The video everywhere and anywhere phenomenon is finally going to push digital viewing past disc-based experiences this year. According to tracking for IHS Screen Digest, online movie watching will surpass 3.4 billion views this year -- about 1 billion units of viewing more than the 2.4 billion views (or transactions). This represents monstrous growth in digital viewing, since only last year the viewing of physical video accounted for 2.6 billion views, compared to digital video at 1.4 billion. Internet viewing of video measured in movie views was up 135%, IHS says. IHS Senior Principal Analyst, Broadband & Digital Media Dan Cryan said in the report that the metrics mark a milestone in media history. “After more than 30 years of buying and renting movies on tapes and discs, this year marks the tipping point as U.S. consumers now are making a historic switch to Internet-based consumption, setting the stage for a worldwide migration of consumption from physical to online.” Cryan reminds us that even nine years after the arrival of the iTunes music store, CD sales continue -- and so the transition will be prolonged. Nevertheless, he says, "we are looking at the beginning of the end of the age of movies on physical media like DVD and Blu-ray.” The physical video market is comprised of sales and rentals of VHS, DVD and Blu-ray discs, while the digital segment includes electronic sell-through of video, Internet-based video on demand and subscription-based video on demand. It is this last category, not surprisingly, that is crushing the market for discs. IHS subscription video services accounted for 94% of all paid online movie consumption in the U.S. Only about 1.3% of video units consumed had been individually purchased. This itself is an interesting wrinkle in the market, since studios and even core video sellers like Apple seemed to be hoping for cloud-based lockers of videos. In this model, the habit of amassing video collections could be transported to virtual space. For now that model does not seem to have taken hold with video lovers, although a cloud-based approach would give them access to their content to see and share across devices. Instead, the critical cross-platform services like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu Plus have seen enormous gains as they all migrate to portable devices. Still, disc-based viewing will continue to beat out Internet-based video viewing in terms of total time spent. Traditional media will see 4.3 billion hours, while online viewing will get 3.2 billion hours. And as in all other migrations from offline to online media, the total revenue of Internet-based video viewing will be a fraction of discs -- $1.7 billion compared to $11.1 billion. The disparity suggests to IHS analysts that Internet access to video via subscription might lead to online viewing sucking mindshare from other video viewing platforms without necessarily adding to revenue. With consumers always having something to watch via Netflix or Amazon, their need to seek out more lucrative sources like discs -- or even electronic sell-through -- diminishes.
This time of year, millions of consumers will watch the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament, and because those games often happen during business hours, they will watch online. Big-name sponsors including soft drink makers, cell-phone providers and credit card companies are sponsoring the tournament’s live streaming coverage, ultimately exposing millions to their brand messaging. March Madness is, and will continue to be, a major online advertising event, which is good news for digital marketers constantly searching for the hard-to-find “premium and exclusive video content.” But online sports coverage doesn’t begin and end in March, nor is it confined to the live streaming of high-profile sporting events. Why is it that authentic sports video, while constantly available online, is never at the crux of the “premium” content discussion for digital marketers? Marketers are constantly grappling with premium content scarcity issues, especially in video, and tend only to be willing to buy around content considered television quality and brand-safe, eliminating hours of YouTube and similar properties’ user-generated footage. Advertisers, to date, have shown a preference for streaming TV shows, music videos, professionally produced news, long-form content and web series, with the knowledge that this content provides desirable brand associations. It is clear that they crave engaging, professionally produced content that aligns with their brand messaging and overall goals. While it is often overlooked, online sports video can undoubtedly provide that content In traditional TV, sports programming is considered “DVR-proof” because consumers still feel the need to watch the tent-pole events live. But not even the most dedicated fans can watch every minute of each game, and it gets particularly hard to keep one’s eyes open when the much anticipated Bulls and Lakers match-up doesn’t end until well after midnight on the East Coast. Sports video consumption is now transitioning from the constraints of DVR-proof must-see TV to easily accessible online recaps and highlights the next day. Hardcore fans need to catch what they missed -- and even casual fans need to see the walk-off home run, high-flying dunk, or missed field goal everyone is buzzing about at the water cooler and on social media platforms the very next morning. Great sports moments simply need to be seen, and online video finally gives consumers access to all of these highlights on demand. In fact, online might be an even better model for sports advertising because of this “I-want-it-now!” mentality. Sports video goes viral instantly and, because sports video can deliver ad opportunities that are missing from other kinds of “viral” video, it embodies premium in every sense of the word. Sports content is always professionally shot and produced, but that premium quality, along with the fact that the leagues monitor their content very closely, creates the appearance of a “walled garden.” When marketers talk about sports online, they mostly think about big events like the NCAA Tournament (with its 10.3 million hours of live tournament game streams) and consider those events inaccessible. Entities like ESPN and the major leagues appear the same, with several of the pro leagues making major strides online by offering streaming video packages to subscribers. But again, sports marketing opportunities should not be confined to these rare streaming events, nor are they limited to the world’s largest advertisers. Video syndication and publisher sophistication mean that premium professionally produced sports highlights and in-studio shows are consistently available across hundreds of sites, with both national and local audiences, giving even smaller marketers a means of engaging their local consumers through an unmatched passion point. If the goal of online video advertising is to ultimately reach engaged audiences in brand-safe environments, then sports content should be at the crux of the “premium” discussion. Professional and college sports produce some of the highest-caliber video available online, and better yet, this video is now available at scale across premium and long tail sites, to all advertisers. Sports video content is available to advertisers and agencies of all sizes, with a built-in, dedicated and avid audience following. Advertisers clamoring for more “premium” content can end their search here.
