John Houghton's New Media Blog

I just came across a great article in the NY Times, talking about how companies are using online video to reach customers.  ”At a time when other categories of advertising dollars are shrinking, video ads are booming.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/business/media/11adco.html?_r=1

Big media are using online video, but you don’t have to be a big company to take advantage of it in your particular market.  For example, The Wall Street Journal sells pre-roll ads for its news stories and the thinking is a 20 second pre-roll is worth it for the user to get 3 – 5 minutes of well produced video.  WSJ incidentally is sold of its ad inventory.

A company can use this on a much smaller scale.  One of the most popular search phrases on the internet is “how to.”  People turn to the internet to find out how to all kinds of things.  If you are a detergent company, you can produce a video about how to remove certain stains from fabric.  If you are a motor oil manufacturer, you can produce videos on how to change the oil on 10 of the most popular vehicles.  Put a 20 second pre-roll on the video.  Learn how to promote video so that many thousands of people see it.

It’s one thing to hear about store closings but it’s another to have two of your neighborhood Blockbuster stores close.  That hits close to home.  I thought that maybe Blu-Ray would sustain them because 1080p programming is still pretty big for internet pipes and devices, therefore consumers would still frequent Blockbuster.  Not so.  According to their recent earnings announcement, Blockbuster will be closing 115 stores.  There are so many alternatives now, On Demand Movies, AppleTV (my favorite), Dish Network, Netflix and so on.  I can see how it would be hard for them to keep stores open, especially in Silicon Valley where there are so many geeks, like myself, that love to find new ways to receive programming.  On one hand, I like to see change and consumers adopting new and more efficient technologies.  On the other, I don’t like to see companies shutting stores.