Interesting Video Thoughts: Drake Morton

All Grown Up, Video Explodes In 2012

by Alison Provost , Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012

If you take a good, hard look at the online video industry, it’s pretty clear that the sector is maturing.  The signs that online video has grown beyond the infant and toddler stages are everywhere:  brands are getting much smarter about their online video strategies; the technology to support it is getting much more sophisticated and exciting; and measurement is becoming more defined and pervasive.

For brands aiming to capitalize on online video — and every brand worth its salt is now incorporating an online video strategy — it’s important to have a sense of how the industry will evolve in the coming months to avoid getting hamstrung by the inevitable growing pains that come with an industry’s maturation.

Here’s our take on the trends taking shape, along with some recommendations for how to navigate them.
(more…)

Good Read: Drake Morton

How Online Video Drives Engagements:

Ads, Programming and Promotion

by Daisy Whitney

 

As online video proponents — yes, I assume if you read this blog you have a stake in the online video business —it’s nice to know ad dollars are rising and consumers are watching more video online. But what matters most is whether this viewing can translate into more engagement for a programmer delivering the content or a brand sponsoring it. (more…)

Good Read: Drake Morton

Video is Evolving — Don’t Get Left Behind

by Craig Wax , Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2011
Consumer usage of video is increasing at an astonishing rate. Cisco has estimated that video will increase from 30% of Internet traffic in 2010 to 90% by 2013. Online retailers are already using video, and service companies, manufacturing, and many others are also hopping on board. The scope of businesses that employ video and the different uses for video are expanding.

The message is clear: Consumers expect online video as a central element of a company’s communications strategy. No matter what sector of business you are in, incorporating video is an essential step in preparing yourself for the future of marketing.

73% of online retailers use video on product pages, which means that if you’re a retailer and you don’t have video on your site, you are officially in the minority, according to eMarketer. Other sectors of business are beginning to follow suit. A recent survey by Industrial Marketing Today  found that 50% of B2B manufacturers use YouTube as a channel to connect with their customers. Even service companies such as Charles Schwab are starting  to include videos on their websites.

(more…)

Need to Know: Drake Morton
by Bryan Boettger , Friday, Nov. 11, 2011

10 Factors Of Viral Propensity 

I don’t believe you can make a “.” There. I said it.

However, you can game the system. In a media landscape where earned media continues to gain greater and greater importance, we find ourselves consulting brands on analytical ways to judge a qualitative product. A way to judge propensity.

And, sometimes, you can do it by analyzing 10 factors…

1. Authenticity
. It can be planned out, but the video must feel in-the-moment. No one wants to be a shill for your blatant marketing.

(more…)

Need to Know: Drake Morton

Click Rates – Online Video Ad Metrics

General benchmarks nonexistent as CTR varies by industry, demographic and more

Benchmarks are often important markers for advertisers looking to estimate initial campaign performance and approximate competitor efforts. As online video, a subset of the larger display industry, continues to gain momentum, marketers are increasingly looking for video ad benchmarks to justify increased campaign budget and online video investment. (more…)

Interesting Information: Drake Morton

Video Forecast: Sky’s The Limit?

by Lewis Rothkopf , Monday, May 23, 2011

I’m often asked to offer predictions about what the online video landscape will look like several years from now, which I always respectfully decline to do. Our industry is so dynamic, with new players emerging daily, it’s relatively impossible to offer meaningful forecasts more than 12-18 months away. However, a smart colleague recently challenged me to use this space to do just that, in light of the increasing ubiquity of video across multiple devices and the resulting fragmentation of audiences. Perhaps the time is now right to look at the progress we’ve made as an industry over the last six or seven years and put a stake in the ground for 2013.  Right or wrong, it will be an interesting exercise two years from now to examine our younger selves’ vision of the future.

(more…)

Need to know: Drake Morton

Six Actions The Video Ecosystem Needs

To Take Now To Double Video Marketing Spend By 2014

by William A. Lederer , Thursday, May 12, 2011

While we all have grown immensely over the past year, online and mobile video is still Precambrian:  an underdeveloped, but now sizable medium in its own right. If we are going to take our act to the next level soon, there are six actions that should take priority to ready ourselves and the medium for major new investment from marketers.

Strengthen Physical Delivery and Make Ad Operations and Workflows EasierFirst and foremost, we need to take a step back. Just as in other high-tech industries, shiny new objects get all the attention, while some of the most basic obvious issues get pushed under the rug. Video delivery and fulfillment technology must continue to advance and become more transparent to better address concerns of both consumers and advertisers. Concurrently, video ad operations and video workflows must become easier.

(more…)

Good Read: Drake Morton

Six Ways to Increase Digital Video Revenue

by Steve Robinson , Thursday, April 21, 2011

With demand for streaming content clearly established, publishers have shifted from testing digital video advertising to bringing ad revenues toward parity with broadcast. Most publishers face two big hurdles to expanding revenues: Providing enough inventory to meet growing demand and fulfilling sold campaigns efficiently.

Both of these challenges result from an imbalance in the digital video ad market supply and demand. When it comes to inventory, premium publishers are typically only selling three to four pre-roll ads per show in digital video, compared to seven or eight in TV, and as such are only making a fraction of the revenues.

Additionally, although they may believe they have reached “sold out” video ad inventory status, most publishers leave money on the table because they simply can’t fulfill their ad orders in a timely manner. Think of the situation like this: You go to a shoe store and the clerk informs you the store is sold out of shoes. However, it’s not that they are actually “sold out.” The real problem is that the retailer couldn’t get the shoes delivered from the manufacturer to the store and into the inventory system fast enough for you to purchase them.
(more…)

Good Read: Drake Morton

What Has Video Done For Us Lately?

by Adam Singolda , Monday, April 11, 2011

Andy Plesser was kind enough to invite me to speak last week at Beet.TV conference on a panel with Kevin Krim, Global Head at Bloomberg (disclosure: one of our customers) and Bismarck Lepe, Ooyala founder and president of products. We were fortunate to open the event on a day when the panels following discussed topics such as video strategies, things publishers do, what works, what’s not and — is Hulu a mega-web failure or not? (A question more or less answered below.)

I thought I’d share some of the notes that were discussed by some key media leaders:

1.     “Content is king.” Dermot McCormack from MTV was great, passionately articulating the importance of good content: “We keep reminding ourselves at MTV that, yes, we can try to deal with technologies, and discuss various solutions as much as we want to — but at the end of the day, it’s all about whether you produced a ‘Jersey Shore’ with Snooki or not. MTV did. Period, the end  — and content is indeed the king.

(more…)

News to Know: Drake Morton

Is Mobile Video Viewing Taking Off?

APRIL 6, 2011

More viewers, watching more content

In July 2010, eMarketer estimated that 23.9 million US mobile users would watch video on their devices at least monthly by the end of the year, which would represent a nearly 30% increase over estimated 2009 levels. Research from Nielsen suggests the jump may have been even larger.

According to the measurement firm’s “State of the Media: Mobile Usage Trends: Q3 and Q4 2010” report, the number of US consumers watching mobile video increased 40% year over year in Q3 and Q4 2010. That brought the total number of US mobile video viewers to just shy of 25 million by the end of the year.

  (more…)