Last week, YouTube updated its ContentID policies; many channels suffered setbacks. As my company produces both fully cleared and transformative clips using third-party footage, I was wary that we would face similar issues. We got a few claims that we replied to immediately and largely resolved. By Sunday morning, there was no reason to be wary. Yet by 1 p.m., our videos had disappeared.

An increasing number of brands are investing in video content marketing not only to make a bigger splash with consumers, but also to drive greater earned media coverage across multiple social channels. In 2013 in particular, we saw several major global brands generating millions of views daily with video content that was moving, entertaining, or just plain funny. Let's take a look at this year's big winners and highlight the secrets of their success:

In order to tap into the unlocked growth of programmatic video, ad networks need to reinvent themselves. No longer can they serve as a conduit between advertisers and publishers for generic, broad audience buying. Ad networks need to evolve to become strategic media partners to advertisers, helping them get in front of the right video audience at the right time, by the most efficient means possible.

As an end-of-year exercise, I've identified three important advances in the T/V (Television/Video) ecosystem from 2013 that will have a favorable impact on the new, emerging ad-supported business model. These are changes that let go of the things that don't work in the traditional television model, in favor of those that digital T/V brings -- promising a better viewer experience, better advertiser value, and more revenue potential for media providers.

While ad spending often attracts the lion's share of attention in online video, let's not forget that video is a marketing tool, too. To be sure, brands are busily spending money to peddle their products in online TV shows and other digital programs - in fact, video ad spend rose about 42% this year to reach $4.12 billion. But many marketers are finding that online video can also be extremely useful in helping communicate to potential customers about the products and services offered, according to a survey conducted by the Web Video Marketing Council, Flimp Media and ReelSEO.

A couple of weeks ago, I was at YouTube's Lean-In event in Los Angeles. At day's end, Google's Chairman Eric Schmidt gave a talk about his perspective on YouTube's past and the future of online video. During the Q&A, I asked him a softball question. But I really wanted to know more about the following:

Free On-Demand as a platform for the multichannel video programming distributor (MVPD) and programmers is maturing into a stone-cold winner, and I'd venture to say that within the next 18-24 months, advertising-supported Free On Demand could become the most valuable inventory available in the entire television ecosystem.

Last year, my wish list for 2013 was a guide map for second screen content and app developers. Just like the live elf that spent five years at the top of my son's Christmas list, perhaps it was a bit unrealistic. Unlike that live elf -- which eventually came off the list -- I'm leaving that 2013 request in because it still matters. But this year, I'm changing my focus to something else. I've decided to wish for an original, episodic, native Web series that truly captures national media attention and the pop culture zeitgeist. These are the key ingredients …

Video rules. Okay, fine. We'll back that statement up with data. Video viewing across digital venues rose by double digits year over year, according to the just-released report from video ad platform FreeWheel. Specifically, video views jumped 20%, and video ad views 31%.

Last week, I discussed and outlined the business rules that have served as the foundation to most of my licensing deals. Mind you, as much as we've walked to the beat of our own drum, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that we'd implicitly been at the mercy of others in two ways. For one, we were producing a lot of lifestyle-oriented programming that we often licensed to other media companies, who in turn wanted to create "push" inventory to in turn serve their own CPG clients. Second, we were producing the type of content that would-be acquirers were …