At my video company Tap Bang we’ve been bragging for a while now to anyone who would listen about the number of videos viewed in the UK as a justification for why it’s so important to have a video presence online. The figures used to be impressive. Persuasive even. But now comscore have just released a bunch of stats on European online viewing figures that are simply startling.
They tell us that in the UK alone 32.5million people are collectively watching over 5 billion online videos every month. That’s 166 videos a month (or between 5 and 6 a day) for each of those 32.5 million viewers. Let’s face it, 166 of anything a month is a lot.
YouTube unsurprisingly accounts for more than half of the videos viewed in the UK with BBC videos (including all the stuff on iplayer) coming in a distant second.
The time watching these all these 166 videos equates to 17 hours. That’s still a long way short of TV. The googlebox still lives up to its name with a staggering 120 hours a month of viewing for the average Brit. But the gap between TV and online video viewing is closing fast. More importantly I’d hazard a guess that the engagement with the respective advertising from the four hours of daily telly is roughly equivalent to that of watching 6 online videos. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/may/04/thinkbox-television-viewing)
It seems the ever-rising number of video views is accountable to the habit of ‘snacking’ on a sequence of videos. In other words we follow a link to a video we think we might like. Once we’ve finished watching that video YouTube or the BBC suggest several other videos we might like to watch and we just keep clicking. A video ‘snacking’ session is typically 6 online videos in a row.
If we keep going at this rate we’re really only a few years away from the full-blown snacks turning into meals. Mmmmmm tasty.
2011 has been an astonishing year for news and we’re not even half way through. The so-called ‘Arab Spring’, the ongoing economic troubles, The Christchurch earthquake and floods in Australia have all been massive stories. As if that wasn’t enough a few months ago what could unravel to be biggest news story of the year hit our screens – the monstrous Earthquake and subsequent Tsunami in Northern Japan.
Who would have thought that the battle to topple Gaddafi, not to mention the effective invasion of Bahrain by Saudi troops would be completely wiped off the news agenda? The earthquake was obviously a very substantial news story, but its complete dominance of the airwaves was in itself remarkable. This was in no small part down to web video.
The Japanese earthquake was the world’s first mass-videoed-mass-uploaded-major-natural-disaster. It’s a stereotype of the Japanese that they all take pictures or videos all the time, but it’s fair to say that the country that gave us Nikon, Toshiba & Sony is likely to have a few handycams, smart phones and stills cameras on hand at a moment’s notice. As the Japanese are pretty blasé about earthquakes – small tremors are a part of everyday life – when the quake first struck people’s instinct was not to dive under a desk or huddle under a doorframe but press record on their 720p enabled HD smart phone and capture the whole event. It was only as the quake continued to rumble and the ground shook so violently that many people realised how severe the quake really was – yet for many that was all the more reason to keep taping the unfolding scene, and as soon as it was over upload the whole thing to YouTube.
So half an hour after the earthquake hundreds of clips showing absolutely incredible footage sprung up on the internet for the world to see. A small selection are included here.
Buildings shaking violently:
Inside a supermarket:
Inside a shopping centre:
The rolling news channels pounced on the footage. As more and more clips surfaced the networks wiped their schedules to accommodate them. The world was hooked on the story due to footage from ordinary people.
I spoke to an aid worker who was flying out to Japan a few days after the earthquake. Tellingly she said she was now seriously considering spending a chunk of her charity’s money in their other disaster zones on handing out video cameras alongside aid to survivors so they too could capture the horrors of their situation and get some of that much needed attention from the international community.
Although it was for all the wrong reasons the Japanese Earthquake is one of the best demonstrations yet of how if people can see something (rather than just hear or read about it) they will give it their absolute full attention.
I’ve started blogging on a site called the Hubble alongside some other London based entrepreneurs. You can check out my first article on 3D web video here.
My attention has really been grabbed this week by the potential of video podcasting. It all started when a friend recommended I watched Carpool with Robert Llewellyn – a simple concept of a TV show where Robert (Kryten from Red Dwarf/that bloke off Scrapheap Challenge as he’s perhaps better known) gives a well known public figure a lift in his car and chats to them along the way. Despite its low-def production Carpool has been a phenomenal success with over a million downloads on itunes, countless views on youtube and thousands of hits on Robert’s own site llewtube. But apart from engaging in the show itself the thing that really caught my attention was that he’s starting to make some money out of it – and not just small change either.
