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.

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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.

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How To Create Brand Content That Stands Out

by Paul Kontonis , Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Today, brands are thinking differently about how to reach consumers: not by interrupting consumers’ experiences with advertising messaging, but by offering value through original and co-created content. This content allows a brand to tell its own story, bring to life its core sensibilities, and connect with consumers in a deeper, more meaningful way.

Now more than ever, brands face an array of choices for branded content — from cooking shows to healthy eating, fitness to balancing your life, reality shows to scripted comedy. It’s also a challenge to choose which entity will be your partner: cable networks, film studios, portals, online communities, video ad networks, online celebrities or independent producers?

Here are five things to consider to make your branded content stand out and succeed:
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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.
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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.

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Online Video: How To Break Through The Clutter

And Build An Audience

by Stephanie Sarofian , Friday, April 8, 2011

Every day, more than 150 years worth of YouTube videos are watched on Facebook. Thirty-six hours of YouTube videos are uploaded every minute. People no longer need convincing that online video has exploded, but now, more than ever, Web series creators need a well-executed strategy to break through the clutter and build an audience. Here’s how to do it.
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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.

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Email Use Is Not — I Repeat, NOT– Decreasing

by Morgan Stewart, Wednesday, October 13, 2010

In the landscape of communication between brands and consumers, I happen to believe that email is the foundation for building great relationships.

For example, mass media plays an important role in building awareness and long-term brand value. As Jim Spaeth of Sequent Partners pointed out recently, a considerable portion of Procter & Gamble’s balance sheet has nothing to do with its quarterly sales. Instead, it is wrapped up in the name recognition of the brands the company owns. Email will never be able to drive that kind of awareness on its own, but it can help build loyalty and influence purchasing behavior among current customers.

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The Endless Season:

How The Web Can Help TV’s Biggest Shows Stay

Relevant (And Earn Revenues) Every Day

by David Kaiser , Monday, August 16, 2010

In today’s multimedia age, audiences have endless choices for when and where to consume entertainment. Television networks are churning out new series trying to deliver the next programming phenomenon, while audience attention is also being drawn to the Web and mobile devices for viewing video content. Needless to say, the competition for eyeballs and ad dollars is fierce across all platforms all year long.

According to recent Nielsen research, Americans spend nearly a quarter of their time on the Web on social-networking sites and blogs. Therefore, understanding TV viewers’ habits online and creating campaigns that can be accessed and shared through social networks are key to extending the life of a programming brand during the off season.

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