ENDAVO BLOG

March Madness Coverage Shoots…Nothin’ but Net!

Millions of people across the country – especially in the state of Kansas – are wishing that their NCAA college basketball tournament teams were scoring as well as the online video streaming of March Madness.

The NCAA basketball tournament brackets have historically led the field when it comes to “just for fun” office pools. The tourney has a way of bringing together workers that stumble when trying to name 6 out of 64 teams and those basketball snobs who think they know it all (and often end up at the bottom of the betting pool).

But the tournament is breaking new barriers – this time with online video. March Madness is crushing online video records and is proving as valuable to advertisers as traditional television.

CBSsports.com reports fans watched 3.4 million hours of live streaming in just the first day of the 2010 NCAA College Basketball tournament - representing a 20 percent growth verse 2009. The tournament scored the largest video streaming single-day traffic on the Internet.

Better yet, online video watching of major sports events on computers and mobile phones is now commonplace. AT&T actively promotes that fans can watch the game on their phones during the tournament coverage.

The tournament is laying the foundation for true monetization. Call it Monetization Madness. CBS is expecting its highest level of income from online viewers ever. In fact, the network stands to make $37 million this year (just for comparison – way back in 2006, online revenue for CBS was at $4 million).

Online video looks like a real winner for the tournament. I wish I could say the same thing for my picks in our own “just for fun” office pool. At Endavo Media we can certainly help you understand the value of OTT video services and how to monetize them. As for picking winners for March Madness, I’m afraid that you are on your own.

Takeaways From Streaming Media West & Online Video Platform Summit ’09: Part 1

By Brent Grablachoff

Many here at Endavo Media recently attended Streaming Media West and Online Video Platform Summit ’09, a three-day conference rich with live demonstrations, expert speakers and business-building opportunities for professional video content producers, video technology companies and online video platform providers. I spoke with countless industry experts, providers, producers, and attendees, all of which helped confirm problems the online video industry is experiencing, and the need for solutions for future digital media delivery systems.

Because there is so much conference information to share, I’m providing the first of a two-part blog post in hopes to educate and inform you of the latest happenings in our digital world. Today I’m writing on 3-Screen Delivery and Mobile Video Delivery. Next week I’ll conclude with Paid/Premium Content, Detailed Video Analytics and Live Streaming.

3-Screen Delivery (PC/Mobile/IPTV)

Mobile delivery was the most widely discussed topic with 3-Screen Delivery not far behind. Three-Screen Delivery is simply another way to describe the ability to publish digital media to the computer, mobile phone and TV. While interest in IPTV was somewhat tempered, many telecommunications companies with whom I spoke was touting set-top box and its importance in the future of online video delivery.

Most experts believe telecommunications providers, cable companies, and global broadcasting companies will be offering “TV Everywhere” by 2013.

Mobile Video Delivery

Being a sports nut and former college football player, there have been countless sporting events I missed because I was away from a TV or Computer, or my cable company wasn’t airing that particular game. Rejoice! I no longer have to worry about that.

Today we can simply enter the mobile URL of your favorite sports video Web site and catch the game live or on-demand from a mobile phone. No doubt mobile video delivery has arrived and is capturing tons of viewership!

While most conference exhibitors seemed focused on standard video delivery to Web sites, we saw heavy interest in vendors promoting mobile video delivery. Content producers were seeking an easy and effective solution to distribute content to mobile phones. Also, there was considerable talk about piracy and illegal downloads of content—that’s always a concern of video content producers. But rest assured, there are measures for distributing content safely without limiting its global reach.

Based on feedback and interactions at the Endavo Media booth, and discussions with others at the conference, I believe mobile video delivery will be the HOT TOPIC in the online video world for at least the next six months. 

Sports Programs Need Social Media Marketing Interns

By Shaun Pope

With the exception of top tier universities, college athletic and sports marketing departments are notoriously lean operations with everyone wearing many hats. But they have access to help. Universities have a stable of willing and able resources right at their fingertips: the student intern. But like any other business bringing on an intern, the question becomes how best to use their time; not only to benefit the school, but the student as well.

Social media marketing, including blogging, user generated video, Twitter, Facebook and other online awareness techniques, has become a key consideration for marketing and promotional campaigns both small and large. It can drive online awareness, build brand/team advocates, spike ticket sales, create fan engagement and more. However, the challenge in executing these programs is creating the content required to sustain relevancy in the crowded social media space.