Robert Llewellyn's Hit Podcast 'Carpool'
That got me researching a little more into podcasting and the results make for pretty startling reading. The revenue from podcasting is doubling every year while the costs are staying the same. 100 million people are downloading podacasts from itunes every year. Perhaps most interestingly advertisers are staring to fall over themselves to sponsor podcasts. Although they realise podcasts’ audiences are small, they also realise they are niche and very loyal. If someone has bothered to go to itunes, download the podcast, transferred it to their iphone and then watch it, they are pretty bloody likely to be interested in whatever the podcast is about and therefore also interested in related products. In one very successful podcaster’s words why spend a fortune on advertising on a TV show with an audience of 5million when you really only want to reach the 100,000 people interested in your product? With podcasting you are spending a fraction of the money on a show that reaches your targeted 100,000 people in a much more measurable way.
This has huge implications for businesses. For me the way forward is to create a regular show around your brand that isn’t the traditional business podcast (i.e. what has our company been doing this year). Businesses have to start creating a piece of entertainment – like Carpool – around their brand that will get a wider audience riveted.
Do you run a pub? Why not create a series on the beers of the world? Do you run an accountancy firm? Why not create a series that gives out some great ways to save and earn money that everyone can implement? Resist the temptation to use your stiff CEO but instead go for proven on-camera talent (which is cheaper than you’d think). You can then sign up to a podcasting service that will split any resulting advertising revenue with you meaning you’ll probably make the money back you invested in the show (if not make a profit) and you’ll get your message/branding in front of thousands of potential clients. Plus there’s nothing stopping you putting this stuff on youtube and on your own website which is fantastic for search engine optimisation and will only serve to promote the show and your business further.
As I’ve said before, in the age of digital marketing great content is key. If you’re not out there creating killer content you can be pretty sure one of your rivals is. Regular video podcasting is a fantastic way to market yourself, make your marketing fees back and grow your business. I hate using business jargon but I can’t resist it in this case – podcasting is a no-brainer.
YouTube has signed a deal with Channel 4 to make full length TV shows available on the popular video sharing site. Once they’ve been aired programmes like Hollyoaks, Skins and Peep Show will be available on YouTube as well as its online catch-up service 4oD. It is expected that round 3,000 hours of programming will be available on YouTube in a few month’s time. This is pretty groundbreaking stuff.
Peep Show and loads of other popular Channel 4 shows are coming to YouTube
Obviously most YouTube viewers have at one time or another watched a TV show or movie that’s sneakily been uploaded to the site. But more often than not they’ve had to suffer a show that’s been split into 10 minute chunks that are of differing quality, are tricky to navigate and have dodgy Chinese subtitles. Well no more. Proper TV shows are coming to the most popular video repository on the web. But the really interesting news is that Channel 4 are getting some revenue back – in fact the split in advertising revenue is reportedly in their favour. If this is a success this could just save the broadcaster from the impending oblivion that has seemingly been on the cards for the last year.
For business owners who are considering putting some video content on youtube or have some up there already this announcement is big news for two reasons.
1) It means that if you create great content that has an audience You Tube might be willing to talk about splitting some of it’s resulting advertising revenue with you.
2) If other broadcasters follow Channel 4’s lead (and I can’t see why any commercial broadcaster apart from Sky, who get huge revenue from subscriptions, wouldn’t) the amount of quality material (i.e. not mobile-shot footage of lads having a pint drinking competition in the pub) available on you tube is going to go through the roof. This means more than ever that if you plan to have a video on YouTube representing your company it needs to be of a high standard so that compared to the slick TV content it sits beside it won’t look horribly crappy.
Either way it’s another indication that making quality video content is the wisest and increasingly the only choice open to businesses that want to exploit the proven power of online video.
No video or video tech to comment on this week. That’s because it’s been a pretty momentous moment for all us online content providers in the UK that just can’t go uncommented on. Get the trumpets out and prepare for a fanfare because….bah bah bah da bah……UK online advertising spend has overtaken TV advertising for the first time. Now while the fact that this has happened is not surprising in itself – we all knew it was pretty much a sure thing sooner or later – the fact that it has happened this year is a bit of a shock. Most experts were predicting the tables to turn in 2011. So we’re at least a year ahead of schedule according to the best guesses.
So what does this really mean? In the world of TV the increasingly small amount of advertising revenue will bring blessings and curses. On the good side it will probably mean less cheap, crappy TV merely put together to fill a hole in the schedule. Also it’s now only a matter of time before unpopular channels (five I’m looking at you) either close or go the way of many magazines and open an online-only presence.
