ENDAVO BLOG

Will The Real New Media Broadcaster Please Stand Up?

By Shaun Pope

Last week I had the privilege of presenting a keynote speech to the AMA Tampa Bay Digital Media SIG event. The focus was video -- and how New Media is changing traditional broadcast models. It sounds fairly straight forward, right? But when you think about it, the components or framework for monetizing content hasn't changed; the real change is in the new-found ability of all stakeholders to take on new roles in the process.

At the event, I introduced a concept I like to call the "New Media Framework," which illustrates how similar old and new broadcast models are. "Monetization" is one of today's top buzz words. However, traditional broadcasting and new media are built on the same principle: generating sustainable revenue from content. The 3 key components to successful content monetization are: Content, Audience, and Sponsorship/Advertising.  When all 3 are clicking, you have monetization. NOTE: I intentionally left out paid content, as it has its own dynamics.

Within the traditional media framework, each participant is rather fixed in their role. Content producers make content and sell it to broadcasters. Audiences passively consume it. And, sponsors/advertisers place their 30- or 60-second spots in targeted media outlets. Again, it's all designed as one-way communication, hence the term broadcasting.

So what's "new" about New Media. In short, emerging technology, the Internet and social media platforms have unleashed the true potential of the traditional broadcast model, allowing flexibility. Here are just a few examples of new broadcast strategies where roles have shifted resulting in monetization:

• Audience acting as broadcaster: YouTube personalities. The user generated content (UGC) craze has been fueled by social media portal sites where anyone can publish/distribute content. Individuals like Dave Days, YouTube Fred and LonelyGirl15 have all built significant audiences with nothing more than a hand-held camcorder and their computer. Even though it's challenging to reach maximum monetization (see: Online Video, Nothing's for Free), strong content and established audience creates sponsor demand. Specifically, product placement and in-video branding, enabled by companies like HitViews (started by YouTuber Caitlin HIll) has created real revenue for these content entrepreneurs.

• Content producers acting as broadcasters. A great example of this is Endavo Media's client American Powerboat TV. Here is a traditional content publisher that continues to sell content production services to traditional media brands, but realized they were leaving money on the table. With their own Internet TV channel, AmericanPowerboat.tv has created a niche audience of enthusiasts with sponsorship driven deep into the content. In effect, they have become a broadcaster, with all 3 pieces of the New Media Framework under their control.

• Sponsor acting as broadcaster, or as its become known, branded entertainment. Arguably, this has become one of the hottest trends in marketing. It can take many forms, from concert sponsorship with an online component (recent U2 on YouTube event), to serialized webisodes like IKEA's acclaimed "Easy To Assemble," and/or UGC contests like Hienz Ketchup's ongoing "Top This TV Challenge." In all cases, the flexibility of the New Media Framework allows big brand marketers to create/aggregate content, deliver it, promote it and wrap their brand around it. Again, controlling all 3 pieces of the model.

These examples are meant to demonstrate the opportunity that exists for multiple groups to succeed within the New Media Framework. Now, no one is relegated to a single role. However, taking on these new roles can mean venturing into uncharted water for some. If you lack the ability to fill the content production role, or you're not a strong marketer, you'll need to find partners that are and forge relationship that can deliver on all 3 phases of monetization.

Look at the graphic above, and remember: shoot for the middle.

AMA Tampa Bay Serves Online Video to the Local Business Community

As an active member of the local business community, we love exploring the hottest trends in digital media, online video and social media marketing with Tampa Bay’s marketing professionals. And as a new media technology company, we love it when our Internet TV platform can help facilitate this exploration. That’s why we are so excited to announce the launch of the AMA Tampa Bay TV, an online video platform supported by the Tampa Bay Chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA Tampa Bay).  Using Endavo Media’s Internet TV Platform, AMA Tampa Bay TV will stream on-demand video content and serve as the source of professional and industry information and education to AMA members and marketers throughout the Tampa Bay area. A variety of interactive features will allow viewers to rate, comment and share videos, and even chat with each other during live events! Future plans for AMA Tampa Bay TV also include user-generated video uploads.

Here’s an example of how AMA Tampa Bay TV provided additional insights to its members with a videotaped interview from one of its guest speakers, Tod Taylor from Franklin Covey.

“It’s exciting to partner with an association that embraces online video and is using it to enhance the professional development of its members,” says Peter Contardo, our Chief Marketing Officer. “To see a non-profit marketing organization like AMA Tampa Bay showcase the power of new media as part of its own marketing and business strategy is truly unique.”   

By adding a custom branded video player to its website, AMA Tampa Bay can also generate additional revenue by monetizing its online video content with video and banner ads, sponsorships, subscriptions, pay-per-view and more.

