To kick off the blog, I thought it’d be great to start with a series of posts focusing on companies that have had their businesses transformed by web video.

First let’s talk about fordmodels.tv. This site was recently covered by a great article in the February 2008 issue of Inc. Magazine, which focused on the “New Basics of Marketing”.

Most people know the basic story of Ford Models – for roughly sixty years they’ve been one of the most prominent modeling agencies in the world. They’ve traditionally made their money by providing pretty faces for fashion shows, magazines, etc. Over the last couple of years, however, they’ve created and posted more than 1,000 videos on fordmodels.tv, and in the process have transformed themselves into a media company as well. Some of the videos have been viewed more than a million times, and advertisers now clamor for a chance to sponsor the content. Revenue is up 140% over the last five years, and they’ve managed to attract further investment from a high-flying private equity firm. And at the same time, they’ve managed to further extend their brand in a powerful and effective way.