Value-Exchange video is quickly becoming known as the highest performance mobile ad format. 84% of mobile users are actually favorable to the format. But it remains one of the most misunderstood ad formats around. This insider's guide seeks to cut through the mystery and help advertisers make informed decisions.

1. Value-Exchange Video:
Understanding the Brand
Performance Advantage

2. Value-Exchange video is perhaps the most misunderstood ad
format today. This is in spite of the fact that it has consistently
proven to out-perform other digital video ad formats.
In fact, a number of recent studies have shown value-exchange
video to be the top performing format across every major
campaign metric including brand favorability, recall, purchase
intent, engagement, acquisition and retention1, 2
.
Furthermore, value-exchange formats have been explicitly
whitelisted by all major ad-blocking software providers. Some
84% of consumers surveyed in one recent study2
reported they
were favorable to value-exchange formats.
Unfortunately, in spite of its clear performance advantages value-
exchange video is all too rarely deployed by brand advertisers.
The following paper lays out what exactly the value-exchange
format is and provides specific information on how marketers can
benefit from it.
Executive Summary
2
84%
Of Mobile Users
Say They Are
Favorable to a
Value-Exchange
Video Format

3. 3
● What exactly is a value-exchange format, with
examples
● How consumers perceive value-exchange
formats vs other video formats
● The key advantages of value-exchange for
overcoming ad-blocking
● A few (unfounded) objections to the format
Read this paper to learn:

4. 4
Core components of
value-exchange
video
Value-Exchange video is any
targeted user initiated video ad
format that enhances the user
experience by offering access to
premium content in exchange for
agreeing to watch a short
sponsored video.
Videos are usually less than 30
seconds and users must watch
the full video to access their
content or reward.
It is a one-to-one interaction
where the brand gets a user who
is more open to their message
and the user gets direct access to
content that they want.
Targeted
Video
High-value
video format
with strong
engagement
User Opt-in
It is 100% user
initiated, no
forced
interruptions
Enhanced UX
Built into an app
to improve the
overall user
experience

5. 5
Value-Exchange video can be deployed across a wide range of apps including
editorial, music, dating, chat and games.
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7. Positive Priming with Value-Exchange - #userexperiencematters
Priming is a term from psychology describing how an initial experience will influence an individual’s
perception of subsequent experiences either positively or negatively.
Priming happens all the time with digital advertising formats and can have a very real impact on
important brand metrics. One study from Carnegie Mellon University researchers3
found that
negative priming from interruptive ads like pre-roll video actually decreases purchase intent!
Here are two examples of priming in both Value-Exchange and Pre-roll formats:
7
Value-Exchange
Pre-Roll
Brand provides
something the
user wants
Positive Posture
towards brand’s
message
Brand slows
down user’s
access to
content
Negative
Posture
towards brand’s
message
FORMAT EXPERIENCE #1 PRIMING EXPERIENCE #2
Better Performance,
Brand Favorability,
Higher Purchase Intent
Poorer
Performance, Low
Favorability, Lower
Purchase Intent
OUTCOME

8. Value-Exchange and Ad-Blocking
Considering what we know about negative priming and its
impact on consumers’ perception of advertising, the recent
consumer backlash towards digital advertising and the
adoption of ad-blockers should really come as no surprise.
For advertisers and publishers trying to make sense of this
shifting consumer sentiment, value-exchange provides a
unique way to sidestep the whole issue of ad-blocking.
This is because - thanks to the opt-in nature of value-
exchange ads - these formats are whitelisted by all major
adblockers.
This means that value-exchange video ads will be served
regardless of whether a user has activated an ad-blocker
both on mobile and on desktop.
8

9. 9
So called “Incentivized” advertising evokes “click farms” generating high
volumes of low-quality traffic via monetary incentives to non-targeted
audiences.
Four key aspects set Value-exchange apart from these notions of
“incentivized” ads:
Far from a cheap traffic gimmick, value-exchange is a smart format that
allows brands to reach targeted consumers on their own terms and in a
way that respects the user experience.
Objection #1 - Isn’t Value-Exchange just a new term for ‘incentivized’ ads?
Value-
Exchange
Incentivized
Targeted
Before a
reward is
proposed
Views Only
No incentive
for post-view
actions
Content Only
No money,
gift cards,
lotteries etc..
Verifiable
Transparent &
verifiable
inventory

10. 10
A range of well known DSPs are launching “opt-in” or
“rewarded” video ad standards for programmatic buying.
The trend towards programmatic value-exchange is in large
part driven by growing concern around the quality of other
video formats - pre-roll, interstitial and outstream - which
are seen as interruptive by users and which are more prone
to fraud.
With premium publishers also getting turned on to the
format, media buyers can expect an explosion of high-
quality value-exchange inventory in the near future.
Objection #2 - Value-Exchange sounds non-standard so it can’t be
bought programmatically...
Value-
Exchange
Programmatic

11. Conclusion - #UserExperienceMatters
Ultimately value-exchange advertising is all about
encouraging openness to a brand’s message.
It’s akin to offering someone a coffee in exchange for a
few minutes of their time. The person being invited can of
course refuse the coffee being offered, but if they accept
they are implicitly agreeing to listen to what the other has
to say. The option makes them more open to talk.
In the same way, value-exchange is a win/win format that
creates a different posture with your audience. The kind
of mental openness created via value-exchange - or
buying someone a coffee - is light years away from the
interruptive advertising practices of the past.
As much as we seem to forget, user experience matters
to how your brand is perceived. Done right, value-
exchange is perhaps the best way to change the way
users view digital ads.
11

12. Sources:
1 MMA Mobile Media Buyers Guide, April 2014
2 Winterberry Group, In-app Advertising: Defining the Market and Its Unique Dynamics, January 2016
3 Acquisiti & Spiekermann, Do Interruptions Pay off? Effects of Interruptive Ads on Consumers' Willingness to Pay Journal of interactive Marketing. 2011
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