On-location shooting and post-production services are being provided by Tampa Digital Studios. Video segments are being produced and hosted by Emmy Award winning reporter Heidi Kempf of Ren Scott Productions.

Visit our website for a full press release

Online Video Marketing: Getting It Right

By Tatiana Tugbaeva

While researchers are still debating over how pervasive and effective online video is, marketers across all industries are adopting it as a promotional medium.  Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been finding some great examples of how companies and organizations are using web video to achieve all kinds of objectives – from building their brands, to engaging with the audience, to delivering on specific business goals like increasing sales or tapping into new sources of revenue. Here’s what I found:

The Pennsylvania Tourism Office launched an original web series called "Peter Arthur Stories." These webisodes tell the adventures of a 22-year-old Peter Arthur as he travels around Pennsylvania searching for the waitress that served him a slice of Shoofly pie when he was 12 years-old. While the young man rides around the state in his sidecar, the audience gets to see Pennsylvania’s beautiful landscape, farmlands and towns. Viewers can also enter into a sweepstakes for 12 Pennsylvania getaways by answering 4 trivia questions.

Cabela, one of the largest mail order, Internet and retail outdoor outfitter produces its own TV series and also hosts a collection of about 250 videos on its web site, Cabelas.com.  Professionally produced videos vary in content, from product-related to ‘how-tos.’ Cabela is using its online video assets to add value to its services, improve user-experience and engage site visitors.  

A&E Television Networks is orchestrating a viral marketing initiative to promote its new "docu-drama" series "Hammertime," which chronicles the present-time life of the mega celebrity MC Hammer. A&E’s video “Hammer Pants Dance” has generated almost 1,300,000 views on YouTube driving traffic back to www.aetv.com/hammertime where you can watch more videos, ‘meet’ Hammer’s family, follow him on Twitter, participate in discussions, connect on Facebook and, of course, pre-order a DVD of the “Hammertime” series.

Another viral video campaign was launched by the Miami Dolphins to boost new season ticket holder sales. The Dolphins released an interactive feature that allows fans to input their contact information and experience the excitement of new signee experience. Once you submit your info, you are taken to the next page to watch a video of YOU ‘getting in the game’ by signing a contract, high-fiving fans and running through the tunnel with the team mascot. You even ‘get’ a customized jersey and see your name appear on the screen as they talk about ‘the new signee’ on the news.

All these campaigns are great examples of how online video can be used to drive traffic, engage the audience and generate revenue. However, all of them fall a bit short of their full potential. Online video is a highly interactive medium. So, these organizations could be enabling their viewers with the tools to rate, comment and share the content. How about incorporating some user-generated uploads? Who wouldn’t want to watch more ‘Hammer pants dance’ videos from fans? A&E could sponsor a contest where the winner gets to spend a day with MC Hammer and his family. Now that’s “Hammertime!”

Branded Entertainment is the New Marketing Superpower

By Tatiana Tugbaeva

A couple of weeks ago, I read an article on MediaPost Video Insider that talked about branded entertainment. According to Dave Jackson, the author of this article “The advertising model, as practiced for the last hundred years or so, has been one based on interruption… However, marketers have also begun In a shift in tactics, applying their resources to create content to get their message across.”

A number of companies are now including branded entertainment into their promotional mixes. Borders, for example, launched Borders Live at 01, an online channel that educates and entertains site visitors while building brand awareness and showcasing products. Post Grape Nuts is sponsoring a 50-episode Web series “The Guy’s Manual” that offer advice to men on topics ranging from how to get a date to how to take your fiancée’s  poodle for a morning jog. Geico joined in by launching a series of YouTube videos featuring ‘talking’ kittens, famous gecko and YouTube celebrity Numa Numa Guy.  Finally, yesterday Turner Sports launched the original Web series “Off Track with Tony Stewart.”

Why is branded entertainment becoming increasingly popular? At Endavo Media we believe that branded entertainment promotes deep brand engagement and builds strong relationships with customers that extend beyond a product. We also believe that it opens a world of new opportunities to production studios, advertising agencies and marketing firms. As the industry moves forward, we’ll see more and more companies successfully executing branded entertainment campaigns. And if your agency (firm, studio) doesn’t have the means to produce, promote or distribute online video, you should consider partnering with companies that do.

Online Video Publishing: Nothing's for Free!

by Shaun Pope

This post is second in a series on creating a strong video marketing strategy: PRODUCE, PUBLISH, PROMOTE - Repeat!

In the first postI discussed declining video production costs and how UGC and DIY techniques can result in more content on a regular basis. This serialized content is key to building audience in a Social Media world.

With a content production plan in place, the questions quickly turn to delivery. The explosion of video sharing sites like YouTube, Blip.TV, Vimeo and many others has given rise to the user generated content (UGC) phenomena by making it easy to publish videos online. A main driver is that these services are FREE. In large part, this has been a good thing for broadband video providers and helped generate real data behind the theory that web video is a more compelling and effective medium.

