Q1 has seen nothing but an uplift in online video advertising and there’s no doubt that currently everyone is excited about video ads. Publishers are able to sell an interactive ad format to brands that and brands are able to experiment with a new type of advertising that can engage the user to become part of the experience.

To put in perspective on a global scale, Deloitte predicts a 56.4% year-on-year ad spend growth in the UK, making the market incredibly optimistic. Similarly, Brightroll’s annual video survey revealed last year that 69% of advertisers believed online video advertising was more effective than social media.

So what does this mean for media spending? 

Nielson, a global information and measurement company, produced this graph for a better understanding of the industry.

Online video ad spending is predicted to nearly double in only four years from $4.14 billion dollars in 2013 to $8.04 billion by 2016, a 25% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

One might be quick to jump stating this is the end of TV; however, advertisers are often seeing online video campaigns as an addition to TV advertising and part of an integrated 360 marketing campaign rather than a full-on replacement (See: Gillette How To Series Campaign). To simplify,  display advertising is getting gutted while TV ads are experiencing a thinning and although TV is not going away, the money between the two is getting split from a budget once dedicated only to TV.

Canadians have always been internet savvy, leading the pack and we are still among the world’s most devout users of online video advertising as stated to a new report by Baltimore-based digital advertising firm Videology.

Videology’s report states that Canada continues to outpace other global markets in terms of “cross-device” video advertising. Across all devices, online video advertising in Canada grew 119% on a year-on-year basis, with online video advertising on PCs/computers seeing 63% year-on-year growth.

The industries taking advantage of using online video are diverse; however, it is consumer packaged goods companies who maintained at the top, followed by automotive, beverave alcohol and entertainment.

It’s also substantial to note that popularity of online video contributes to its ability to target not only with age and gender but also location and behavioural targets. This has contributed to 95% of advertisers using some form data-driven targeting in the first quarter, a 13% increase over the fourth quarter of 2012. See VMG’s campaign for Longo’s Leaside launch targeting a 7km radius. 

Additional highlights from the Q1 Canadian Video Market Statistics:

• In Q1 of 2012, 30 second spots accounted for 37% of all online video advertising. In Q1 of 2013, 30-second spots were up over 52%.
• 72 percent of video buyers’ budgets for the medium increased in the last year.
• The average spending increase of those whose video budgets rose was 53 percent, compared with just 20 percent the year previous.
• Of those whose video budgets increased, 39 percent of buyers shifted spending from TV budgets compared with just 27 percent in 2012.  Similarly, 41 percent of buyers shifted money from display advertising to fund increases in online video.
• The average amount of TV spending tapped for the increase in online video was 11 percent.
• 76 percent of marketers plan to add video to their sites, making it a higher priority than Facebook, Twitter and blog integration.

Exciting times for the Canadian online video landscape! 

….and we’re ecstatic to be part of this awesome project with FedEx Express!

FedEx Express is the official transportation provider for two giant pandas, Er Shun and Da Mao, and their upcoming journey to Toronto. FedEx who has more than 29 years of experience with shipping will leverage its extensive global transportation network and logistical expertise to transport the two giant pandas from China to Toronto in Spring, 2013.

Did you know that currently there is an estimate of only 1,600 pandas in the wild?

Conservation programs are necessary to ensure the preservation of this endangered species and both Er Shun and Da Mao are part ofglobal, giant panda conservation programs designed to increase the panda populations.

So how much is the transport going to cost FedEx?
“The exact value of services is commercially sensitive information, but it’s hard to put a price tag on helping to save an endangered species through conservation and awareness,” says JIllian McVicar, Senior Communications Specialist at FedEx.

The pandas are anticipated to arrive in Canada sometime between March 25 to April 8.

Check out the video announcement of the partnership produced by VMG here:

You can read more about the journey on the following:
Bloomberg

Toronto Star 

Metro News 

Wall Street Journal

City News

Marketing Magazine

680 News

News Channel 3

Driving.ca

Msn.com

And in the FedEx newsroom.

Stay tuned for more videos from this journey!

PROFIT magazine’s second annual FuEL Awards celebrate the top 20 under age 30 for their entrepreneurial acumen, innovation, job creation and community involvement.

This year’s winners included an inspiring group of people, including VMG’s cofounder & managing partner Reid Campbell. Congratulations to Reid!

