• Can Online Video Ever Achieve a "Tiffany Network" Standard?
    In the early days of television, CBS dubbed itself the Tiffany network, the network that was classier than the others. Is there any online video equivalent to that? Is that even possible? The idea of a self-consciously quality-oriented video Website seems relevant as YouTube and others grow their own channels and as, increasingly more Websites produce their own video. Certainly there are rules, but in a Internet universe that has grown in large part because it accommodates a range of ideas and tastes, it's my guess that having standards is mainly a thematic concept. It's not a qualitative wall that …
  • Can Online Video Ever Achieve a "Tiffany Network" Standard?
    In the early days of television, CBS dubbed itself the Tiffany network, the network that was classier than the others. Is there any online video equivalent to that? Is that even possible? The idea of a self-consciously quality-oriented video Website seems relevant as YouTube and others grow their own channels and as, increasingly more Websites produce their own video. Certainly there are goals, but in a Internet universe that has grown in large part because it accommodates a range of ideas and tastes, it's my guess that having standards is mainly a thematic concept. It's not a qualitative wall that …
  • View Responsibly: Online Liquor Videos Need to Craft Careful Mesage
    A good portion of the world is spending a good portion of this week drunk. No doubt you'll see some of their dumber exploits online. New Year's Eve, historically, is when people alcohol makes people even more stupid. Liquor marketers seem a little constrained by social media and online video, perhaps because they don't want to be accused of targeting youthful drinkers. But the fact is, Generation Y, the people born between 1982 and 1995, have grown up with the Internet, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and other social media. There's nothing more social-or, eventually, potentially socially destructive-than drinking. So manufacturers have …
  • Cisco Report Proves 2012 Was Another Very Good Year for Professional Online Video Fare
    Did you get or give a DVD for Christmas this year? Probably not, given the crowd that is likely reading this, but you probably would have given the same answer if you weren't somehow connected to The Biz. In fact, though home video sales had a comparatively good year, cresting at $18.7 billion, that's the best it's done since 2009. It's far off from the torrid $21.4 billion the home video industry grabbed in 2004 when it seemed like there was a good future for DVDs. Double-digit declines in DVD sales ended in 2012, but no one is predicting a …
  • Online Video and Social Media: That's a Marriage Made in Marketing Heaven
    Maybe it has been like this forever, but I'm just noticing now that when I visit Facebook, there's virtually not one poster who's not including content with their comment--usually a video or just a photo that has come from some Website. The plain fact is that online video and social media are a perfect match. A new report from the Boston-based online news and content marketing agency Brafton, made that same point eloquently a few days ago when it advised its content marketing clients to add video-heavily---to the mix of what they provide to their end users, because it will …
  • Full Steam Ahead for Online Video Advertising, Pivotal Group's Wieser Says
    Pivotal Research Group's Brian Wieser's new analysis says online video is probably the biggest reason total online ad revenues grew by 18% in the third quarter. Indeed, he writes, "For now we think it's worth considering that online video advertising is growing faster than might be widely appreciated and well ahead of any changes in consumption." His new data says it's likely Google's YouTube will exceed $1 billion in ad revenue in 2012-up from $800 million just a year ago, most of it from US sales. That would mean, if the widely-followed Wieser's analysis is correct, that YouTube ad revenues …
  • Engagement, 'Gangnam Style': So Fast Has Anyone Noticed?
    Maybe we should slow down. I offer as Exhibit A, Psy's "Gangnam Style." I'm only quoting Wikipedia here, but read the jarring ridiculousness (but I'm presuming, accuracy) of what the world's most sketchy authoritative source says about this enormous hit: "The song and its accompanying music video went viral in August 2012 and have influenced popular culture since then." That's followed two sentences later by: "On September 20, 2012, [my note here: That is one month later] "Gangnam Style" was recognized by Guinness World Records as the most 'liked' video in YouTube history. [Me again. In the entire seven year …
  • How An Online Video Created A Best-Selling Book--in Cleveland
    A lot of comedians are making money from online videos-Louie CK comes to mind. But not many of the comics making money online are in Cleveland, or are mainly known for making comedy for the Cleveland crowd. As you may have heard, however, there are a lot of jokes about Cleveland, so the material is there. Now, in large part because of YouTube, the book, Damn Right I'm From Cleveland: Your Guide to Making It in America's 47th Largest City has become a local best seller. Gray & Co., the publisher, is rushing to print more. Because so many people …
  • Got a Moment? Here's An Extremely Brief Report on Short Attention Span Video Ads
    According to new research commissioned by Aol, consumers would rather be pitched prior to watching short videos rather than being pitched at the beginning and middle while watching longer videos online. In short-and short seems to be the operative word here--consumers aren't so interested in replicating the TV style mix of advertising and content when they are watching video online. Why would the AOL On Network care so much? Well, it claims to have the largest, premium short-form video library on the Web, and so, this is a study that is saying, "Hey! Aren't we suddenly more attractive?" When Aol …
  • New GfK Study: Are Smartphones 'Limiting' How We Use Our PCs?
    A new study to be released today by GfK, the giant research company, suggests that while mushrooming use of smartphones and apps continues to change the digital world, it's also changing PC use-- in a surprising way Interacting with social sites made up 31% of the total minutes spent by smartphone users in 2012, the new study says, the same as last year. But as total smartphone and app use has increased, it appears that consumers are narrowing the range of what they choose to use their PCs to do.
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