Million Dollar Web TV News

While 2009 has been a rough year for the wider economy, it has actually been an amazing one for companies in digital media.

Online video viewership has been way up, with more and more viewers accessing content on all sorts of devices including netbooks, cell phones, Xboxes, iPods and even portable gaming devices.

This year has also seen the maturation of Netflix’s partnership with Xbox, and the addition of competitor Sony PS3 as a second distribution channel. This has made it even easier for customers to access their content on Netflix at any time they want to watch a movie at home. While the video quality is still wanting and the selection is limited, it’s still a great step.

Also:

Disney gave us a peek at its Keychest initiative, which will bring the studio’s current and classic films to multiple devices.

Best Buy announced a partnership with CinemaNow, that will allow viewers to download premium content and watch it on multiple screens.

Blockbuster revealed plans to provide movies on SD Cards, that would last up to 30 days, in a move the retailer hopes will compete with Redbox.

TV Everywhere, which Time Warner announced over the summer, is a magnificent idea: for a fee, cable operators will give subscribers multi-platform access to whatever is on cable, at any time, from any place, on any device.

This notion has caught fire, with Comcast and other major players announcing their own versions of this exciting platform. I expect that, along with the new initiatives movie studios unleash, 2010 will be the year of TV Everywhere — especially it starts become available to all viewers.

Yes, it has been a big year indeed. So, what should we expect in 2010?

With any luck, cable operators will sort out the significant technical challenges TV Everywhere still presents, so they can actually bring it online “Everywhere.”

Convenience will definitely be a driving force in video innovation. We’ll get even more access to the content we want, whenever and wherever we want it. Do you have your checkbook ready? If not, give your kids the dinkiest cell phones, even if they hate you for it….

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How come I’m not surprised? Neither are you I reckon. But … what, in Reality, is Augmented Reality???

In Avatar, James Cameron’s epic SciFi movie, the director uses stereoscopic 3D technology to produce the film’s immersive special effects. With this evolutionary — yes, it IS evolutionary, not revolutionary — film making technique, Cameron could create, for the first time ever, photo-realistic computer-generated characters. How? By utilizing motion capture animation technology and observing directly on a monitor how the actors’ virtual counterparts interact with the movie’s digital world in real time, enabling him to adjust and direct the scenes just as if shooting live action.

Just like Cameron’s new technology, there is something new hitting the world of marketing: “Augmented Reality.” AR, as it is commonly known, is a hologram-like technology that allows you to interact with 3D images displayed on your monitor (Think Princess Leia in the first Star Wars movie with R2-D2’s projection and the emphasis line “Help us Obi-Wan, you’re our only hope”). But…

Is AR ready for prime-time marketing?

We’ll know soon: 20th Century Fox and a plethora of other brands are testing this emerging technology as a marketing tool to promote the Dec. 18 release of Avatar. Why shouldn’t the marketers push the boundary with a film that is doing the same?

In recent months brands ranging from Lego to Topps trading cards to Toyota have experimented with AR. Now big boys like, McDonald’s and Coke Zero, are joining the bandwagon via a marketing partnership with Fox for their big movie event – Avatar.

Coke Zero is using an expansive program that includes a commercial, airing on TV as well as theaters, not to mention their digital site AVTR.com. Coke Zero is running and producing the site, with minimal branding, where consumers can go to utilize AR-enabled packaging created by Coke Zero.

Once you download an application from AVTR.com, you can simply hold up the can or bag to a webcam to get a virtual ride from one of the film’s main modes of transportation – a Samson Helicopter from the movie that Sully flies in – According to the trade, in some Asian countries theater lobby displays allow consumers to explore AR right on the spot. n

Outside of Coke there is the one and only, McDonald’s, employing a similar approach. Its campaign kicked off during the movie’s Dec. 18 opening weekend with a special Happy Meal that takes kids to an Avatar-branded site, that happens to be a quick service McWorld virtual world; and a young-adult-oriented Big Mac promotional tie-in, that redirects consumers to McDonalds.com/Avatar.