“The winners of the 2012 FuEL Awards are a group of bright, determined go-getters who are seizing opportunity in a dynamic marketplace,” said Ian Portsmouth, Publisher and Editor-­in-­chief of PROFIT Magazine. “Their ability to succeed in a challenging economy should inspire other young Canadians to make the leap into entrepreneurship.” 

It is said that the most dangerous phase of your business is within the first 5 years as most tend to disappear before their fifth birthday. Here are tips from the  FuEL winner Reid Campbell on what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur:

You have to like it.

There’s a common myth that starting your own business will make you rich overnight and allow you to be on vacations 80% of the year. If that’s your motive, you’re doing it for the wrong reasons. Be prepared for late nights, early mornings and emotional investment like never before. If at the end of the day, you’re still enjoying what you do and contributing towards building something you’re proud of then this is for you.

People are the business.

In business, everyone – owners and staff – must feel like they’re working towards a common goal. This comes from effective communication and building a healthy work culture unique to your company.

Don’t burn bridges. 

The business playing field is way too small to burn bridges. You should always maintain top level professionalism. Sometimes things don’t work out and cutting ties has to happen. This is a natural process in business and whether with friends, partners or even clients, successful entrepreneurs know when and how to part ways.

You don’t always win.

As a business owner, you are bound to take hits more seriously. Whether it’s a discouraging comment or an opportunity gone astray, it is never a pleasant experience. Be prepared to get knocked down and know that success doesn’t come without a fight. Don’t focus on the past and think about how you can succeed in the future.

Look for Reid and fellow Canadian entrepreneurial leaders in the December 2012 issue of PROFIT Magazine and online at PROFITguide.com.

We hope you all had an excellent March – the online video world sure did!

Things are looking very bright in our industry based on some recent reports from comScore, Google and MediaCT.

If you’ve noticed more videos being shared via smartphones, it’s no coincidence and the trend is looking up. In Canada, video is accelerating in the mobile world with half of Canadians watching more online videos than they were last year. Specifically, 35% smartphone owners, 56% tablet owners, and 75% laptop owners in Canada are regularly watching videos on their portable and mobile devices.

Even further, Canadians watch an average of eight videos per week. What percent of our nation is still not willing to engage? A small portion – only 13% of Canadians do not watch any online video content. This is all pretty remarkable and the diversity and easily accessible nature of online video inevitably makes the medium more entertaining than live TV (according to 26% Canadians to be precise).  It’s all about convenience and on demand content with none other than YouTube leading the way.

For those who are using media dollars for the traditional media outlets – you may want to rethink your strategy as leading networks such as CTV and CBC, were popular with only 25% or less of Canadian online video watchers.

Last but not least, Canadians also don’t just watch videos – they take action. Out of those surveyed, 18% follow up after online video watching whether it’s searching for more information, social networking, sharing, visiting or purchasing.

Also, some great news from our neighbours down South:

US has reached a new record of video advertising impressions in one month! 

It’s true, online video advertising impressions surpassed 8 billion for the first time on the record with 181 million Americans watching video online in March.

YouTube is dominating but take a look at who is next in line:

Great month in our industry!

Let’s keep this up,

VMG Team.

Sources: TechVibes & REELSeo
Images:  DigitalTrends, Klaszter.

It’s safe to say that having online video as part of a company’s marketing efforts is finally universally accepted. 

Measuring online video Return On Investment (ROI) is not much different than a traditional marketing campaign. If anything, it presents opportunity for analytics that a traditional campaign would not be able to deliver with a much more targeted reach. When videos on YouTube are able to receive millions of views within days and Comscore releases reports stating that on average a person watches 14.8 hours of online video a month; it’s not the matter of trying to prove that online video marketing is effective.The quick pace of new media in today’s marketing landscape has us trying to keep up with the latest trends more often than not with C-levels wanting to see numbers justifying these efforts. The C suite wants to know that the marketing dollars are achieving the highest value and ROI while receiving the desired results.

So how do you measure ROI of online video?

No matter what kind of video initiative your company wants to execute – whether it’s internal communications or consumer oriented – you’ve got to be able to show the results. Here are some tips that can help you.

1. Know your objectives.

The most essential component of executing a campaign successfully is having clear goals. The simplest way to measure return on what you’re investing is knowing your target audience and what message you are trying to deliver.

