A number of circumstances and technical developments have come together to bring online HD ads to market.  At the technical end of the scale, the arrival of the H.264 Flash player format has made widespread distribution of HD content possible.  Consumers are also making use of bigger and better quality monitors, so they can enjoy the better quality viewing HD provides, while improvements in broadband speeds have helped in making HD advertising a viable option for larger groups of the online public.

As for the advertisers themselves, early adopters have included entertainment and computer games publishers, where the visual experience is a huge part of the overall appeal of each product.  Gamers, for instance, will generally have higher spec machines and broadband connections which can display the HD ad content with ease. While these factors have created a new opportunity for many advertisers, it’s essential that consumers are only served content their connection can cope with, so bandwidth targeting is used to assess the connection speed of each user.  Where that is still insufficient, users are served an alternate, non-HD ad.  Reporting on these factors allows campaign managers to understand the scope and impact of the HD elements of their campaign.

Early campaigns have included movies trailers for Batman: The Dark Knight and The Hulk, and on the games front, the latest instalment in the Call of Duty series.  On the horizon are campaigns from advertisers who already make heavy use of video content, such as auto manufacturers.  The appeal and relevance of HD ads has been international from the very start, with distribution covering a breadth of countries including the UK, Germany and Spain.

But this is really just the beginning of the process – down the line we will see the addition of techniques common to non-HD ads right now, including much greater levels of interactivity, the addition of extra content and Flash elements to enhance the ad, and the ability to play a variety of clips within the same advert.

To make this happen, advertisers and their agencies need to take account of the challenges that developing HD ads create.  Central to this is the availability of good quality HD source material – content which utilises the full scope of High Definition viewing – and agencies should plan for HD compatibility when shooting new material.  As the ads are served to users, creatives also need to ensure they deliver a strong call to action which encourages click-throughs to the full screen version of the HD ad – serving the High Definition content is not normally triggered with a mouse-over, or as the initial segment of the advert as it loads on screen.

Yet, the biggest technical hurdles have been overcome, global brands are adopting HD ads, and we’re certain to see its impact on a more frequent basis as advertisers see a strong return thanks to the impact of HD.