Cellphones have surely come a long way since their first days….

Recently, mobile video has been dominating industry news with definite promises of growth, expecting to generate roughly $16B in revenues worldwide by 2014. Similarly, “Mobile Video Services: A Five Year Global Market Forecast” states that mobile usage will rise by 135% over the next 5 years due to more people embracing mobile audio and video. Not to mention the number of users are vastly increasing worldwide – mobile subscribers in Latin America and Central/Eastern Europe are predicted to be 50% 3G converted up from 5% in 2008.

Cellphone displays are getting larger and more powerful making it obvious that video is going to continue expanding in both usage per person and amount that is available. With more companies beginning to offer flat rate mobile data plans, mobile video is more accessible to the general public assisting the growth of mobile data.

Is there a valid explanation for this fast paced increase? The recent stimulated mobile video growth most definitely ties into the launch of iPhone 3GS. Since the launch, YouTube has stated that mobile uploads have been soaring over the last six month with over a 1700% boost. The daily uploads alone have increased 400%…. YouTube believes that the growth is mostly due to more mobile phones with video capabilities on the market, which makes sense of course. If you provide people with advanced technology, they will use it.

By the looks of it, the mobile industry looks bright but what effect does that have on online video? Are we able to co-exist together or will one form of video eventually rule out the other?

In order to understand similar relationships better, I found a few quantitative case studies.  For example, in a relationship between those who listen to music with online streaming vs mobile phones,  the numbers indicate that when one goes up, the other goes down. This means there is only room for one of the above …

However, on the contrary the analysis for mobile video vs. online video streaming states that the two do not compete. In fact, not only do they not compete but they correlate strongly (on a coefficient of .57 to be exact). This is the unique role of video in digital progress and we are all right in the middle of it. People want more video, through more devices, in more places and times – the possibilities are unlimited. That’s definitely great news!

I have to admit I haven’t heard of Greg Jarboe before, but I sure as hell liked what he had to say in this video. And yes you should check out the Monty Python YouTube case study he mentions because it is truly eye opening to the potential of YouTube as a direct marketing and sales conversion tool (Monty Python DVD sales went up 23,000%!).

Here’s the link to the full Monty Python case study

Check out my recent Q&A in Toronto Marketing Blog with Sandra Bekhor on the topic of marketing professional service firms with online video: http://torontomarketing.blogspot.com/2009/09/marketing-professional-service-firms.html

- Evan

Success Stories

Moonfruit

Before Twitter: Below the radar web-site building company.

After Twitter: After a Twitter contest went viral, the London-based company had acquired 47,000 followers on Twitter, traffic to its home page had increased by 1,300% and the word “moonfruit” was appearing all over the Internet. In addition to creating a much bigger brand awareness, the firm’s products have more than tripled and paying customers have increased by 20%.

Chickdowntown.com

Before Twitter: Average online retailer.

After Twitter: Since its May ’09 Twitter contest the company began tweeting on a regular basis, and their following has grown to 4,100 from 300 with on average 200 new people following each day. Twitter followers account for 5% of traffic to the site whereas the email blasts, which reach 100,000 people, account for 4% of traffic.

Clickbooth

Before Twitter: Mediocre digital media publisher

After Twitter: Clickbooth teamed up with blogger John Chow for a successful Twitter contest, where contestants had to follow both Clickbooth and John Chow and then retweet a post. As Clickbooth reached different milestones of followers, they gave out more prizes. Eric Schechter, Clickbooth’s social media manager, says since the contest launched there has been an enormous increase in Twitter traffic and they have brought in new publishers.

Why is Twitter effective?

“While companies have used traditional contests for years to generate buzz, a Twitter contest is superior because ‘retweeting’ spreads brand awareness even quicker”, says Dan Zarrella, a social-media consultant based in Boston.

People always want free things. Social media and marketing experts say the combination of freebies and Twitter’s inherently viral nature is particularly powerful in creating a strong brand identity.

And although being on Twitter alone isn’t going to provide the highly effective recognition one hopes for, it is an integral part of a beginning for a smaller business. It’s important that communication and interaction keeps on going and the audience is engaged.

Tips for Twitter contest?

If you’re looking to replicate successful Twitter contests like Moonfruit’s, aim for high tech. Moonfruit integrated Apple Macs and iPods as its prizes. Not only did this resonate with potential clients but it also reinforced the firm’s innovative high-tech image, strengthening their reputation.

Source: Wall Street Journal

Check out what media and industry experts have to say about VMG Cinematic and Style Agents…

Globe & Mail notes a marketing trend of retailers like Vaughan Mills turning to online video and social media.

Marketing Magazine looks at how VMG and Vaughan Mills partnered up to create branded entertainment.

Media In Canada discusses the success of the Vaughan Mills digital campaign developed by VMG.

Beauty Parler is sending you on a shopping assignment, as per Style Agents’ request.

TorontoStyle.net spreads Style Agents’ tips on wearing brights.

…Mission continues!

