The newly launched Storyline Collection by Thought Equity Motion redefines stock footage for the advertising market. Created by agency veterans, the collection intends to reduce the costs and time involved in producing video-based ads, particularly those destined for online distribution.
Pew Internet and American Life Project says audiences of video-sharing Web sites doubled in 2007. eMarketer predicts that online video and social-network advertising will account for $2.9 billion, some 10% of total online ad spend, in 2008. Though marketers can now target these intricately segmented vertical communities, not all businesses can afford to produce the personalized content needed for new-media commercials.
The Storyline Collection offers royalty-free content organized by theme, including political, medical, small business and real estate. The footage is professionally produced: Clips have matching beginnings, transitions and ending shots. The same actors have been cast in multiple character-based storylines and themes, allowing agencies to use the same talent in various settings.
The Storyline Collection strives to be modular and flexible. Clips can be combined with traditional stock, newly shot footage and branding elements to complete campaigns and individual ads. In addition, matching high-resolution photos accompany all video content at no extra charge, allowing integration of campaigns across television, online and print platforms.
Finally, the collection claims to be cost-effective, relative to typical spot-production and footage-licensing costs. A package of 20 clips described as "uplifting footage of parents with their children" can be licensed for $769, an approximate equivalent of two to three high-end royalty-free stills. It includes footage of several family groups of various ages and ethnicities, some shot in crispy bright colors and others in nostalgic grainy sepia tones. Several downloadable stills are available for each group.
Thought Equity says the Storyline Collection represents a new form of content, one which provides advertisers with a scalable solution to using video as a marketing tool.