Other domestic Avatar marketing partners include Panasonic, the film’s technology partner LG, which also launched an Avatar-themed campaign for its new Projector Phone Dec. 11, and Mattel, which rolled out an Avatar line of action figures earlier this year.

But … isn’t 3D just an annoying distraction?

Have you seen the movie? Do you think 3D is just an annoying distraction that takes away from experiencing the film’s story? Could Augmented Reality be in the same boat, since its marketing value is yet to be determined? Is it a passing fad or truly useful in creating richer digital movie and marketing experiences?

You are the jury — let’s hear YOUR opinion.

Yes. We have our first “avatar” client. Lovatar, a.k.a. Love Avatar, IS a classy web site, though. We would not have accepted them otherwise, as our latest member advertiser. Scout’s (virtual scout’s?) honor!

Lovatar allows visitors to enjoy a perfect erotic experience without getting dirty, wet, or emotionally attached. They can build or choose their own digital counterpart and explore the exotic world of virtual sex with their own avatars on their PCs, netbooks, even smart phones.

Need companionship? Beautiful, safe, and fun sex partners? Lovatar.com is cost-free and removes the trial and error from finding, reviewing, and using the most advanced sex games, desktop, and smart phone apps.

Sometimes, a video may give the viewer the sense of being talked at, or the feeling of the “us versus them mentality,” in which the viewer knows the business is trying to sell him something, so he’s a little bit on guard. An effective way to break that barrier in a restaurant video, is to include customer participation.

Using customers is effective because a viewer can readily identify with customers in the restaurant video. If they are having a good time and enjoying the restaurant, then he too believes he will have a good time there. The effect can be even more powerful if children are used. People think of children as innocent. Watching children on screen is fun, and serves to distance the video from any suspicion of manipulation of the truth, for commercial benefit.

If you watch the Weathervane Restaurant video, you can see an example of a video that employs child participation.

The Weathervane restaurant video disarms you right from the start. It begins like so many other videos with a shot of the outside facade. But before you can say Jack Frost, you are greeted by a child’s voice telling you to “Common in to the Wethervane Restaurant.” The camera then pans to four children standing outside the entrance, with the boy in front doing the talking. As soon as he finishes, they turn and walk inside. They’re soon seen sitting around a booth.They look around at the camera and say as one “It’s a great place for families.”

As the waitress brings food to the children, the narrator tells us to “Try our chicken, fried steak, our baby back ribs or seasoned salmon salad. “Close-ups of the dishes are superimposed on the shot of the children, as the narrator continues “Our down-home cooking will bring you back.”

Having established the family oriented and kid friendly nature of the eatery, we now hear from an adult customer who tells us the Wethervane is “a great place for fun,” followed by a chorus of “yeahs” from the kids and other guests. The demonstration of enthusiasm further breaks down the barrier between video and viewer. This effect is enhanced by the fact that the participants appear to be friends of the restaurant as opposed to professional actors.

The narrator invites us to try their “prickly pair” or “margarita.” The waitress simultaneously places the two drinks on the counter, just in front of the camera. We get a good view of the restaurant’s food and beverages, as well as the customers.

Then a youngish looking grandpa with his wife tells us, “It’s a great place for celebration.” Three generations all testifying to the family nature of the Weathervane Restaurant, fully convincing us of the family fun atmosphere.

As the video closes, the narrator invites us to call and arrange for a special event, and then an interesting graphic of a local map showing the location of the restaurant pops on the screen. In the background, the narrator repeats verbally what we see on the graphic.

A well designed presentation, wouldn’t you say?

Thanks to Winmax Video of California for contributing to this post. Winmax produces restaurant videos and as well as corporate videos.

How can we utilize video in this new buyer-led world?
To engage today’s customers, we must forget nearly everything we’ve learned about the video of the “past” and reinvent it as an interactive marketing medium. Here’s how:

1. Become “Video-Active”
Thanks to technology, we no longer need an army of well-trained people to shoot, edit, and produce video content. Sure, it’s not entirely easy just yet, but Cisco’s Flip cameras and a host of others are a great way to quickly capture that customer testimonial you’ve been waiting for.

