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09/11/2011 by
6798 views

CMOs Discover The Power Of Online Video

One-way communication and television ran the show for about 60 years. But why are CMOs of leading consumer brands now massively embracing the power of online video?

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Some leading brands are doing 60 Million online video views per quarter already. And the global display and online video spend will be $200 Billion by 2020, Google’s Eric Schmidt recently stated.

Want to see some more powerful insights on how to use the true power of online, viral and social video, web TV and Social TV for your brand, read along…

Where to start? The video boom offers so many great opportunities to brands.

And if you doubt if you should switch your traditional advertising towards a model that is more content-driven, engaged and focused on consumer dialogue, I suggest you take a look at the CMOin this video…

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Maybe I should start with the weapons of mass affection: viral and social videos that spread around the globe with the speed of light, reaching and engaging millions of people at very low costs per contact, with very high impact?

If we look at success stories topping several viral charts (which mostly do not tell you how many of the video views are organic or paid), CMOs do understand that content is king and can even engage fans in the long tail.

So viral or social videos are not only great for short term (product) campaigns, they can also fuel the brand for periods of 6 to 24 months. Or longer.

And leading entertainment companies have also embraced the power of online video. Game companies like EA use online game trailers to ignite conversations and to fuel communities of fans.

Movie companies like Universal and Disney use online movie trailers to create Box Office hits. Next they launch a community around the movie and pull fans through their funnel in the aftermath; in order to monetize the DVD rental, sales and VoD as well.

The music industry launches new music videos, sneak previews or behind the scenes clips to plug their artists, bands and DJ’s.

Fun part of it all: more and more brands launch the videos like webisodes, in order to get massive audiences opt-in to be the first to know. And the YES, I do – is the brand’s ticket into long term and mutual beneficial relationships between fans and their brand.

The internet, forums, blogs, fan communities, video sharing portals, twitter and social networks offer amazing opportunities that linear media like TV, Outdoor and Print never had.

So most CMOs do know that content is king. And many of them are discovering that distribution is queen.

So in the value chain most CMOs now also believe that social strategic planning is not POE (Paid, Owned, Earned media) but OEP (Owned, Earned, Paid media).

Finally we have learned to do it Nike+ way: Fans always first. Grow organically and launch Paid media in stage 3, if needed.

See our OEP model below. Just to show you what I mean with social strategic planning and OEP. I will explain a bit more below…

Social is simple. Basically, close to CRM. At least, a CRM DNA is needed to succeed. You need to understand that loyal clients and fans could be very annoyed if you do NOT treat them special, and like part of the rest.

That’s why social planning should mostly start with FANS FIRST! They are your true value. They should know first. And since they alike like or love you, they will share great content to the rest of their peers, being your brand ambassadors.

That’s why I can get furious if I see brands that offer Groupon deals with 50% discounts. How would you explain to your clients and fans that rookies, newbies and non-loyal clients get the best deal first? Give your fans sneak previews, trials, a fan shop in Facebook and special deals!

So through your fan base and owned media channels, you could start the fire. What if 50% of your opt-in base shares your content with 50 friends, or shares it to his Facebook wall? Yes, there is your viral effect, 100 (or many more) of the friends will engage with your content through their trusted intermediary.

Advertising and Paid media could speed up your initial seed, increasing reach and engagement. And your video might hit the top 10 on a few video portals, which will boost your results even more.

But in earning attention, how many bloggers would like to write about old and already outdated news? Some will, but most of them might not feel special anymore. Rather give main influencers a scoop.

Paid media could be stage 3. If really needed, if your content is not that great. Or if you are in a real hurry.

But the problem with video banners and pre-rolls: perceived pretty intrusive and if the last paid view is served, all video ads will be offline that same minute. No organic growth at all. No more shares like and tweets.

Or did you ever see a pre-roll stick around? Did you ever see a video banner with legs that kept walking around for a while? Well, we feel that earning attention is much nicer than buying it. But, it’s your budget. And your brand…

So distribution is queen. But great content stays king. Why? Because great content there is no engagement. And without engagement there will be: no buzz, no viral, no social and no community.

Why are we convinced, since we like other specialists, have been working in the social space since 2003. When social media was still called: The Blogosphere.

We are part of WPP and GroupM since 2008. And believe me, above OEP, not POE story, was not always the song that everybody liked to hear.

But, we are respectful rebels. We do not see countries with borders. We see markets with opportunities.

So when launched a global platform for branded content, outreach and social video distribution, reaching and engaging over 750 Million passionistas, fans and psychographic audiences, we gained more media and pr friends. And many new international brands.

I do know a few other big players have heavily invested in similar platforms and are heading in the same direction. And with most of them we do work together every now and then.