Your objectives may vary. For example, if you’re trying to promote product sampling, your objective may be to have individuals register for a coupon on your website after viewing the video. On the contrary, if you’re executing an online video for internal communications between various offices, your objective may be saving on travel costs. Whatever it may be, figure it out prior to execution.

2. Use Available Analytics.

With various analytics tools, it is easier than ever before to evaluate how others are interacting with your video. You are able to examine which videos are being watched until the very end, at what point others may drop off, the demographic of your audience and how far the video is shared.

You are also able to create a model to calculate what the engagements are worth based on your messaging objective and how others are interacting with your video. If you’re looking to promote sampling and want to calculate what the engagement is worth, assigning a value for each sign up is a great way to measure success. For example, every person who watches your video and engages fully by registering for your sampling promo can each equal to $100 of investment. Working with these numbers will make it easier to draw comparisons between media channels.

Similarly, ROI doesn’t necessarily have to equal a dollar figure. It can be social interactions, conversations around your brand and those very important recommendations by your brand ambassadors. If your video is getting shared by your target demographic and this audience is recommending your video to their friends, the reach and engagement is just as valuable as a dollar figure.

3. Partner up with experts.

There is no point in producing expensive high quality content without a distribution strategy. Online platforms have an advantage over traditional platforms in being able to target the right demographic and this is something your campaign should benefit from.

It’s rare that a video goes viral and is shared without a push and without a doubt, a successful online video campaigns require the same level of planning for a targeted distribution to ensure desired exposure to a relevant audience.

If you are able to, it’s beneficial to partner up with experts to help your campaign achieve maximum return – whether it’s perfecting your analytics or helping your video receive the target views it needs. Video marketing agencies like VMG Cinematic specialize in not only producing broadcast quality content for the web but also ensuring that the video gets in front of targeted eye balls.

Let’s take Canadian luxury fashion retailer, Holt Renfrew, as an example. At one time, The HR YouTube channel hosted 22 videos with a total of 92,000 video views; however 84% of those views came from only 2 of the 22 videos with the help of VMG. Furthermore, these two videos have also accounted for total of 84% of total consumer interaction on brand’s channel. 

Partnering up with online video industry leaders can provide you access to numbers and reports that provide in depth analytics and more importantly, results that justify your online video ROI.

4. Don’t be afraid to get creative.

Measuring online video ROI isn’t always an exact science and with a non traditional platform, you have room to come up with creative and different ways to validate your efforts.

Online video can often drives traffic back to your website and one way is to look at what that traffic would have cost if it had been acquired by a push advertisement.

For example, comparing the pay per click model and the received traffic you can use the following:

Running banner ads on a website with $3 per click which results in 300 unique visitors to your website. This traffic of 300 people to your website is then worth $900.

Although this approach offers an easy dollar figure, it’s crucial to note that the difference in pay per click banner ad traffic and organic post video engagement differs greatly and the value through organic engagement is much higher.

To conclude, online video enhances and creates the most engaging online user experiences. When it comes to ROI, the measurement metrics differ greatly depending on the specific goals. However, success lays in in the ability to target a specific audience based on demographic, geographic and contextual parameters.

Investing in your industry’s community programs, helps develop and shape its future. This is why we at VMG Cinematic feel it’s important to offer support to The Remix Project. 

The Remix Project is a youth program for those between ages of 16-22 that acts as an incubator for youth in the Toronto Area. It’s for young people aspiring to start careers in the urban arts sector who would not necessarily get the chance. The program develops a 6 month action plan for success for these entrepreneurs by providing:

-Supportive and knowledgable staff.
-A 4,930 sq. ft. facility, with a full recording studio, business development centre, visual art lab, video editing suite & more.
-Mentors and industry professionals with wide range of experience.
-One on one guidance sessions.
-Regular workshops lead by industry professionals, giving practical steps and advice.
-Flexible schedules for youth.
-Meeting like minded individuals.

Specifically, VMG support the  City Life Film Project that finds young, talented filmmakers from Toronto’s priority neighbourhoods to tell their stories through film.

So why The Remix Project?

For VMG partners Mark and Reid Campbell and Nick Haffie-Emslie, it carries a personal interest. Spending their youth making films, they know first hand how important it is to be able to pursue your passions at a young age. In their case, it eventually lead them into starting their own business of making brand videos.

