VideoNuze Posts

There's been a lot written about how challenging it has become for brand advertisers to reach audiences effectively given the splintering of attention across screens. No longer is it sufficient to simply buy TV ads and expect to reach all targets; online and mobile must be added as complimentary channels.

This isn't easy, but as a new report released yesterday by Collective, "The Multi-Screen Advertising Playbook," shows, it is possible. Sharing results from a series of its clients' multi-platform campaigns, Collective provides specific details on how online campaigns augment TV buys to achieve marketing objectives.

continue reading

I'm delighted to be a keynote speaker at Akamai Edge next Thursday, Oct. 11th in Las Vegas. Edge is Akamai's annual customer conference, which draws attendees from around the world. Akamai is the leader in powering video delivery and Edge offers numerous opportunities to interact with media professionals on the cutting edge. I've been attending for several years and it's always a great learning experience. I'll be keynoting on Thursday at 1pm in the Entertainment and Media track, discussing the disruptive impact of online and mobile video. Please join us!

Yesterday Nielsen made its Cross-Platform Campaign Ratings commercially available, following trials by GroupM, ESPN, Facebook, Hulu and Unilever. Cross-Platform provides, for the first time, "unduplicated and incremental reach, frequency and GRP measures for TV and Internet advertising." Cross-Platform brings together Nielsen's Online Campaign Ratings (OCR) with its longstanding national TV panel.

The Cross-Platform launch follows Nielsen's announcement two weeks ago that 15 leading video and digital ad platforms have integrated OCR, plus last week's news that the CW Network will use OCR to measure its online viewership and offer demographic guarantees for online advertisers for the 2012-2013 TV season. As I explained last week, Cross-Platform is so critical to online video advertising because it helps align the ecosystem with media buying expectations of the multi-billion dollar TV advertising industry.

continue reading

Long-time VideoNuze readers know I've been talking about the trend toward content providers' video being syndicated to third-party publishers' sites for a while now, and judging by comScore's August data, the model appears to be gaining further momentum.

Two of the top 10 video properties - NDN and Grab Media - have syndication as their core business model, while a third - AOL, via its 5Min acquisition, uses syndication to power a significant amount of its views. Meanwhile, YouTube, which is consistently the largest property, leverages embedding for organic syndication, while #4 property VEVO syndicates a lot of its music videos to YouTube. Beyond the overall top 10, as I've written previously, in the sports vertical specifically, syndicators took 2 of the top 4 spots in the first half of '12.

continue reading

Colin Dixon, senior partner at The Diffusion Group and I are back for the 149th edition of the VideoNuze-TDG Report podcast. This week Colin kicks things off discussing zeebox's entry into the U.S. market, plus its new partnerships with Comcast, NBCU and HBO. Colin has used zeebox in the U.K. (where it has over 1.5 million users) and has been very impressed. zeebox falls into the general category of "second screen apps" but Colin notes its current focus on live TV was likely the hook for its new partners. With a sizable segment of viewers having shifted their viewing to on-demand, an app that helps drive some back to live would have lots of positives for TV networks.

We then shift to discuss new research released by NPD Group this week that 45% of consumers reported the TV as the main screen for viewing online video, up from 33% a year ago. Those identifying the PC as the main screen dropped from 48% to 31%. As I explain, this is noteworthy because it shows how online video is in fact moving to the living room, becoming a more mainstream behavior. As online video finds itself on more of an even footing with traditional TV, it raises the stakes for cord-cutting and shaving, along with shifting ad dollars from TV to online video.

Listen in to learn more!

Click here to listen to the podcast (20 minutes, 31 seconds)

Click here for previous podcasts

The VideoNuze-TDG Report podcast is available in iTunes...subscribe today!

RAMP, which helps media companies optimize video discovery, has raised a $15 million Series C round, led by StarVest Partners, plus new investors Hearst Interactive Media and EDBI and including existing investors. With the financing, RAMP has raised $40 million to date. Funds are intended to pursue the enterprise market and also for international expansion.

continue reading

In a bid to evolve online video advertising beyond the world of standard pre, mid and post-rolls, yesterday Sharethrough announced Sharethrough Sponsored Videos a "native" video ad format, meant to incorporate brand videos more seamlessly into publishers' web pages.

As Sharethrough explains them, native ads have three commonalities: they're integrated with the publisher's look and feel; they are choice-based, rather than interruptive; and they're meant to be standalone content experiences. The goals are better user engagement, improved user experiences, and higher brand lift, as compared with traditional video ad placements.

continue reading

These days you can pick any sport and you're guaranteed to find examples of how online video is improving the fan experience. Beyond improved access, through live streaming to multiple devices, and post-event catch-up through highlight clips, another dimension of online video's value is now also emerging - fan engagement and interaction. A perfect example of this is the US Open tennis tournament's first-time use of Google Hangouts during its men's and women's finals matches.

Recently, I caught up with the two US Tennis Association executives responsible for the hangouts, Phil Green, senior director, advanced media and Peter Dopkin, director, strategic and business development, advanced media, to learn more. Listening to the strategy behind the hangouts, and how they were executed, what struck me is that in the digital age, forward-thinking sports executives are able to bring the fan, analyst and game together as never before.

continue reading