• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, December 15, 2008

Competing for a share of the informational video market, upstart One Minute Media has launched its own platform for one-minute, brand-integrated videos, "Know it in a Minute."

A self-described "general knowledge" resource, the site provides short tutorials on everything from massaging a baby to the difference between cold and flu, and gardening with allergies.

In the past two months, One Minute Media has produced--and is now airing--more than two dozen 60-second sponsored videos for brands including Zyrtec, Simply Soothing, Johnson's Head-To-Toe Bedtime products and Desitin.

Brands are paying for each unique viewing of the videos they sponsor, but what makes the model particularly appealing is the low overhead needed to professionally produce the videos, according to Andrew Pakula, co-founder and CEO of One Minute Media.

"We started the company because we knew we could execute an extremely cost-efficient model," said Pakula, who claims the videos require as little as 1% of the production cost of a typical 30-second TV ad.

"To work online, video needs to be one minute or less, maintain editorial credibility, offer a controlled audience with complete accountability, and be profitable," Pakula said. "We've figured out how to do this systematically and repeatedly, so advertisers reach tens of thousands of self-selecting, sub-targeted segments of people who are interested in specific information."

Two years ago, together with Bill Teitelbaum, former CBS King World executive and founder of University Television Network, Pakula sought a reliable model for making online video an advertising medium.

"This is the form TV needs to take online," said Teitelbaum. "We had to reinvent the production model to Internet scale in order to make a business in it."

Because One Minute Media controls the process from production to viewership, the company can provide real-time reporting, including video views by daypart.