A while back I wrote a guest post for Mark Robertson at ReelSEO providing some insight into what to look for when searching for an online video platform. The piece was based loosely off of an interview Mark and I did at the Online Video Platform Summit back in November. Here’s the video interview which covers three basic ideas when considering an OVP:
Back in November I attended the first annual Online Video Platform Summit which ran in conjunction with StreamingMedia West down in San Jose. I was fortunate enough to be asked to sit on a panel kicking off the show called Defining Online Video Platforms. It was an honor to sit on the panel with three distinguished CEOs of well-established OVPs; Bismarck Lepe of Ooyala, Ron Yekutiel of Kaltura, and Alex Castro of Delve Networks. Below is a video of the panel in it’s entirety (thank you StreamingMedia and OVPSummit):
Be sure to also check out Larry Kless’ post on the Summit and this panel specifically, he covers it well even including some popular Tweets. Larry co-hosted the OVPSummit and did a fantastic job promoting, organizing, and managing the first ever show with Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen. Here’s Larry’s piece at his blog, KlessBlog.
Ooyala, a premium services, online video platform (OVP) announced yesterday that they’ve signed a strategic partnership deal with the UK’s leading newspaper and online news site, the Telegraph Media Group. The announcement came shortly after another International partnership with Japan’s NTT, was established. Their growth outside of the US marks relatively new territory for the online video platform as it races to enter a rich environment for online video services.
I had a chance to speak with Ooyala’s Co-founder and President of Products, Bismarck Lepe. The following is an email interview we conducted together whereby he was kind enough to answer a few questions regarding the announcements as well as their company growth and goals for expanding further outside the US.
VidCompare:
Ooyala stated back in October, when you received your most recent round of funding, that you’d be using some of it to expand Internationally increasing both footprint (staff) and clientele. Can you comment on this growth as it pertains to staffing outside of the London office?
Ooyala:
Just last week we announced that we are expanding into the Japanese market. In the coming months we will be making a few more announcements about expansion into mainland Europe and Latin America.
VidCompare:
Are there other partnerships in play outside of TMG and NTT?
Ooyala:
Yes. We have both customer and channel relationship announcements coming down the line. Our field sales team continues to sign large platform customers and our business development team has been focused on signing relationships with partners who will help Ooyala grow its global footprint.
VidCompare:
TMG has been a Brightcove customer for a few years and Brightcove has had International presence for over two years. Are you targeting Brightcove customers specifically in an effort to expand Internationally?
Ooyala:
No. We obviously compete against them in the market, but the vast majority of our customer wins actually come from companies who are moving off of their DIY solutions to a 3rd party platform. We haven’t even scratched the surface of total opportunities to be focusing on only ripping out Brightcove installs. Outside of the UK, US and Germany, we rarely see Brightcove in a deal.
VidCompare:
Ooyala is actively increasing headcount with what appears to be over 30 positions currently open. Are these both International and Domestic openings?
Ooyala:
Yes. We are hiring across all division in all markets.
VidCompare:
What will these positions be focused on?
Ooyala:
Across the board: Sales, Sales Engineering, Marketing, Account Management, Finance, Operations and Engineering
VidCompare:
The partnership with TMG is unique in that you are actually co-habitating with their staff in London and are working together to build out the new relationship. Is the first such relationship whereby you partner with a customer to co-develop the product?
Ooyala:
We are doing something similar with NTT. But the TMG relationship is unique because we are committing engineering resources to open-ended projects that will be targeted to the print industry. Unlike other relationships where engineering is used to complete a statement of work, this development relationship is about quick iteration of new concepts and development of products and features that will gain some reasonable traction.
VidCompare:
Has this partnership been setup this way due to the unique nature of their product requiring custom development of your existing services or will you be developing new services for them specifically?
Ooyala:
No. This is completely new ground for new product development and innovation.
Thank you for your this opportunity Bismarck.
A few weeks ago StreamingMedia’s editor, Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen was interviewed on TVMainstream by TV WorldWide’s Dave Gardy about StreamingMedia.com, the magazine, and specifically about online video. The 11 minute long interview dives into the need for online video, successful use cases, their use of Brightcove as their Online Video Platform, and even gives a shout out to VidCompare.
Below is the interview for your listening pleasure. Be sure to pay attention at the 5:07 mark when Eric suggests to listeners that if they’re looking for an OVP to visit VidCompare.com. Even Dave backs him up saying, “That’s VidCompare.com, a great web site”.
Thank you Eric, and Dave for your support and to Kevin Shively of TVMainstream for allowing us to post this video:
A new Online Video Platform (OVP) launched yesterday, right on schedule according to Allan Tone, CEO of ProVDN.com who told me back in November that he’d be launching just after the new year. Typically I would not write about the launch of a new OVP considering the fact that, as I’ve mentioned so many times before, the sector is very crowded. But ProVDN speaks to a niche audience with a highly specialized approach, another subject matter I’ve discussed at length, specialization in our space.
