With the continuing shift of advertising budgets from television to the Internet, highly polished broadcast quality spots are being produced for online distribution to reach target audiences and deliver ROI. Online advertising has become a significant platform for effective brand positioning. The once powerful television spot is losing appeal to DVR devices, enabling consumers to skip past commercials. Smart brands are looking for better ways to reach a captive audience. Today, digital design and advertising agencies are creating full-scale high-definition video and film productions with casting and cinematic quality for their client’s online presence and branding.

“There is clearly an evolution in what is being defined as an online brand experience,” says Bret Stout, Creative Director at Aniden Interactive. He continues, “Online is increasingly trending to serve as the most relevant platform for connecting and interacting with your target – a captive audience seeking out brands actively.” Aniden has created and produced a number of new product launch videos focusing online, and they recently wrote and produced a series of six episodes for Hewlett-Packard’s new ProLiant Servers.

Named “The Guy Who Lives In The Server Room”, the six-part series show an exaggerated and funny example of what life is like when you choose a server other than HP. “When HP came to us, we delivered fresh conceptual ideas and a campaign strategy showing them a new way to reach their business objectives,” says Bret, “Our server guy series delivered.” The commercials were produced for online exclusively and featured on YouTube, driving traffic to the campaign’s supporting microsite.

“Our production team had a blast producing this live-action series of short films. This project presented new challenges from live-action special effects including fire, haze and electricity, to heavy large-scale prop and set design. Our team thoroughly enjoyed bringing to life this caricature of a server guy trapped in a dysfunctional server room and we hope it leads to similar projects,” says Brandon White, Multimedia Division Manager at Aniden Interactive.