online video

So how were we featured on one of the top tech blogs online? This story involves viral video an attractive, accused Russian Spy and the insanity of being in the eye of the newscycle.

In February, we shot a series of interviews for our client “New York Entrepreneur Week” … talking to some aspiring business people about their success networking in New York. Turns out, one of our interviews was with a woman that has now been accused of participating in one of the largest discovered Russian spy rings in the history of the United States, one Anna Chapman. Our 12 minute interview conducted by And Now producer John Palacio, touches on Ms. Chapman’s journey to NY from London, her online real estate venture and her ability to infiltrate the power brokers of Manhattan in the name of building her business.

When the story broke, we new we had the only sit down interview with Anna Chapman in English, and since John is a former ABC News producer, he knew this video was gold to the world’s press. In three days, we (in conjunction with New York Entrepreneur Week) licensed the interview to just about every television network around the work (From CNN, to ITN, to Aljazeera), plus many newspapers, syndicated shows and online ventures. For several days our little office was the center of the worldwide newscycle and, needless to say, the phones and email accounts were smoking from overuse. Some nefarious outfits (hello Fox, Huffington Post, Tribune and CW) “passed” on liscensing the video and instead embedded the video from other outfits … shame shame … but that’s another story.

So that brings us to techcrunch. Russian Spies are not usually the fodder for TechCrunch coverage, but if they’re attractive and there’s a weak silicon valley connection, what the hell. Since this is an excellent site to promote “New York Entrepreneur Week” … we gave TechCrunch the video for free. Nice enough. But then the TC folks said they have this new site, TechCrunch.TV … and could we appear to explain this crazy video.

So, check out our fearless producer John Palacio’s skype interview as part of the debut week of TechCrunch.tv … and thanks guys for the nice plug here. An odd way to get publicity, but why not.

Finally, check out the video overview we shot for our friends at New York Entrepreneur Week here and see if you can catch the 2 second clip of Anna Chapman in the video!

TechUniversity.com charges for most of their online training … but this 25 minute overview is a great and free introduction to Final Cut Pro. Learn the basics of editing, rendering and exporting videos. Enjoy.

Alec Brownstein bought Google AdWord ads targeting top NYC creative directors with whom he sought a job interview, essentially purchasing their names so when they search themselves on google, his ad would be at the top of the page. Total cost: $6. He made a video of his results:

Brilliance.

See more about it here.

What a joy to watch a simple idea executed brilliantly. Whether or not you are a possible subscriber to this Canadian Adult channel, you can appreciate the humor and you remember the tag line … “You won’t watch for the acting.” Marketing genius.

See more about this ad campaign here.

Look for more online video ad spending in 2010. In a new BrightRoll survey of execs and media buyers at ad agencies, 94% said they plan to spend more this year.

Over half agreed that online video advertising was more effective than other forms of advertising, and full 83% thought they get more value for their dollar.

Why? Online video ads cost much less while offering better targeting. Plus there’s plenty of quality inventory. Their only concern? Ensuring the placement of their ads is consistent with their brand.

One other interesting finding, how execs and buyers would like to pay for their ads:
Cost per video view: 45%
Cost per engagement: 34%
Cost per impression: 16%

Finally, where do they want to spend their money?
Interactive pre-roll: 54%
Branded entertainment: 20%
Consumer content or webisodes: 15%
Other forms of creative content: 11%

See more here

A client asked me, when it comes to online video, what matters most? Here’s what comes to mind …

1. QUALITY MATTERS
Video is a proven and effective tool for increasing conversion rates. However, poorly executed or shoddy video may have a detrimental effect on your site (unless it’s in keeping with your brand). Bad production values can turn off potential customers the same as poorly executed sales page. Most common mistake: bad audio. Get a mic … add some music … mix well. It makes a difference.

2. STYLE MATTERS
Video is emotional. The style, music and look of your video must be in line with the emotional associations you want for your brand. Confusing customers with inconsistent brand associations can harm your business. Don’t know what associations you want for your brand … you shouldn’t be working on a video until you do.

3. LENGTH MATTERS
Most online video is not watched past the first minute. Save money on production costs and keep your customers wanting more.

4. YOUR GOALS MATTER
What do you hope to achieve with this video. You’d be surprised how many don’t have a quick, clear answer. Be sure your video is designed to achieve those goals … in the production of the video and how it is displayed and distributed. Is there a clear call to action?