Here to stay…

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

We’ve all heard how great and efficient online video is for your business and how today it’s a must in your marketing mix optimization. Yet some business owners are still skeptical about online video benefits and ROI, while others are rushing into it simply to keep up. But do marketers really know the value of online video? As the consumer becomes smarter with a shorter attention span, steeper pockets and vastly increased options, the brand should aim for a solution to an expansion and customer interaction, followed by the ultimate acquisition. And today, it looks like online video marketing is the paramount way of doing so…

One of the main reasons businesses are hesitant about investing marketing dollars into digital is because they simply do not know the best way to break into the online world with success or do not have enough knowledge about the industry. Here are a few steps to help those souls out….

1. Identify (and know) your consumer.

Consumer research, insight and marketing are at the core of marketing communications. Yes, online video is the future and relevant to about 90% of markets but if you’re advertising primarily to men in their 70s, perhaps online video isn’t the best way to go…. Then again, it also completely depends on the product. Either way, understand your market.

2. Define the role of online video in your marketing mix.

Clearly know what it contributes to brand objectives. Online video exposure resulted in 44% aided brand favorability (compared to 35% for TV) so the high impact and preference is apparent. However, this doesn’t mean you must completely abandon traditional media marketing. Integrate and optimize!

3. Create advertisements relevant to the medium.

Say you do decide to integrate your television and online video campaigns. Make sure you do not simply distribute the same video on TV and online. TV advertisements fail, for the most part, to establish a deeper relationship with the consumer where as online strives on building that same consumer relationship. By producing separate more interactive content, you will only win in the long run.

4. Create a measurement plan.

Now that you fully understand your target market and have a clearly defined role for online video, measure your success. Quantify your goals and exactly what you want to achieve through online video. Is it to increase brand awareness? Improve perception? Drive sales? Prioritize your goals and make sure the video is distributed through the correct platforms maximizing the reach.

5. Contact VMG to create the most effective online video for your brand.

Kidding… somewhat.
The agency plays an integral part in your marketing campaign. Your creative, production, distribution, and strategy all rely on the team you hire so it’s everyone’s best interest to hire experts in the field.

Sources: Millward Brown

Awhile back I attended a copywriting workshop where the instructor proposed a question regarding the constant evolving marketing industry and technological advances. As he went around the room seeking an answer, he wanted our input on what we thought was the best business to consumer strategy. While I looked around, I could see people staggering to his question unable to provide a solid response realizing that perhaps it was no longer so easily defined… As we all further discussed this, the only concrete observation we were able to conclude with indicated that companies are now more than ever investing in 360 marketing and incorporating new nontraditional media channels. Social media and digital distribution are becoming a necessity as they are now greatly integrated with TV and print in attempts to continuously engage the public and acquire every possible wandering eye (and finger) …

So which one is most effective? Well that’s yet another question to which the answer is not straight forward but speculations often lead in the same direction. The speed in which trends evolve on the internet can often be baffling; however, with more and more Canadians increasing their time spent online specifically on social media websites, social media marketing is definitely experiencing a steady and fast paced accumulation.

Marketing Magazine hosted a study which found that social networks get a lot of press and are becoming the dominant communications tool therefore making the increasing concentrations of people at these types of websites very attractive to online marketers and businesses. For example, 56% of all online Canadians now have a social network profile up from 39% just 18 months ago and of those with a social network profile, 85% are with Facebook.

“As the consumer continues to spend increasing amounts of time in the digital world, businesses and marketers are paying increasing attention to the Internet,” says study author Mark Laver. “However, online social networks tend to be extremely personal and this creates a dilemma for marketers and businesses—how to communicate in a personalized setting without upsetting the target audience.”

This leads us to the next question:

How (and why) should marketers use social media to their advantage?

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Surrounding are constant reminders that digital promotion is becoming an integral part of the marketing mix and spreading through the business horizon. The latest innovator to jump on the digital marketing bandwagon is Hollywood and well, as the old saying goes “if Hollywood’s doing it, it must be a good idea”…

For the film industry, box office attendance and DVD sales remain flat at a steady pace and it’s known that the industry also faces some serious upcoming challenges and changes. Presently however, studios seem to be already productively adjusting to the future as they apply their industry knowledge and observations and embrace new technology to their advantage.

As a matter of fact, at the rate the online spending appears to be increasing in film, the term “embracing”  does no justice in effectively articulating the passionate relationship between online advertising and Hollywood. It seems as though the two are going steady, becoming an item, moving in together….. You get the point.  Quantitatively speaking, film digital ad budgets reached $1.2 billion in 2009 and are expected to grow in 2013 swiftly reaching an impressive $2.7 billion.

Today, almost every film marketing campaign leverages both traditional and new media channels with online film marketing increasing simultaneously in popularity and sophistication. Since there is an overwhelming pressure on studios to generate buzz about the upcoming releases, it only makes sense to go to online marketing for providing effective results. After all, the costs are comparatively minimum and the market reach is comparatively maximum. And it looks as though this is just the beginning – the future holds even more sophisticated online marketing tactics that will continuously assist marketers in turning “Hollywood glitter into box office gold”.

The ways in which online marketing and the film industry intertwine varies from interactive websites, early trailer releases, “fake” releases and online video promos – just to name a few. Here’s a few of the prosperous examples:

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