As Reid Campbell explains, “Filming, editing, video cameras…. film making as a hobby can get ridiculously expensive. Especially when you’re in high school! We wanted to give back to the community and give a chance for others to follow their artistic passions”

The Remix project works with priority neighbourhoods, of which over 30% of high school students are not expected to graduate resulting in higher unemployment, increased crime rates and deeper social divisions. The City Life Film Project trains talented youth and gives them the chance to work with top filmmakers from the Toronto film industry helping the youth expand their education.

TIFF Bell Lightbox hosted a red carpet and special screening of City Life Film Project on January 24th showcasing artistic excellence in film making created by talented youth from priority neighbourhoods, and VMG was proudly in attendance showing our support.

It was an inspiring event with many of our industry friends. So amazing to have a chance to be a part of something this great!

And you know what the best part about supporting organizations like The Remix Project? Reading stories like these:

Happy Holidays from the team at VMG Cinematic!

The past year has been a roller coaster of excitement for us at VMG. This accelerating journey has contributed to our growth on many levels as we constantly experienced change for the better. We were fortunate enough to work on some amazing projects with even more amazing people. 2009 has been full of late nights, early mornings, and great times. 2010 landmarks a special occasion not only because it’s the beginning of a new year or even a new decade, but because it’s a breakthrough in ways more than one – for our quickly flourishing industry, our continuously growing client base, and for us. The past has been encouraging and the future looks promising. Thanks to everyone who was a part of VMG in ’09, we can’t wait to see you all in the new year!

Cheers,

The VMG team.

Partners that is.  Yes we don’t often mention what goes on behind the scenes here at VMG but the truth is VMG Cinematic was founded and is owned by four passionate and unequivocally devoted individuals (myself included) who strive each day to produce the best work we have ever done, and then best it the next.  But we used to be five, and our missing fifth man is Mr. Brent O’Hagan (pictured).  But don’t worry this isn’t a sob story, just a melancholy one.  You see Brent isn’t dead, he’s not even in coma. In fact right now he’s probably blazing a trail across the trans-Canada highway heading west in his old Jeep YJ (or was it a TJ?) and not giving a damn about where he might end up along the way.

Brent resigned a few weeks ago.  He had been with us almost from the beginning helping build VMG up from a small, basement operation into the successful company that it is today (and yes we have moved out of the basement).  I went to school with Brent, we were in the same Film Studies program at Western.  It was a terrible program, underfunded, understaffed, and dull.  So dull in fact that Brent and I and several others realized that if we were going to learn proper filmmaking technique there was only one thing we could do: teach ourselves.  And that’s what we did.  We wrote scripts in between essays, borrowed equipment between classes and begged favors from anyone who would listen. Those were heady times. We won film festivals, not big ones but significant enough to convince us that we had something, something that could be developed.  And from that hard knock, teach-yourself-education, friendships were forged, good ones, long lasting ones. The kind that inevitably define your life in some way for years afterwards.

Brent didn’t leave in anger or disgrace.  He wasn’t kicked out because of a raging coke habit or a pimp that would call late at  night demanding to know where he was and how much money he was making.  No, Brent left for his own reasons, and they are his to know and his alone.  As the character Laroche said about his fish collecting hobby in Susan Orleans’ “The Orchid Thief” (and later Spike Jonze movie “Adaptation”)- “done with fish”.  Brent was “done with VMG” and it was simply time to move on to see what else life had in store.

God speed good friend.  You helped us create something truly unique and you will be missed.

- Evan

The documentary series we’ve been working on about the Scarborough Hospital is now live on the foundation’s new website (designed by our friends over at Lush Concepts – check ‘em out). The series is part of the Scarborough Hospital Foundation’s new PR initiative, and is aimed at educating the public about some of the amazing things that are going on at TSH. (more…)

… and instantly become the newest member of our growing viewer database.  That’s the idea anyway.  We want to create a hub of friends, family, associates, other people’s friends, people we don’t even know, to become the testing audience for our latest projects.  We also want to encourage people to share their latest viral finds with us, join/start discussions on the current and future happenigns of the New Media industry and leave crude, rude and sometimes constructive comments on our wall.

Search VMG Cinematic on Facebook and join the fanbase – (and tell your friends!)