ProVDN is an “Online Video Platform designed specifically for Independent Content Producers, Wedding/Event Videographers, and small to medium sized Video Production Companies”, to put it in his words. Now that’s a targeted market segment. They don’t have an over the top, robust service with all the bells and whistles like Brightcove, or Ooyala with deep analytics and monetization tools but rather a simple set of clearly defined tools to help the videographer and producer get the job done in an effective and efficient manner. ProVDN does utilize variable bitrate technology to enhance smooth streaming, and they offer affordable pricing allowing content producers a low barrier to entry for their services.
Allan and I met at OVPSummit in November where he told me about a problem in our industry involving video producers. We spoke for almost an hour about how videographers must engage in a cumbersome process with their clientele at the highly critical point of approval. Historically the producer would take the edited version of the video, burn it to DVD, ship it to the customer, then wait for them to watch it and verbally report back to them what changes they wanted made. I can hear the phone call now, “Um, at one minute twenty seconds the cat goes to the bathroom on the floor in the background, cut that scene…”. Tedious. Allan explained that online production services like TurnHere have made great strides in this area with easy to use online tools but Allan wanted to take it a step further and develop a drop-dead simple online tool that anyone could use.
I took the interactive review tool for a stroll today and found it to be quite clean with a clean UI, and simple point-and-click navigation that needed little to no explanation. The customer is presented with a link taking them to a video to watch with several frames underneath and a progress bar below showing all the areas where notes have been added. You can jump forward and back 1 or 5 seconds or drag the progress button anywhere within the video. In the top left corner are the notation tools where the user can select Comments, Arrows, Rectangles, or draw Freehand the messages they want to leave per frame. Just click on a tool, then the video, and enter your text instruction. It’s that easy.
ProVDN found a pain point in the industry and addressed a need by developing a service that simplifies a process, making life easier for online video content producers. At a time when video production is in high demand and quality video content is difficult to come by (perceived), it’s nice to see a highly specialized service addressing this important need.
ElliptiGO Inc. is a customer of Online Video hosting provider, vzaar. The following case study has been provided by vzaar to help illustrate the power and positive effects of online video for web-based businesses.
The ElliptiGO is the world’s first outdoor elliptical road bike. The bicycle combines the best of running, cycling and the indoor elliptical trainer to deliver a high-performance, low-impact exercise experience.
Bryan Pate, Co-Founder of ElliptiGO Inc., told vzaar that for such a must-see product, video is essential and that the “bottom line is that for our product the video is the absolute best way to communicate what we’ve created because the instant someone sees it in action they understand it. It’s almost impossible to convey our product through text or even pictures.”
So how have you embraced video?
We primarily use video on the site. It purposefully dominates the homepage and screams play me! In addition we send out newsletters each month and many of the recipients come to the website to specifically watch the video. Whilst video-in-email remains an unchartered and unreliable marketing tactic, we do use the video on our iPhones and Blackberrys to facilitate explaining the bike in personal interactions. It’s like having a product demo in your pocket! Bottom line is that for our product the video is absolutely the best way to communicate what we’ve created. The instant someone sees the bike in action they understand it. It’s almost impossible to convey our product through text or even pictures.
Tell us about the numbers
Attributing success to one video is always hard when you first bring your website to market, but at ElliptiGO we’re not only delighted with the 133% increase in visits (doubling previous traffic) but significantly the 30% increase in average time spent on the site. We attribute much of these improvements to an initial redesign of our site and prominent placement of our homepage video.
A further website redesign in November of this year resulted in an additional 18% increase in visits and a 50% increase in average time on site which underlines the work we have put into optimizing the positioning of the video and its call to action messaging. We added a call to action “Watch the 8S in action” and customers are doing just that we’re pleased to say.
Lights, Camera, Action!
We worked with a videographer who is also a professional tri-athlete to shoot our videos. Nothing like having an expert in the field to help shape how we show the product’s benefits. You only have to watch the video to see it has been money well spent. In addition, she’s very reasonable – about $1,500 for a full day of shooting plus video production for two videos. Furthermore, this is just the start as the business has done two shoots with her now so we’re getting better at accomplishing what we want and getting the right shots and shooting at the right time of day.
This case study was provided by Jamie Parkins of vzaar.com.
We’re seeing 2010 predictions emerge in the Online Video space by industry leaders and it provides for interesting reading. That being said, there’s nothing shocking being stated, or rather, there are no big surprises or prognostications of something new to come. Everyone tends to agree on what to expect in the New Year including the much hyped TV Everywhere, set-top boxes, multiple screens, and of course, mobile.