And where not, if Eric Schmidt is right (that global display and video will be $200 Billion by 2020) we decided to stay out of display and to invest in relationships with influencers around the globe. With a CRM driven DNA again.

They can spread scoops and great content if they like. And if they do not like the content, they should certainly not tell their readers and followers. We are in control enough to let go.

And if the content is average and not really viral, we can always offer the influencers a Paid deal, in our reversed auction model. Take it if you want. Load balance your blog, channel or page with a nice mix of content and paid content or ads.

We do however advice bloggers not to take the Print Magazine approach: online the mix should never be 60% editorial and 40% ads. Maybe 80% editorial would be nice, if not too intrusive and interruptive.

Cool part about this proposition: if you identify and reach out to the right fans, in a nice way, with a connecting story or piece of content that is spot on to their passion, 95% is a match!

Those fans will be excited, feel special and opt-in for next stories. It’s all about passion, passion and passion. In the old days creative agencies needed to touch people’s underbelly by creating emotion.

We do passion matchmaking or brand dating. We do not always to concept and create the emotions, since people with a passion for something already have that emotion way before we invited them!

So to socio-demo thinkers I would like to state: think beyond that. Start with the simplest insight in the world: Connect to passionistas and most will love you for sharing the same passion. And next they might even introduce you to their community members. Sharing is caring.

To close the value chain of viral and social video, distribution and OEP. One lost topic in this area. If content is king, and seeding is queen, could there be an emperor?

I think there is. I really get sparked when it comes to measurement, data, videolytics, actionable insights and social metrics around online, viral and social videos.

Since that metrics really open Pandora’s black box. That really helps to create better branded video content and strategies. That shows the insights about what people and passionistas love or hate.

Video metrics are the way to get the golden Coca Cola recipe to create great video content. To discover the cost per contact and earned media value of a video. To see how people rate and review the video. What the sentiment is around the video.

And how often the video is shared, linked, liked, tweeted or loved. That’s what it’s all really about: is my story or content connecting to my passionistas, audiences, fans and their fans?

And for that reason only, we developed online video metrics company ViralTracker in 2003 and launched it in 2004.

Because we were dying to know, what the true power of viral and social videos were. I am not stating we are the best around; there are a few other great video metrics companies around.

But do you happen to know many creative digital agencies around that are so passionate about tracking and gaining insights about online videos and trailers, that they will invest loads of money to develop such a system themselves?

I could tell you that we still meet a lot of creative agencies that tell their clients “that uploading the TV commercial to YouTube will create a massive viral hit”.

I think you do believe me if I tell you that most do not like the metrics, ROI and being both responsible and accountable for their creative digital content. And I’m using the understatement of the year.

I do know YouTube insights, great video metrics. But I would also need to learn about the metrics on blogs, social sites and other 500+ video portals around the globe.

I need to see the video metrics on DailyMotion, Tudou in China and other large video portals. And those insights we developed in ViralTracker.

Simply because we needed to compare all metrics and results. Simply to improve seeding and distribution results. Simply to create more impactful video content and to increase earned media value. Because we do not believe in i.e. tracking only 50% of your banner or SEA campaign. We want to track it all. Why?

Metrics, data and insights have been always part of my deepest DNA. Is this is because I’m curious by nature and love actionable insights, and that’s the reason why eventually I became a strategist?

Or is it because I’m an entrepreneur. One that really loves it when bullshit walks and results talk? It might be a combination of both. Honestly, I am not really sure.

Campaign and viral videos I love? The award winning Volkswagen program The Fun Theory, that started a movement with a video trilogy. Check out one of them: Piano Stairs.

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Well back to other great powers of online video.

You could start your own YouTube channel. Some examples I like?

The rapping Toyota Swagger Wagon has a nice a branded YouTube channel. And how do you like the MINI YouTube brand channel?

An owned media channels I really love? Branded Web TV channels. Like Mercedes-Benz created an owned powerful and pretty engaging Web TV platform.

Bit too stiff and PR-ish for me, but how clever are you if you invest 1% of your media budget to create a long term platform that engages fans potentials 365 days of the year? And keeps growing organically?

Just like Audi TV, also fueled by video. BMW TV is full motion content you might like?

Some brands have iPad Magazines that include amazing videos. Easily to watch and share. How about first Facebook TV show that we launched this year? Great content by for fans and by fans, how awesome if TV becomes social?

Social TV offers format and broadcasters great new opportunities. Now the couch potatoes might interact with TV shows, and with friends through our Second Screen, but left or right: TV became interactive after all.

A social tv format you might like, is The Voice of Holland, developed by Dutch company Talpa.

The format is now sold into 47 markets, including the USA and BBC1 in the UK. That format might now value about $140 million. Or more.

More video trends you would like us to cover? Please share them in the comments below.