VideoNuze Posts

When Amazon Video Direct (AVD) was announced last week, lots of industry observers saw it as a new YouTube competitor. At some point that may be true, but for now, there is little for YouTube, the undisputed 800-pound gorilla of the online video industry, to be worried about.

While video content providers will welcome another deep-pocketed third-party distributor into the market, the most important challenge AVD faces is proving that it can make incremental money for these providers, beyond what they can already earn on YouTube, their own direct channels/apps and elsewhere.

Amazon revealed 4 different ways that content providers can monetize their videos, but each has challenges.

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I'm pleased to present the 322nd edition of the VideoNuze podcast with my weekly partner Colin Dixon of nScreenMedia.

This week’s announcement by Amazon of “Amazon Video Direct” - seemingly a YouTube competitor and not an obvious extension for the company - prompted Colin and me to reflect on how many recent video industry initiatives have struck us as incongruous. There’s no doubt we’re living through an unprecedented period of instability in the video and TV industries, and a persistent question is how to parse smart experimentation/expansion from wild pitches?

In today’s podcast we discuss 7 different industry moves we’ve recently observed that seem to us like long shots that are disconnected from their companies’ core competencies vs. those that seem like natural extensions of their companies’ brand perceptions and capabilities. (Our biggest head-scratcher is Dish Network’s decision to expand into in-home iPhone repairs. Huh?).

Still, Colin and I readily acknowledge this is not hard science. To that end, we also identify a few examples that at one time may have seemed like odd pursuits, but have turned into big successes  (Snapchat’s move into professional video, with its Discover feature, is a prime example). It’s all great food for thought as we continue to assess the dynamic video landscape each day.

Listen now to learn more!

Click here to listen to the podcast (21 minutes, 39 seconds)

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The VideoNuze podcast is also available in iTunes...subscribe today! (note the link has been updated)

New research from video ad tech provider Unruly highlights the opportunities and challenges advertisers have in reaching 18-34 year-old audiences with video ads.

The good news for advertisers is that millennials are 112% more likely than the average viewer to share the ads they like. Getting them to do so hinges on the ad capturing the zeitgeist. Fortunately, millennials are 25% more likely than the average viewer to feel inspired by video ads and 27% more likely to feel happy. They are also 23% more likely to enjoy relevant ads.

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Microsoft and Akamai have announced general availability of Azure CDN from Akamai, which provides Azure cloud customers integrated access and support for Akamai’s global content delivery network. The partnership was initially announced last September and the companies have been working closely on integration and on-boarding charter customers since.

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Video ad tech provider Cedato has launched CedatoX, a private video ad marketplace, connecting supply and demand on the Cedato platform at the server level. In a briefing, Cedato’s CMO Dvir Doron told me that the key benefits are simple setup and transactions along with proven revenue lift for participating publishers.

Dvir highlighted that CedatoX addresses the pain point of video transactions being complicated for both sides to configure and maintain. With CedatoX, private transaction terms are set and managed on the platform. The result is more effective yield and fill rates.

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I'm thrilled to share that Charlie Chappell, Head of Global Integrated Media, The Hershey Company, will be our afternoon keynote guest at the 6th annual VideoNuze Online Video Ad Summit on Tuesday, June 16th in NYC. Charlie is leading the transformation of Hershey’s approach to modern media. Prior to joining Hershey’s in 2012, Charlie spent 12 years at P&G where he was part of the P&G Digital Leadership Team.

Charlie will be interviewed by Matt Spiegel, SVP, Marketing & Technology Solutions at MediaLink on topics including how Hershey’s is using video to connect with its customers, the company’s approach to allocating spending between video and TV and how brands need to leverage new technologies to stay competitive.

Charlie’s session complements our morning keynote with Marc Debevoise, EVP/GM, CBS Digital Media, CBS Interactive. Marc oversees the network’s digital initiatives in entertainment, sports and news including CBS.com, CBS All Access (its subscription streaming service) and CBSN (its 24/7 digital news network), among others. I’ll be interviewing Marc about how broadcasters are being impacted by the rise of online video viewing and how they’re innovating to compete.

Charlie and Marc are part of an fantastic group of 30+ industry executives from A+E Networks, American Express, Bloomberg Media, Conde Nast, IAB, Initiative, Mindshare, NBCU, Newsy, Turner, Viacom, The Washington Post, The Weather Company, Whistle Sports, Xaxis, Zenith and many others who are participating in the Ad Summit.

Last year's Ad Summit attracted over 450 attendees so register early to save and to win a 55-inch TCL 4K Roku TV!

Learn more and register now!

FreeWheel has acquired Paris-based video supply-side platform StickyADS.tv, for an undisclosed sum, the companies announced this morning. StickyADS.tv is one of the largest independent SSPs and has a team of approximately 100, including a beachhead in the U.S. that was established last Fall. The companies have been working together since last year, including an integration when StickyADS.tv was one of the initial SSPs to join FreeWheel’s Preferred Partners program.

FreeWheel’s co-CEO and co-founder Doug Knopper told me that the acquisition was in direct response to customers’ requests to have a single platform to manage both video ads that are direct sold and those that are transacted programmatically. FreeWheel’s customers are among the biggest broadcasters, cable networks and online publishers, and while Doug said direct sold still accounts for the vast majority of inventory for its customers, they recognize how critical programmatic has become and are aggressively positioning themselves for the future.

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OpenSlate has released data revealing vastly different YouTube viewing for men vs. women. OpenSlate said that 62% of YouTube views by women aged 18-34 are in the Beauty & Style category, more than 10x the viewership of the next category, Health & Fitness, which had a 6% share.

The Beauty & Style category is dominated by Face & Body Care, which accounts for 40% of the views, followed by Make-Up & Cosmetics (34%) and Hair Care (13%). OpenSlate also found that Beauty & Style has the highest women 18-34 audience composition, followed by Food & Drink (38%) and Shopping (33%).

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