On the bad side it will discourage experimentation in television from the commissioning editors as their desperation for sure-things increases. How many more remakes of Pride and Prejudice does this bit of news doom us to? Independent news and current affairs will probably also continue to take hits with a potentially damaging effect on our healthy democracy.
For online content producers it’s another sign that we’re on the right side of the fence. But with more money comes more responsibility and it’s up to us to create content that will continue to offer a worthy alternative to their TV sets.
As if we needed proof, today’s news confirms TV to be the sickly old king on his deathbed whilst the internet, as the youthful heir, tentatively tries on the crown to get used to the weight. It’s important that instead of filling the Internet with crap we make it a worthy successor for the day it finally eats TV.
I’m not the biggest fan of the royal family. However at the moment I am prepared to bow down like a good little regal subject should thanks to Prince Charles’ leadership on the environment. He’s using his famous ‘convening power’ to get businesses, governments and high profile figures behind his campaign to halt climate change, with the specific target of saving the Amazonian rainforest from destruction. Being a modern problem the Prince has eschewed his usual aversion to modernity and wisely decided to try modern solutions and that, naturally, includes web video.
The team behind the campaign have used the royal name to interview a cast of celebrities, all lending their voice to the cause. Each interviewee is accompanied by a loveable animated frog that sits somewhere about their person. It’s a neat trick as it immediately lightens the tone, meaning the now familiar droning on about climate change enters our brain at a new angle. It also gives each video – shot with many different kinds of people, with many different kinds of backgrounds – a common thread.
But here’s the clever part. If you log on to the site you can upload your own video with the frog via your webcam using a very simple point and click interface. It’s pretty fun. You get to choose from 3 animating frogs depending on the angle of your camera which all can be made bigger all smaller using a easy-to-use slider. You press record and have seven seconds to say your name and profession. The site then automatically uploads the video to the campaign’s youtube channel where it becomes part of a massive video petition. You are of course encouraged to tell all your friends to keep the site viral.
Yours truly creating my frog video
It’s the chance to interact with the frog that acts as the incentive to do this. Having a cute animation seemingly appear in my left hand was an innovation that made me actively want to record the video and sign up for the email list. So businesses and charities take note. Creating a mass of viral videos via your website with thousands of individuals promoting your brand values, product or message is possible especially if you can make the video interactive or go beyond a conventional webcam recording. Just don’t use a frog. That one’s taken already.
Right now if you think of the Internet one brand instantly comes to mind: Google. They have a virtual monopoly on search and keep coming up with ingeneous products for an increasingly diverse number of uses, usually available to the consumer for free. But should we be wary about having a company growing at such an unstoppable rate? Some people obviously are and maybe they’re right to be. After all, attempts at world domination never usually come with a happy ending.
Yet more satisfied, friendly Google employees
Being the masters of information Google have spotted this trend. They’ve realised that they need to reassure people that if they do take over the world they’ll at least be a benign dictatorship. As Machiavelli said a ruler “will be quite safe…as long as he avoids being hated or despised and keeps the populace on his side”. In that spirit they’ve invested some time in creating a series of 20 videos for their youtube channel on what life is like working at all the different Google offices around the world to try and persuade you that they’re just a bunch of harmless friendly nerds and definitely not a ruthless multi-billion dollar company on the verge of controlling the world’s information.
These videos are pretty clever and demonstrate the power what a simple yet well-executed video can do for a brand. They are friendly, accesible and colourful – reflecting the brand values of the company. The videos are deliberately not too flashy. In fact they’re down to earth and humanising. The featured employees come across as regular (if abnormally happy) people that you feel have the public’s best interests at heart. If the Internet business was a Star Wars movie these guys would be fighting for the rebel alliance – happily taking one for the team so Skywalker can get a clean shot at the Death Star.
The videos are all shot in the same style. Interviews with and endless conveyor belt of smiling staff members are shot against a uniform plain white background and cut together with footage from the office they work in, with a bit of bouncy music underneath to help things along. Despite the variety of staff on show (which adds to the pace and visual interest of the video) we cleverly never see their names or job titles, promoting the image that hierarchy isn’t a big deal at Google.
The videos are technically simple. But where the effort has gone in is on the message. Every video mentions what a pleasure it is to work at Google, what an incredible mix of interesting people work there, that there are great perks with the job, that there’s little traditional management – only ‘mentoring’, and that the newest and most junior of employees can have the same effect on the company as the head honchos.
