With digital video emerging as the fastest growing form of interactive content being distributed and consumed online, Ogilvy & Mather has formally launched a specialty video practice, a unit that has been in development for two years. 

Ogilvy's Advanced Video Practice works with brands to take video engagement beyond the "viral" view, targeting measureable engagements that place viewers directly into the sales funnel. Over the past two years, the team has been developing strategic interactive video experiences for IBM, Nestlé, DuPont and other global clients. The practice has evolved and expanded as more clients seek to utilize the growing opportunities in the online video space. 

"We created a unique offering at a time when even the major online video sites had not yet started thinking about how to maximize the value of their own content for marketers," said John Seifert, CEO of Ogilvy & Mather North America. "Our results with clients using the Ogilvy Advanced Video practice are impressive and we are now making it a distinct practice area to reflect the changes and opportunities in our business." 

The new practice augments a number of growing Ogilvy specialty areas in the new media space including Digital Influence, search optimization and search marketing, creative, content strategy and social selling. It is led by Robert John Davis, an interactive media veteran who joined Ogilvy in 2008, after leading Rainbow Media's cable network websites, and serving as MTV Networks' first Executive Producer of Convergence. 

"The industry thus far has taken a 'build it and they will come' approach," said Davis. "The reality is, the marketplace is much more advanced than that. It is not just 'TV 2.0' - a new way to get TV programs online. This is a vibrant, interactive engagement medium that goes beyond watching videos to engaging with videos. As advanced video opportunities continue to grow across mobile and device-oriented experiences, maximizing this channel is vital for a brand's success. Video is too important to treat as an add-on to TV or web marketing efforts." 

Brandon Berger, Chief Digital Officer for Ogilvy, explained, "Driving engagement with a brand, product or service is our ultimate goal. Online video content is a new frontier for building brands. Our practice is unique in that we are using the medium to drive business, not just collect views. We have proven success with our clients in developing experiences that optimize search results, drive click-through to websites or purchase, and impact sales across both B2B and consumer brands." 

The practice focuses on several key aspects of online video: the creation of strategic content, video search engine optimization (VSEO), the production and distribution of video across multiple digital platforms, and measurement. It brings together experts from online video strategy and production with the Neo@Ogilvy search practice and OgilvyEntertainment, to provide clients with a full service online video platform. 

Maximizing the potential of YouTube as a marketing channel for clients is one of the key ways in which the practice has grown. Among its signature achievements is the creation and implementation of global and regional YouTube strategies for IBM, Raisinets, Purina, DuPont and others. 

Creating content informed by online consumer behavior is central to the team's approach. 

"Our strategy is built around the belief that views will be maximized if you optimize for the multiple forms of search first, making it easy for audiences to find, consume and share the content when they need it most," said Rob Davis. "Instead of optimizing content after it is produced, as is common for websites, we optimize our clients' work from the very start before a frame of video is shot. This is a completely new approach to content creation and how we measure what is effective. Our experience to date shows that consumers are increasingly using video not just for entertainment, but for education, research and other more pragmatic purposes." 

Using a best-in-class technology workflow managed by Ogilvy Redworks, the Advanced Video Practice has developed a low-cost solution to distributing and transcoding high-quality video content that is optimized for viewing across different video channels. 

Davis notes, "Historically, users have not expected high quality from online video, but that is changing. Our process puts the same emphasis on visual quality that we apply to our television work. Anything less is not acceptable to today's top brands." 

The Ogilvy Advanced Video Practice is part of a fully integrated offering across all of Ogilvy & Mather's disciplines and practices.