Given a choice, the largest marketers want to spend a lot more money online and around video than they currently do, Still, all factors being equal, they would choose to advertise alongside content from Traditional Media Companies (TMCs) -- not just networks (NBC, FOX, ABC and CBS) -- but cable companies too (ESPN, VH1, etc) -- content creators that I've long categorized as "super premium" content providers. These companies happen to fear the cannibalization of offline revenues, the proverbial trading of analog dollars for online change, be it pennies, nickels, dimes or quarters (in every sense of the word, there …

While we all have grown immensely over the past year, online and mobile video is still Precambrian: an underdeveloped, but now sizable medium in its own right. If we are going to take our act to the next level soon, there are six actions that should take priority to ready ourselves and the medium for major new investment from marketers.

A few weeks ago, I had the honor of being invited to speak at MIT Sloan business school. I mainly discussed why the world has seriously changed and entrepreneurs should consider doing things differently, and carry new type of tools to be competitive and better than others. Why? Because it's not 1976 anymore. New game, new tools. I thought I'd connect that MIT presentation to the fastest growing market these days: online video, growing from $1.5B last year to shy of $6B by 2014 (by eMarketer), and provide some tips that might help to capture meaningful pieces of it.

Invidi Technologies Corp, a provider of addressable television advertising solutions, filed a patent infringement complaint on May 5, against Visible World and Cablevision. The complaint (filed in Delaware) states that Cablevision currently provides addressable advertising -- using Visible World's "Connect" product -- to at least 3,000,000 cable subscribers in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and parts of Pennsylvania.

Google TV and Apple TV have at least one common problem. Their naming convention is ill conceived. What's in a name you say? "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet," etc.? Actually, nomenclature matters a lot when you're marketing to consumers because it sets an expectation, and that is the first step to defining consumer experience. Calling something "TV" brings decades of connotations and broad interpretations to the target audience.

I heard it again at the National Association of Broadcasters' convention: Traditional pay TV and broadcast models are going to go the way of the buggy whip. This was not the first time, nor will it be the last time that this phrase has been uttered by folks on the online video side of the business.

I recently spoke at a social media marketing conference at my alma mater, The University of Southern California, on the topic of how social media and other marketing professionals can best get their C-level executives involved in, invested in, and taking leadership roles in video and social media marketing. I identified three areas that I feel are most important: education, integration and return on investment

Today, brands are thinking differently about how to reach consumers: not by interrupting consumers' experiences with advertising messaging, but by offering value through original and co-created content. This content allows a brand to tell its own story, bring to life its core sensibilities, and connect with consumers in a deeper, more meaningful way. Here are five things to consider to make your branded content stand out and succeed:

In a distant time and in a far-off place, Viacom's MTV was synonymous not just with music videos, but music altogether. From the network's launch in 1981, it prohibited blatant plugs in music videos. As a result, it would either blur the logos of the advertiser or outright ask for a clean version devoid of any marketing message. How things have changed!

Video advertising would appear to be a powerful brand-building tool. But it is also an expensive tool, and advertisers need proof video advertising is driving the desired result in order to justify continued investment. In the absence of real-time data on overall campaign performance and that of the creative, placement, and frequency levels driving the performance, a lot of money can be spent without producing the desired outcome. When proactively managed, however, advertisers and the publishers they work with can create impressive results.