But why these videos caught are truly interesting and innovative is that they are part of series of not 2, not 5 but 20 videos. Instead of the traditional company strategy of throwing all their eggs in one basket and blowing the money on one expensive short film, they’ve gone for a series of 20 non-expensive ones, that all play neatly back-to-back on their youtube channel. The effect is you feel you’ve gained a more holistic view of the company. You feel reassured that although Google have invaded every major world territory and are probably watching you right now through your own webcam whilst examining your latest credit card statement, you don’t really mind because surely any company who has a mandatory foosball table in every office can’t be that bad. Can they?????
This week I’ve been checking out the video ad service Video Egg. By now we all know that video is a pretty powerful tool for getting your message across to a wide audience on the internet. That’s great news that hasn’t been lost on the advertising industry and their clients and video ads have subsequently become a fairly regular site on the internet landscape. You know the ones. There’s an animation or a video silently playing in a small window on a corner of a site like yahoo! and if you roll you mouse over you can hear the sound and sometimes the movie increases a little in size too. Nothing wrong with that so far. In fact I remember being pretty excited the first time I saw one. But….. if you weren’t keen on the video the chances are you’d roll your mouse off it quite quickly. Even worse if you accidentally rolled over the video with your mouse whilst trying to click on another link you often got an unwanted video crowding your screen – instantly putting you off that product and its irritating commercial.
Video Egg claim their ads give you an eggselent 13% more yolk for your buck
But where Video Egg got clever is by recognising that those ads were too much like TV. They saw that current video ads are just like when you get an annoying ad on the telly and you flip channels to escape it. Video Egg recognised that they weren’t dealing with TV, and stated that internet video ads need a solution tailored to the internet. In doing so they have taken video ads into a new league in terms of making sure people watch them and, crucially, stay watching. When you roll over an ad served up by Video Egg it gives you a nice 3-2-1 count down to warn you the ad is about to roll – so no more accidental brand damaging, hair-pulling-inducing pop-ups. The service also looks great. The video quickly expands to full screen without losing any quality (and it even looks pretty good while it’s loading up). But here’s the really cool part. When the full screen ad does load up the video isn’t just a video – it’s a rich media experience that hooks the viewer in. You usually have a selection of buttons that allow you to find out more information about the product or (in the case of movie trailers) an alternative video that you can immediately flip to. The effect (if I’m anything to go by) is to suck the viewer in and keep them watching the ad. According to Video Egg I’m not alone. They claim viewers watch their ads for13% longer compared to a standard web video ad.
It looks fantastic, it works well and it’s the future for a lot of video. Right now Video Egg are the leading guys at serving this style of ad, and they do it for high end clients with big budget ads (the likes of Warner Brothers, Canon and Volvo). But soon more companies- maybe even Video Egg themselves – will start producing this service for companies with a more limited budget and combined with cost effective professional video production rich media video ad serving may become as common as google adsense.
Adding professional and compelling video to websites has become the Search Engine Optimisation business’s worst kept secret for rocketing a website up the rankings. Web developers are now well aware that embedding video makes a webpage up to 50 times more likely to be featured on the first page of Google compared to a text and picture site.
But early users of the massively hyped so-called ‘Google killer’ search engine from Microsoft and Yahoo ‘Bing’ have complained that to find a video from the homepage they had to add the term ‘video’ or ‘youtube’ to their search request. This blinkers Bing, forcing it to search for video content, but it denies the user the chance to see video listed alongside regular search results as they can on Google.
One of the advantages of going to Bing was supposedly its video preview functionality. When you search for video your results come back in the form of thumbnails that instantly play sections of the video with sound simply by rolling over the thumbnail with your mouse. You can also search for video by length – something else that’s not available on Google. Both of these are brilliant advances that Google will no doubt copy in the near future. But crazily Bing’s fantastic video preview is nigh on impossible to access where it should be – on the main search page. People want and need to have video results on the main page of the search engine alongside and amongst regular results for related articles, pictures and forums.
The beauty of the internet is that it combines text, pictures, animation and video. By just restricting the discovery of videos to the video search section of its site Bing, unlike Google, is denying its users a holistic web experience. Bing’s video preview is such a clever bit of web development it should be the star of the show, but Microsoft have chosen to reduce it to a walk on part – albeit in a fancy costume.
Bing has managed to make an impact on the market with latest figures suggesting it accounts for around 3% of all searches on the internet. But with Google up near the 80% mark, Bing is going to have to raise its game dramatically to be the Google killer that Microsoft promised. While it carries on effectively segregating content Bing is going to be less attractive to advertisers, marketers and the web’s movers and shakers meaning it’s unlikely that Bing will be challenging Google anytime soon.
Posted by trin0580 
Tap Bang's Blog 