2. Make your video personal
In digital marketing, we’ve seen the benefits of identifying and targeting messages to buyer personas — and video is no exception. With interactive technologies, we can now assemble a personal video story on the fly that maps directly to each persona’s needs. How cool is that?

3. Roll with your own rock stars
You and your own employees can create effective and authentic video content. Look for individuals in your company who connect with people and can tell your story the best way. Use LinkedIn and Twitter to enable direct connections between your rock stars and prospects.

4. Keep it short and sweet ( Not that KISS … )
In this consumer-led world, time is precious — so don’t assume that someone will sit through a 30 minute company presentation on video. Find juicy, bite-sized bits of video snippets and create fun, memorable content out of them.

5. Build calls-to-action into your video
Strike while the iron’s hot. If you have prospects engaged in your video, provide the next step directly within the experience, rather than sending them off to another Web site.

6. Focus on the ROI
Absolutely! Do NOT think of video as optional Web site eye-candy, but a way to add rocket fuel to your current lead generation, lead nurturing and sales enablement programs. Recent studies show that adding video to e-mail campaigns can increase conversion rates by 2 to 3 times. This is an ROI that’s hard to beat.

Last but not least…

Video is Google Juice
According to Forrester Research, optimizing video content is one of the easiest ways to get a first-page organic ranking on Google. Submitting video content to YouTube and other video portals will help you raise awareness, but driving prospects to your door is the ultimate goal.

Surprise, surprise … news web sites are looking a lot less like newspapers and a lot more like TV today.

Why?

Predictably, the major reason is commercial. At a time when other categories of advertising dollars are shrinking, video ads are booming. News sites are adding more and more video to keep pace with the demands of advertisers, from the higher cost-per-thousands, or C.P.M.’s, that ads on these videos command.

For example, CNN and ESPN are featuring video much more prominently on their home pages, even prompting visitors to press “Play” before they begin to read. The Wall Street Journal has moved its video player front and center too, with a twice-a-day live newscast on WSJ.com.

The attention to video mirrors changes in how viewers are experiencing news. Major events, be it the presidential election or the death of Michael Jackson, bring a surge in streaming video viewing by new users, and each time more of them stick around.

“Every watershed event leaves video more popular than before,” says Charles W. Tillinghast, the president of MSNBC.com, a joint venture between NBC Universal and Microsoft.

K. C. Estenson, the general manager of CNN.com, a unit of Time Warner, observes: “People are using the Internet in a different way now. With broadband becoming ubiquitous and more and more sites having this easy capability, people expect video to be there.”

While media companies typically do not break out figures for video advertising, data available from other sources indicates that video revenue currently pales next to search and display advertising. But the growth — especially notable under the dismal economic conditions we’ve had in the last two years — has spurred investment and interest in video production.

Among Web sites operated by newspapers, The New York Times, Gannett and Tribune each reach more than a million viewers a month with video streams, comScore says. The home page of The Times sometimes streams live video of events; it carried a news conference Friday about the shootings Thursday at Fort Hood, Tex.

Beyond news sites, video is now the fastest-growing segment of the Internet advertising market. Digital video amounted to $477 million in revenue in the first half of 2009, up 38 percent from the same time period in 2008, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

The research firm eMarketer projects 35 to 45 percent growth for online video advertising dollars in each of the next five years, topping out at $5.2 billion in 2014. (Search advertising ie projected to be a $16 billion business by then.) They also predict that video ads would be the “main channel” for major advertisers seeking to increase their online spending. Already, video ads for companies like Johnson & Johnson and Unilever can be seen on all major news sites.

While advertising dollars have not always kept pace with growing view counts, video is currently the strongest ad format for WSJ.com, according to Mr. Quinn.

So who am I to argue? Bring it on and over to Million Dollar Web TV!

Let’s go back for a moment to 1960 in America — imagine St. Louis or Boston — people waking up and starting their morning by turning on their television sets to catch “The Today Show” on NBC. After finishing up their first cup of coffee and morning toast, they’d jump in their cars and flip on the radio to listen to more morning news on the way to work.

Back to the future: 2009

This century is starting to shape up as the era of mass technology, making mass information a commodity and hence a choice. Think of the past as a very simple road that led to very few places where people were constrained to appointment-based programming that was dictated by the radio and television broadcast schedules….