Even though my tastes trend toward charred meats and Bruce Willis flicks, I don't know from rugby. As it has been explained to me, the sport involves tackling, biting, mud, toothlessness and collegial beer intake. If that's the case, I don't know how it hasn't long since captured my fancy, much less lapped medium-contact pursuits like hockey or Black Friday shopping here in the U. S. of effin' A. But while it's Tebow-and-Lin-marry-Kardashians-level news in much of the rest of the free world, this weekend's 2012 Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens tournament hadn't blipped on my leisure-time radar, at least not until I was forwarded a "film" (read: slightly longer ad) produced by HSBC for the occasion. It lacks proportion and subtlety, and recasts rugby as an urban deathsport - all good things in my book. Join me, will you, on my voyage of discovery. The clip, "Serious Play," opens on a Hong Kong street, where be-vested dudes in cowboy hats are running around willy-nilly, as if really late for work. Turns out that they're engaged in a high-stakes game of Keep Away, one in which bonus points are awarded for slo-mo jumping and annihilation of vegetable carts. They're encountered by another bunch of dudes, all dressed like members of Blue Man Group's green-bodysuited auxiliary unit. And they're shifty and manic, and set on stealing the Cowboys' HSBC-branded rugby ball. (Question: Is it called a "rugby ball," or is there some sport-specific term for it that I'll get ripped for not knowing, like "tossy-orb"?) One poor Cowboy gets tackled by a car. This is so much cooler than golf. Then the camera randomly flashes on a black dude drinking coffee, a weird artistic choice amid the chaos. While my first thought is that this may be an attempt to shoehorn in a message of racial inclusiveness - because god forbid anyone should think HSBC doesn't boast a veritable pan-ethnic rainbow of a customer base - it appears that the random dude is George Gregan, a rugby-player-guy of some repute. That's one for the insiders. Anyway. The Green Man Group encounters a bunch of jumbo-size elves, who have abandoned their toy-making stalls in the interest of confusing and/or terrorizing passersby. They also want the HSBC ball… as does another street gang, this one clad in white pantsuits with disco collars. This crew promptly butts heads, literally, with a bunch of extras from the movie 300. Bodies are crunched and flung with abandon. Then a bunch of luchadores show up and crash through tables, as is their wont. At this point, I have it scored thusly: Green Man Group 28, Elves 20, Cowboys 18, Disco Dancefighters 18, Luchadores 12, Extras From 300 8. I penalized the Disco Dancefighters 2 points due to the illegal width of their collars. Now there are Vikings and either U.S. founding fathers or kabuki actors with slicked-back Shogun ponytails. I can't tell, because the video cuts so quickly between scenes and combatants that it becomes a blur after a while. And just like that, we're in a restaurant, where the Green Men are ignoring the dickens out of the "no ball-playing or table-walking-on" sign on the wall. It goes on like this for a while. Eventually we circle back to the Extras from 300, who have the tossy-orb in hand when the clip ends. I guess that means they won? In conclusion, I don't have the slightest idea as to what's happening in this clip, nor whom it's happening to. But there's no grand goal here, from an HSBC branding perspective or any other. Just enjoy it for what it is: shiny, meticulously choreographed and set to the strains of a politely rollicking song by the Black Keys, who have replaced The Pixies as the go-to band for coolness-by-association. "Serious Play" more than capably conveys excitement for the tourney ahead, and that's plenty. One could find far duller ways to spend 90 seconds of one's free time.
It takes informative and engaging content to get videos indexed in search engine results or to get people to share them. Producing entertaining videos that help solve problems increases the likelihood that people will share with others. Here are a few tools that marketers can use to get started. Since soundtracks make the video more appealing, earlier this week Rumblefish introduced several search tools that make it easier to find audio that matches the visual. MoodMap, for example, allows content creators to search for music that complements the mood or the action taking place in the video. Pick a video. Then click on the smiley face, sun, lamb, grey cloud or frown, and the platform will make suggestions for music that matches the video. What's the Occasion -- another feature introduced this week -- enables users to browse through occasion categories, including celebrations, themes, current events, moods, sports and holidays. Editor’s Picks allows users to browse playlists handpicked by the Rumblefish editorial team, including songs focused on current events, holidays, and pop culture. YouTube, the second-most-used search engine in the world, should not be ignored. Marketers must think carefully about how to monetize each video click they get. aimClear Founder Marty Weintraub once told me to think of the video as an organic ad, as the title of the video will likely appear in the search engine results on Google and Bing. He also suggests disabling the public's ability to view analytics for your videos. There is no reason to give your competition insight into what works and what doesn't. In an interview earlier this year, Trada CEO Niel Robertson suggested a few strategies, which include starting a Google display campaign through AdWords that targets specific videos by URL. This will put a text ad on top of your own video when the user clicks on it, Robertson said. Since this is a traditional Google display ad, it will allow the user to click through to the brand's Web site or landing page. He said that for many advertisers, the cost per click is so inexpensive that the additional steps to capture a lead are well worth the effort. And the scale is there due to the volume of searches on YouTube. Correcting glitches in videos is not always easy. Google's YouTube engineers figured out a way to improve video quality. New features in the YouTube Video Editor offer to stop the shaking in clips or correct the darkness levels, and identify the issues and automatically offer to fix it, creating an updated version of video on YouTube. Even when uploading a video from a mobile device, the platform color-corrects and stabilizes shaky footage. I really could have used these tools when producing the following footage of Annabelle.