Viral video excellence: 10 examples of big brand action
What makes a great viral video? This is a problem I’ve been coming up against recently, especially as there’s always the simple risk that when trying to do anything viral: it will either work or it won’t.
This is something I’m going to try and explore across a couple of blog posts in the next month or so, as the subject is so huge and complex, but a good starting point seems to be to showcase some of the best examples of viral advertising that currently exist.
Google acquires the most important online video company you've never heard of
On2 Technologies, a major player in the video compression space, is being acquired by Google in a stock deal worth approximately $106.5mn.
On2 may not be a recognizable brand but it's arguably amongst the most important companies on the web as its proprietary video codecs are used extensively in the online video space. Its VP6, VP7 and VP8 codecs have brought high-quality (and high-definition) video to computer screens all over the world.
When did advertising become more important than published content?
An incident happened last week — I tweeted a caustic expletive directed at DoubleClick knowing that only my tribe would read the invective. What realization occurred that would have me throw political correctness out the window? It was the moment when I realized DoubleClick behaved as if their advertising was more important, perhaps more desirable, than the actual published content that I had clicked to experience. Or, maybe the ad platform/producer just isn’t aware of how their technology rubs up against other technologies...
Q&A: Nick Bell on the opportunities offered by online video
Previously, Econsultancy has discussed the visible impact that new video formats are having upon the online advertising sphere and is an area which we can easily see will implode within the digital environment as a whole over the next twelve months or so.
To get some front-line opinion of the marketplace, we spoke to Nick Bell, co-founder of the up-and-coming interactive video platform, Quick.tv, about this complex and often overlooked marketing medium.
Consumers want online content on their TVs - survey
The majority of consumers want to be able to watch online content through their TVs. While 17% already can do this, a further 58% say they would like to be able to do this.
The Digital Entertainment Survey, from Entertainment Media Research and Wiggin, reveals a demand for on-demand programming delivered online, though not many people want to actually pay for it. People would consider paying for movies, adult content, and music and sporting events, but little else.
The rise of interactive video and what it means for online marketing
Online video isn’t exactly the new kid on the block amongst those the digital industry, but it is maturing into a meaner, tougher kind of service. It is also the one area of display advertising that I’m expecting to flourish over the next twelve months or so, especially in the interactive segment.
It’s no surprise that video in general is on the increase, given that users are continually wanting an engaging experience. According to comScore’s US video metrics, 14.5bn online videos were watched during March this year - a massive 11% increase from February - and I’m equally of the opinion that this trend will be very similar in the UK.
Google may take BBC's iPlayer global
Google's bread and butter may be search and the recession may have led Google to cut back on projects that weren't bringing home the bacon but that doesn't mean that Google isn't looking to expand its already large footprint on the web.
It just announced that by the end of the year, it hopes to be offering its publishing partners the ability to sell ebooks through Google Book Search, putting it in competition with Amazon in the burgeoning ebook market.
Hulu tries to schedule its UK debut: report
Hulu has fast become one of the internet's top destinations for professional video content. With free high-def programming from the likes of NBC, FOX, Comedy Central and many others, it's not hard to see why.
There's only one problem: it's only available in the United States.
How Drs. Foster Smith uses video to drive ecommerce success
As part of the social web movement, marketers are increasingly becoming publishers. There are few who are pouring as much into multimedia (i.e. video) web publishing as Wisconsin USA-based Drs. Fosters Smith.
This seasoned, catalog-based direct marketer is investing in their own staff, production facilities and syndicating widely, on the Web with www.peteducation.com, and on national cable television.
I sat down with their online chief, Gordon MaGee to understand how the company cost-justifies and measures its continued investment in online video.
Coming to a television near you: Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash, the rich media technology that's pretty much ubiquitous on the internet, will soon have a second home: your television set.
Thanks to deals that will include the Flash software in the chips that go into televisions and set-top boxes, in the near future you may start coming across Flash while watching and using your TV.
Social media: the best and worst of 2009
Email marketing: six steps to improving customer engagement in 2010
Web 2.0
Graham Charlton
Strategy & Planning