YOU are in the driver’s seat now and have many more options to view and store content. Computers, gaming consoles, Wi-Fi-enabled TV sets now function as multimedia centers, allowing you to pick and choose when and how to watch your shows, listen to yourmusic, or consume whatever content you want , when you want it.

Also following the mass adoption of Internet video is the growth of the mobile market. Again, technological advancements in hardware play a major role as smart phone adoption in recent years (iPhone, Blackberry, Google Android, etc) has allowed audiences everywhere to watch content on the run.

For example someone in my office the other day was watching a live major league baseball game on his iPhone. Yes, I said LIVE on the phone! If that doesn’t say the future is here, then nothing else does.

Aside from the Internet and mobile vehicles, the advancement of OOH technology allows for video content to be placed in front of viewers where they drive, bike or walk. For example the NASDAQ and Reuters billboards in Times Square are able to stream quality long-form content. Furthermore, a few weeks ago Diet Coke streamed a live webisodic program to the Internet as well as to these billboards, acknowledging the multiscreen approach.

Shameless plug: This multiscreen approach is what Million Dollar Web TV is also about – the most cost-effective way to have a 100-200 visitors a day see your video message on a strategically placed billboard on the Internet.

9/9/09 (three nines) is supposed to be a very lucky date in Chinese folklore. I don’t know about that, but it certainly is for us. Thanks to Emma Gabor, a.k.a. the Predatoress, we have a new member (former vampire…) with impeccable credentials to lure more visitors to our site!



Funny, but in my post of 12/28/2008, where I introduced our newly signed-up member advertiser, InstaDocs, I made this personal wish: “May we not need to hear any more of fateful Chinese proverbs.” Interesting, or is it a coincidence? Either way, today is a great day for all our members and the site. More ads, more traffic, more leads, more sales – just what you need, especially in this economy!

The future of video advertising is changing, right before our eyes, into video promotion of products and services by their own purveyors. Why?

1. The Internet is a direct media channel
The Great Recession of 2007-2009 is leading businesses to radically alter long-held assumptions about the marketing and advertising uses of media. To save money and shorten the marketing cycle, companies have started to increasingly use the Internet as a direct media channel to their customers. They are allocating a greater share of marketing budgets to enrich their own Web sites as interactive, lead-generation properties. Similarly, their focus now is on employing embedded video and related forms of digital media in press releases, product promotions, and business communications.

2. Video and TV are migrating to the Internet
Cable and satellite networks are evolutionary dead-ends that cannot hope to match the innovative pace enabled by the Internet.

Consumers are learning to get unlimited Internet access at their TV, most commonly by attaching a laptop computer. The computer’s onboard WiFi links over a home network to the Internet thereby transforming the laptop into an Internet Gateway for the TV. A remote mouse and keyboard provides a lean-back viewing experience 15 – 20 feet distant from the screen. While the uninitiated sometimes assume the set-up is too complex, numerous instructional videos demonstrate that it is easier to connect a laptop computer to the TV than it is to attach a TiVo or cable set-top box. 

An estimated 10 million Americans watch Internet video on TV monitors via computers. Ultimately it is an intermediate step leading to either (1) browser-centric TVs or (2) TVs, or devices similar to the Apple TV, with their own Apps Store or Yahoo-like widgets. The store would be like the iPhone one, except that its (typically free) applications would enable Web sites like Hulu.com and YouTube to be watched on TV.  

3. Product promotion is poised to replace product advertising
The Internet is redefining product promotions to fit into a larger context. Historically, product promotions were nearly synonymous with product advertising. The applicable marketing budget was allocated to agencies and buyers responsible for the creative work and media placement.
Increasingly, sponsors are incorporating their own use of the Internet into product promotion. By utilizing low cost, effective marketing vehicles like us, and also enriching their websites, press releases, email marketing, and corporate communications with the same digital media, they can trigger transactions and generate leads, bypassing the traditional advertising industry. 

Where are YOU in this newly configured food chain? How deeply are you involved? What do you need to accomplish NOW to stay ahead of the pack?