Indeed these are exciting features and products to look forward to and what’s mentioned by these smart individuals is definitely worth reading. So, I have laid out for you a few comments and links regarding aforementioned subject matter below:
Personally I think there is something bigger (in the sense of holistically, not enormity) brewing for 2010 which I’ve discussed at length with several OVP CEOs, and that’s the notion of specialization in our space as a result of impending commoditization. OV has come a long way in a very short amount of time and the fact of the matter is, we’re nearing ubiquity at a breakneck pace. It won’t be long until every online business has video in some way, shape, or form used to market their business, sell their product, extend their brand, and/or increase exposure.
The space will grow significantly in 2010 at the cost of a few providers, spurred by differentiation and specialization. I sound like a broken record, I know. But knowing what you do best and capitalizing on strengths is what’s going to take the leaders in OV to the next level and prevent the occurrence of commoditization. Let’s face it, it’s difficult to be everything to everyone. There’s just too much to manage and it’s just too easy to overwhelm users today especially with newer technology and services. With a keen eye on a specific niche and market segment, OVPs will be able to help the $3B small medium enterprise sector realize their goals and achieve them with assurance and confidence in the coming years.
Peace.
Eric Schumacher-Rasmussen asked a question on our Defining OVPs panel last month at Online Video Platform Summit that drew an interesting response from the crowd.
The question was related to whether or not YouTube was a viable solution for business and if people were building their own solutions versus using OVPs. My natural response was, “we’re at OV-P-Summit, not OV-DIY-Summit!” But when Ron Yekutiel of Kaltura wisely asked the crowd who was using YouTube, 6 hands went up. When he asked how many were using OVPs, 8 hands went up. And when he asked how many were using home brewed solutions 12 hands went up into the air. That’s roughly 15% of the audience attending the “Defining OVPs” panel who had developed their own solution for uploading, encoding, storing, and playing back their online video content.
Very interesting indeed.
So I’m curious, before I put a poll on the site. How many businesses out there have gone the OVDIY route? Not sure I have the readership yet to request input via the comments but, if you’re so inclined, let me know either in this post or via email at kdrey at vidcompare.com
Peace.
Obviously VidCompare is a site about online video, yet we have none of our own video content on the web site. Well, today we eat our own dog food and present you with our first video. Admittedly, it’s a bit cheesy with my used car salesman slant but, it’s a promo video for the business and we wanted to help our users better understand the goals of the site as well as to illustrate how effective video can be to get a message across.
For those of you who don’t have your own content yet, this was a very simple effort. It started with a conversation with video production company, TurnHere. Within a day they gathered my information; company details, goals for video, location, etc. and had me hooked up with one of their video producers who was local to my area. They have a far reaching directory of producers so it was easy for me to meet with them and get started on our video shoot.
The producer reached out to me via email to set up the meeting, then off we went to the local Starbucks to shoot. My producer could not have been more helpful, a true professional. He guided me through the process, queued me, and offered guidance with key speaking points. We didn’t write a script or agonize over content, we simply let if flow. These producers are so well versed that they know how to guide you through the process in one fell swoop. He even shot me navigating through the site describing key elements which he then translated into a screen capture which was edited into the video with my voice-over.
Within an hour and a half we were done. Two days later I received an email informing me that my video was ready. I was given a unique URL to view and comment on my video. The viewing admin was clean and easy to use. After watching my video I submitted only a few minor comments asking to make some adjustments and again, within a day the changes were made and I was able to review my video again.
Once I was happy with the results, I simply clicked the “Accept” button and boom, the next day an embed code was delivered to my inbox and the video was syndicated out to YouTube, DailyMotion, Yahoo!, and MySpace.
Once you’ve got your video content be sure to optimize it for the Web. There are plenty of resources out there to assist you with video SEO.
So if you’re one of the many businesses out there scratching your head, wondering where and how to get started you can rest assured that the process of developing video content is quite simple. Trust me, it’s tougher to make the leap than to complete the process. Dive in, the water’s fine.
The ultimate Case Study for online video; Zappos.com believes in video in a big way according to Rico Nasol, Senior Manager on their Content Team. Rico was interviewed at the recent Streaming Media West show where he divulged plans to build out mass amounts of original content in 2010 as well as why video is so important to Zappos.
As you know, Zappos was acquired by Amazon earlier this year for a whopping $840M, which is not surprising based on the fact that they (Zappos) did a whopping $1.2B in sales last year. Rico attributes a good percentage of this success to online video stating that products with accompanying video sell better than those with static images alone. Here are a few key facts from the interview:
• 6%-30% increase in conversions when SKU has video
• Zappos has 45 full time employees working on video
• They have 5 dedicated studios (in Las Vegas and Kentucky)
• They currently have 8,000 videos, producing 60-100 new videos per day, and want to produce another 50,000 in 2010
These are amazing statistics further proving that online video is for everyone with a web presence. Whether you’re an online marketing manager, a publisher, or an ecommerce business, video can and does enhance your business by extending your brand, engaging your customers, and increasing revenue.
So, what are you waiting for? Find the OVP that best suits your business needs NOW!
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