There's a lot of opportunity at the intersection of social and video, yet few marketers are effectively generating results in this space. There are some great case studies, though. For one, Sprite's recent video campaign got me thinking, and I wanted to offer here an analysis on its execution.

Not a week goes by where I don't receive a call to discuss the "democratization of content" and what it means for major entertainment companies. People call and tell me that content was king, but now consumers are king and ask me what I think. Before responding whether I agree with this presumption, a follow-up question based on agreeing with the former occurs: Do I think major entertainment companies are doomed because of the Internet?

There's a great amount of buzz about "TV Everywhere" -- everywhere! And while many consumers will be thrilled to have access to the video content they pay to see at home -- everywhere -- independent content producers have good reason to worry about the "big boys" moving in on their turf. After all, wasn't the vacuum created by the lack of legal super-premium content the reason for the great success of independent video over the last four years? Not completely.

In January of this year, Publicis companies Starcom MediaVest Group and VivaKi announced a joint venture called the Pool. The first project that was announced by the Pool was identified as setting standards for online video so that it is as easy to buy and plan against as a 30-second TV spot. The Pool's leadership discussed its direction in a keynote speech at the recent IAB Digital Video forum. Two potential game-changers were mentioned during the keynote. Here they are....

Everyone understands a media buy. Its value proposition is simple to explain and it offers guaranteed distribution for your content -- a way to stand above the noise and be heard. For this reason, paid media has a cemented place in our industry, even as earned media gains popularity.

A recent Knowledge Networks study shows that use of network-produced video increased to over a third (37%) of online users -- up by more than a quarter over the previous year (27%). And that should come as no surprise, given the amount of content TV networks are now offering online. But these users of online video come in two distinct types, with very different online habits -- and different potential value to advertisers. These types are viewers of streaming video, and those who download video for viewing later on their laptop or iPod.

Is the measure of a MediaPost blogger's performance (hey, we're in the online business, everything is measured, right?) based on the level of conversation he or she can generate with a post? If so, then this writer is reasonably happy with our most recent effort. My last post, "Is The Big Shift Underway?," highlighted some interesting statistics in the growth of professionally produced, long-form video.

In the face of a tough economic climate, Stanford University's Scott Jahnke started exploring ways to increase donations from alumni. At the very outset, Jahnke knew that it was crucial to optimize the presentation format of his department's fundraising messages. In his mind, "video-plus-email" seemed to be the most engaging delivery mechanism for his campaigns.

Online video advertising is poised to be the next driver of change in advertising. The ability to run high quality video online, target them to the right audience, measure the ads' effectiveness in more meaningful ways (beyond the click), and make changes on the fly in response to performance data is an amazing leap forward. Change in whatever technology form it comes in, however, is not the source of creativity; nor is it what ultimately drives video ad effectiveness -- it's just an enabler.

In my daily dealings with major networks and other media/entertainment companies, the concern I hear most is that their departments are overwhelmed with the processes of implementing and monetizing digital video, specifically optimizing the sale of in-video ads. Workflow between ad ops, player engineering and ad sales isn't automated, causing frustration, delays and missed opportunities. Although it's tempting to look at the economy, these problems aren't really economy-related. Why, then, do they exist?