The reality, however, is that these sites are cutting a deal with you; free hosting and delivery in return for loss of control, limited understanding of your audience, one-size fits all implementations and shared-to-no ability to monetize. The cost of this approach to your business down the line can be significant.

You should ask yourself: is building audience on someone else's site in my best interest? In most cases the answer is no. So what your doing is failing to invest in something that is emerging and expected to explode over the coming years, in return for a free offer. Your video content is helping another site build-out its long-term value rather than your own. That's not FREE.

To be fair, I must acknowledge the strong points of free video sharing services. They can deliver audience... not sure if it's the right audience, but audience nonetheless. SEO benefits can also be realized, but the search results generally take users back to the site where your video is hosted, not yours. Not overly compelling when you break it down.

If you're serious about making video content part of your marketing mix, or even more so, a central part of your business model (ad supported, subscription and/or pay-per-view), a free service will never get you there. You need to invest in a content management system that puts you back in control of your content, your audience and your revenue. In many cases, the workflow efficiencies alone will justify the cost associated with having your own Internet TV platform.

But the real opportunity is the ability to drive product sales, engage with your audience (collect data), give partners/sponsors the ability to reach your audience, and/or charge access to your premium level content. To fully realize this revenue opportunity you need control over media and the user experience, as well as touch points with other business systems. This is how you should be investing in the tremendous opportunity that exists with online video.

Remember, you get what you pay for.

If you'd like to learn more about how to get your own Internet TV platform and the power of a truly branded video experience, please email me at shaunp[at]endavomedia[dot]com.

Attracting New Advertising Dollars: Online Video is the Great Equalizer

By Pete Contardo

There’s an old saying: “Ain't No Fun When the Rabbit's Got the Gun.”

This sort of applies to today’s smaller and mid-size content producers and advertisers. In the offline world, smaller companies clearly can’t compete with the big boys. But once the playing field shifts to online, we usher in a whole, new set of rules—rules that now make room for advertisers previously unable to pay the exorbitant costs of traditional broadcast TV. 

In many ways, I think online is the great equalizer. Yes, small can be the new big. Don’t get me wrong, that’s not to say money doesn’t rule. It does. But as I posted recently at OnlineVideoInsider in a discussion about the future of online advertising, web video has given smaller and emerging companies the opportunity to compete with big brands --

“Being a quality destination for a targeted message to a targeted audience is probably the best place to start, especially for the larger online video sites. But it's not just about taking a piece of the television ad pie, it's about how the pie can now be bigger. Great advertising opportunities are no longer only limited to those who traditionally could afford television buys.”

The online space represents a world of new opportunities for smaller, emerging brands as well as content producers. In this world, smaller advertisers can align with niche publishers who are building passionate audiences around quality content.

So, as the industry continues to compare online video advertising to offline TV ads, content owners and brand marketers should focus on the opportunities that online video offers. Such opportunities include branded entertainment, product placement, sponsored contests and other creative ways for smaller brand marketers to “own” the online video experience of their target audience and for content owners to monetize their online video.

What do you think?

Businesses: Don't Miss The Chance to Tell Your Story

By Shaun Pope

Maybe it’s the way user generated content (UGC) has been presented by the media as crazy and wild, scary even. Maybe it’s hard to shake the “old school” mindset that video is supposed to cost a lot and take weeks to produce to be “useful” or of the right “quality” for distribution. Whatever the reason, business owners take heed: social marketing content is happening right in front of your eyes every day, and many of you are missing it.

Savvy business owners and marketing execs are discovering serialized Business Generated Video (BGC) is attainable (see Endavo's Internet TV channel). What used to cost $5k for a 3-4min. finished video is now being produced in-house with a $600 HandyCam and iMovie (Mac) or MovieMaker (PC) editing software. The average person will be amazed at what they can produce. So, assign a marketing resource as your BGC Producer, or outsource the function, and start capturing content immediately.

Producing BGC videos is about telling your company's story. This story gives meaning and substance to your brand. Everything from the CEO’s vision statement to the customer service rep’s one-on-one experience with a customer. It’s all great content and central to what your brand really is. How about the tradeshow you spent $10k attending, did you capture any video at the event? Why not? How about the clients and partners at that show, get any video testimonials with them? Why not? How about your product manager’s last demo? The list goes on.

Okay, so you’re sold… BGC needs to be part of your marketing plan.  Now what? Well, I like to break it down like this: Produce, Deliver, Promote and repeat. In this post I focused on “producing” content. Next week I’ll cover Delivery (hint: Endavo can help) and the follow week Promotion.

In the meantime, feel free to contact me directly with any questions or comments: shaunp[at]endavomedia[dot]com. Happy story telling!