Interns are nothing new for college athletic departments. But how they should be used is changing. While attending the NACDA conference recently, the social media marketing and technology tracks were packed with assistant athletic directors eager to learn social media tricks-of-the-trade. And that's part of the problem: there are no "tricks" or magical shortcuts to social media. If anything, it's just the opposite. It is a time consuming commitment that requires dedicated resources and planning. Specifically, a content strategy and a resource to produce/gather/organize the content. It may be cheap, but it's by no means free.

Here's an example of a current Internship description for Auburn University. Not to pick on Auburn, but I'm a Gator, so it's understandable. You can see it has no mention of social media. This is typical of what I found with most other universities.

Comparing the overwhelming interest in social media I found at the NACDA conference with the fact that very few university athletic department internships are focused on social media, I discovered a gap. University athletic departments want to use social media, but don't fully understand how to do it themselves, much less teach a student intern how to do it.

The reality, however, is many students today are very media savvy. They understand the technology; the content creation process; the conversational marketing style. What they need is someone to channel that activity towards established branding goals and defined marketing objectives -- something assistant athletic directors are especially good at.

So here are a few suggestions to all you college athletic department internship description writers out there. Start including these activities:

Title: Social Media Marketing Intern

Description:

• Grab your digital video camera and laptop, bring your passion for your school, and start building an online audience for your content.
• Plan and schedule interviews with coaches, alumni, students, student athletes, local community businesses.
• Create a content deliverables schedule including blog posts, twitter updates, Facebook updates and video posts.
• Comment and engage with existing fans online, bring them into conversations, promotions and niche content on the university's web properties.
• Coordinate with ticket sales and events group to drive core business goals through the use of social media techniques.
• Establish method for measuring social media campaign effectiveness.

They great thing about this kind of internship is the department will learn as much from the intern as the intern does from the department.

Powerboat P1 Racing Available to Fans in the U.S. Via Online Video Streaming

Looking for a splash of speed, action and excitement? Well, now you can get it all right in front of your computer screen! Check out Malta Grand Prix Race online video channel at AmericanPowerboat.TV.  The Malta Race and coverage of the 2009 European Powerboat P1 season are now part of American Powerboat Television’s (APBTV’s) online video programming powered by Endavo Media’s Internet TV Platform. 

Within two weeks of each race, AmericanPowerboat.TV viewers can watch P1 race highlights produced by a number of international channels including Greenlight TV, which provides the Powerboat P1 World Championship coverage for EuroSports. In addition to AmericanPowerboat.TV, 2009 APBTV racing programming is also available to offshore enthusiasts all over the world through an affiliate online video player on Powerboat P1’s U.K.-based website.

The American Powerboat TV television series is produced by John Potts and broadcast on Fox Sports Network as well as on CBS Sports beginning fourth quarter 2009.

 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!”

Small Sports Teams/Leagues: Huge Opportunity to Use Online Video

By Shaun Pope

The great thing about sports is that people get so passionate about it. So, if you’re a sports marketer, team/league promoter or just a hardcore fan, building an online community around sports is a no-brainer.

The first step is to create a place where fans, players and supporters can meet online. You can always start with a blog. But sport is about action and nothing does this better than video. So, using online video is a great way to attract fans to your site. Not to mention the sponsors that want to reach them.

The good news is that you don’t even have to worry about production. Most fans, parents and coaches are already capturing video and pictures. What you need is a centralized place where community members can share their user-gen content and interact with one another. The most cost- and time-efficient way to get your video community up and running is to select a fully-hosted online video platform that lets you create a branded video community and gives you total control over your media, audience and monetization options. As your community expands, you may decide to stream live video from key athletic events or to invest into additional video production like interviews with players and weekly team reports.  Your Internet TV platform should have the capability to supports your community’s changing needs.

You can then monetize you online video community by attracting sponsors and advertisers who want to reach your audience.  Advertisers will be able to become active community members by supporting team segments, including their own videos, sponsoring live events or displaying ads on your website and within your online video player. Need an example? Take a look at what American Powerboat TV has done with its sponsors. You can also monetize your community through fee-based subscriptions or by selling access to live streaming events.

What’s great about online video is that it’s a great equalizer. It’s now possible for USA Water Ski to have the same powerful marketing and promotion tools as the National Football League. And if you’re wondering, yes, Endavo Media can help.