before? Slightly different and not around any more.
I am voting for this idea!

there are companies doing this. i am interested. i think having more than one add in it is bad too confusing. i like the idea of clues or a game in the ad. There is a nutri system add with fat people hidden in it. Nasty. This idea needs more thought. I cant imagine a company that would want to be lumped in with others.

@blue, fish, nick- gracias!

@allan- thanks for the headsup. i'll dig around to see if the concept is already patented. i know USA has IP reciprocity w/ UK- do you know if UK patents are therefore reflected in the USPTO?

@jet_kirk- i'm all about making ads suck less

@nonodynamo - your comment needs more thought (or less booze)

thanks for all the feedback
sean

Thumbs up from me - would solve two very real problems - DVR issues for TV stations and TV audience reach for the little guy. Great stuff.

I think you'll find that single frame ads are illegal in most places.
subliminal advertising is naughty!

I like this idea. If you have read the Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell, he talks about how very small and non-intuitive ways influence human behavior. In particular, he discusses a specific advertising method that utilized a small treasure box that had a significant effect on the success of the campaign. Sound similar to what you want to do - and should be successful. You got my vote.

@bcforrester & Willcom- thanks!

@gzep - read it again. the idea has nothing to do with subliminal advertising. Subliminal TV advertising has been debunked- google around on the topic. no legitimate studies have been able to replicate Vicary's results showing it has any effect. This idea is about using the TV medium in a novel way and turning the viewing experience into an interactive treasure hunt for folks w/ DVR's.

I just got a note from Gord that we can do video questions/answers. Would love to see some live questions asked here and I'll formulate a few of my own for the other topics. Keep the feedback coming!

sean

TOC Q1
I applaud you on coming up with another way to link the viewing audience in with out side advertising. Advertisers are already doing similar things to push their brands. TV shows like Heroes have adapted to product placement in their TV shows. Hiro has driven a Nissan Versa many times, numerous characters are depicted using greyhound bus’s, dell computers, using visa cards, playing PS3 along with several other brands (http://heroeswiki.co.../Product_placement). This branding extends to web content, comic books and live shows. Obviously advertisers are trying to find ways around this problem, so there is a market for this. What is keeping a TV network from doing this very same thing? What is your competitive advantage?

http://www.youtube.c.../watch?v=JAarh21NgtU

TOC Q2

If I just spent all that money on buying a DVR or Tivo why would I care about a prize?

http://www.youtube.c.../watch?v=cPEMHSajiuY

here's my responses to GL's TOC video questions:
#1 - http://www.youtube.c.../watch?v=xnwkhESO1iU
#2 - http://www.youtube.c.../watch?v=p61UsECVS7s

regarding the discrepancy in number of comments between the 2 ideas as Kevin pointed out - GL went and reviewed every idea in CH not long ago. I have not conducted the same publicity outreach due to time constraints. Keep in mind the volume of comments on an idea doesn't necessarily translate to high-approval rating- read the messages themselves and evaluate the idea on the aspects that affect its viability:
-market size & opportunity
-defensibility of the idea
-realism of executing within CH environment

sean

Mental real estate awesome word!

Good Luck