I saw an article on Ad Operations Online about a company called Jivox who have a nice way of helping local businesses to get a video ad online.

In a simple process you can upload your video, add some calls to action and specify how much you want to spend on media costs. Of course the creatives are basic but then if you are a small business advertising on local sites then maybe you don’t need an incredible creative – just a way to get your message across.

If you click on the image and watch the video then I guarantee that you’ll want to go and visit iFly next time you are in Hollywood – that looks like a lot of fun! The message can only really be delivered through using video, text with a still image  just wouldn’t cut it. It will be interesting to see if the service has longevity, the long tail can yield great results when managed effectively i.e. not managed at all but entirely self service so I think that it should do well. The challenge will be to make sure that the results are what the advertiser needs in order to justify the money that they’ll have to spend on using it.