http://www.figurefourmedia.com/blog Marketing and online video Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:18:04 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Here's further evidence that professionally produced video content is becoming a big business.  According to the Diffusion Group, ad rates for professionally produced video is in the $30-$40 CPM range. Check out this Silicon Alley Insider article for more. http://www.figurefourmedia.com/blog/2008/07/23/ad-rates-higher-especially-for-professional-content/ I've recently discovered the blog Online Video Watch, which doesn't an excellent job keeping tabs on the latest developments in the online video world.   I particularly liked this recent post, which focuses on the migration from user generated content to professionally produced content on the web. Now, I don't think UGC ... http://www.figurefourmedia.com/blog/2008/07/23/the-trend-from-ugc-to-professional-content/ According to this NY Times article, Lorne Michaels and NBC has decided that Jimmy Fallon's debut as host of Late Night will happen online.  Instead of starting off on television, and potentially have a rough start like Conan did when he began his current tenure, the network thinks that putting ... http://www.figurefourmedia.com/blog/2008/07/23/jimmy-fallon-to-debut-on-the-web/ This is NYTimes.com article is really exciting for a number of reasons: A financial model to demonstrate ROI for web video content has not happened yet, and this could be an answer. Distribution through AdServing means not needing Editorial involvement to syndicate web video content to where the audiences are. Major Talent and ... http://www.figurefourmedia.com/blog/2008/07/02/new-model-for-funding-and-distributing/ The folks at libertarian magazine Reason recently launched Reason.tv, a site focusing on videos promoting "free minds and free markets."  The site is already quite content reach, featuring dozens of videos.  The highlight is the "Drew Carey Project", starring the well-known comedian and tackling a number of hot-button political issues ... http://www.figurefourmedia.com/blog/2008/06/27/case-study-reasontv/ Big news coming from Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers:  soon we'll be able to choose from a "nearly infinite variety" of top-level domains (instead of being restricted to old workhorses like .com, .org, .edu, etc.)  So perhaps we'll see a greater variety of video-friendly extensions in the near ... http://www.figurefourmedia.com/blog/2008/06/27/new-web-addresses-and-video/ Last July, Mercedes-Benz launched what I think is probably the slickest of all the current branded video sites online: mercedes-benz.tv. The site features Mercedes-oriented programming 24 hours a day, with separate channels focusing on lifestyle, cars, sports, history and innovation. And the execution is incredibly impressive: really high ... http://www.figurefourmedia.com/blog/2008/06/19/case-study-mercedes-benztv/ This report is almost a year old, but still contains some enlightening statistics on the exploding growth of video on the web.  From the report:. 57% of internet users have watched videos online and most of them share what they find with others. 19% do so on a typical day. Three-quarters of ... http://www.figurefourmedia.com/blog/2008/06/19/pew-internet-american-life-report-on-web-video/ Will It Blend? is a web video-driven viral marketing campaign from Blendtec, a company that makes industrial strength blenders. Each episode consists of founder Tom Dickson attempting to blend various items, including an iPod, golf balls, cubic zirconia, and a McDonald's Extra Value Meal. The campaign has been a huge ... http://www.figurefourmedia.com/blog/2008/06/16/case-study-will-it-blend/ This article on NYTimes.com raised my eyebrows, as the ISPs (remember the term - Internet Service Provider) set price tiers based on Internet bandwidth consumption. My initial reaction is indignation, after all, what is the $100/month high speed cable access for? The industry started pricing for connection speed and now ... http://www.figurefourmedia.com/blog/2008/06/15/pay-per-use-bandwidth-what-does-it-mean-for-web-video/