5. META MATTERS
Most search engines don’t index video … they index the metadata attached to your video (Title, description and keywords). Hone your metadata or you waste marketing opportunities for your brand.

6. EMBEDS MATTER
Provide a link to your video … expect 5-15% view rates. Embed and expect 10-35% view rates.

7. CAPTIONS MATTER
Some split testing case studies for sales video pages show that videos captions increase conversions by 8%.

8. YOU MATTER
Focus on what sets you and your company apart … then exploit those differences in your video presentation.

- John Palacio

NASA recently launched the Solar Dynamics Observatory, which has been taking some amazing pictures and videos of the sun in different wavelengths. So now … we can see the sun in more detail than ever before.
Get more here.

Last night I, like over three million others, was shut out of the Oscars … and least for the beginning. ABC chose to pull it’s WABC signal from Cablevision in our area due to stalled contract talks. This, I thought, was the perfect time to test live streaming on the net. Could we watch a show that wasn’t officially being streamed. And why would we call off the friends that were coming over to watch? ‘Of course you can stream one of the most popular shows on TV, right?’ Well, sort of.

HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED

1. First, for kicks, I tested the antenna that came with my lovely Pioneer plasma (with a built in digital converter). Would I get a “free” signal. Hmmm … no dice. Without a larger antenna and a longer cable to reach outside, all I got was hash. Frankly, I was more interested in testing the live stream than running antenna cable across my living room.

2. Next up, lugging the mac downstairs, and the cable modem. Yes, I could get a wireless signal from our home wireless system, but for streaming HQ video it’s obviously better to have a direct connection I thought. I opted for the VGA in on the plasma, essentially making it a huge monitor. Yes, it’s not the best quality, but I was going for ease of use. Many PC desktops and laptops have various video outs as well … so hooking up a computer should be easy for practically anyone.

3. Now … finding a live stream. Um, not so easy. Neither ABC or The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences apparently wants to risk the numbers of what it is the second most watched broadcast of the year … the “Female Superbowl” as it’s known. Plus, the Academy is notorious for protecting their brand and going after anyone illegally using their footage or their images … so any “legal” stream is out of the question.

So suddenly, to watch this broadcast, I’m turned into an internet criminal, finding someone willing to pirate the stream live so I can benefit. But even that proved difficult. Mostly, our search for Oscars turned up sites that promised but didn’t deliver, or worse, we’re trying to sell you something or give you a virus. Unsafe territory.

4. After much fruitless searching, I decided to try on of the “stream live TV” software packages available. I went with SatelliteDirect.com, recommended by a friend. Online they say it works with the mac. So I downloaded and paid for the service (a one time fee of 29.95 if you work their system to get a lower rate) … and, what’dya know, it didn’t work on my mac. SO, down comes the PC, and voila … hundreds (not thousands as they say) of channels are now accessible on my PC, streamed live, including 18 so-called “ABC” stations. Great! But hold on … most are Australian “ABC” stations, and the three that are the American ABC stations we find out later don’t carry the ABC primetime feed. $29.95 down the drain (at least for watching the Oscars … perhaps we’ll be wanting to watch Australian ABC later).

5. So, with a room full of friends and no Oscars, we were desperate. We actually considered calling family members in Wisconsin to hold their webcam up to their TV and Skype the Oscars to us! Then we found twitter to the rescue. Our repeat search of “Oscar live stream” turned up a livestream.com illegal feed of ABC. We felt so dirty, but we had our Oscars, for 3 minutes. Then the feed died. But another Twitter link, and then another better quality link proved successful.

Literally four minutes into our streaming we got a text from a friend: “ABC-Cablevision settle. It’s back on TV!” So we missed the opening number and the monologue, but it was back on. A quick switch and we were back in business in HD.

I felt successful that I had tamed the beast and captured a live stream, but was certainly glad to get back to an HD signal. Honestly, I was quite surprised how difficult it was to find a live stream of a broadcast that didn’t want to be streamed. It was doable, but not without risk, and not something that most typical users would do. One impressive takeaway, in this day of internet video ubiquity, it’s still possible to protect your brand … to a point.

And Now … Australian TB patient Christiaan Van Vuuren (AKA Fully Sick Rapper) marks his days in quarantine by creating a fun music video of his plight.