Forget about VR, AR, AI and ML: Video is the Next Big Thing!
Who would have thought?
Video on the web wasn’t invented by YouTube but that was for sure when it took off. That is now 12 years ago. Depending on perspective one could argue that it is both a very short and a very long time. Short because it feels like YouTube have been around since forever and it is just 12 years! Long because how can that possibly be the next big thing when it has been around since forever?! So confusing!
So what is actually new?
Even when you thought that video was everywhere the slow majority of marketers are just about to get started. Internet is flooded with articles singing the praise for video marketing and defining it as the fastest growing marketing trend. According to Entrepreneur 80 percent of online content will be video by 2019. So when it comes to marketing trends you can forget about VR, AR, AI, ML, they are all tiny little specks on the video camera lense 😜.
Online video includes ALL videos, everything from blockbuster movies on Netflix to a cat video on YouTube with one view. Here I will focus on video in marketing, e.g. pre/mid-roll video ad units, rich media banners, branding videos on company’s website.
Video marketing is the space that will get more and more crowded the next couple of years. So in an overcrowded market how can you stand out? With great content as usual, but there are definitely other ways.
Below I take a stab at defining the different types of video and how they can be used. This is a huge topic so this is just an introduction. In coming articles I will go more into details and give real world examples.
Linear Video is just … plain, old video. But I cannot call it just Video anymore, there are too many new flavors. So my alternatives were Linear Video or Static Video. I would prefer to call it Static Video, a video that doesn’t change, since a Linear Video could still have a button on top and thus become Interactive. But according to Google a Static Video is this:
So Linear Video it is!
Interactive video is when the user can affect the behavior of the video, interact with it. The purpose is to make the content more engaging and create a path to deeper engagement.
Interactive video is nothing new, the first interactive film for a live audience was the Kinoautomat 1967. Game developers had a short infatuation with FMV (full motion video) games in the beginning of the 90s, and then Flash of course. But with the iPhone fueling the mobile revolution and Steve Jobs unwillingness to bring Flash aboard we entered a new (and better) world with HTML5 and with that interactive video faded into silence.
That is until now. Suddenly Interactive Video has become a buzzy word. The reason is interactive advertising, marketers want users to be able to shop the products in the pre-rolls, add a button and violà: it’s an Interactive Video!!
So why does this matter? Interactivity increases engagement which is what everyone wants, marketers, creatives, even users. And from a creative perspective there are really no limits to what you can do with interactive video.
In Interactive Video: Why and How I go through different ways that interactivity can be used:
Personalized videos are tailored specifically for a viewer to make sure they are relevant and valuable. It can be based on demography, location, time of day, user preferences. It could even be made to target a single individual, some examples:
- including the user’s name, location, time of day in the video
- selecting clips to play based on preferences or user input
- incorporate personal images, sound, video in the video
The more details that are incorporated in the video the more personal it will feel. And if the user has been actively involved in personalizing the video, i.e. creating the video, then they are much more likely to share it.
You can read more about Personalized Video here:
Social media is continuing its transformation into publishing and live video is a big part of the mix. The obvious use case is to broadcast live events. By adding the possibility to interact, e.g. functions for voting, the user could affect what happens at the event.
The video stream doesn’t have to show something “real”. Imagine a live music performance where the users can interact and affect both the music and visuals in real time.
Live video can include the same interactivity and personalization as described above. There are huge creative opportunities here!
This is a huge topic with unique opportunities and challenges that are out of scope for this article, but it would be totally weird to not mention it First, I know that 360 is not VR, OK?
There are many differences but the most obvious is that VR is viewed in a VR headset while 360 can be viewed back on any device. VR is unmatched when it comes to visual immersion and storytelling.
VR video (and 360) is often linear, but by making it interactive, personalized and/or live there are huge creative opportunities! Looking forward to write about it in a future article!
Mobile video isn’t really a separate category anymore but I put it here since this is a question that comes up quite often. iPhone pre iOS10 opened videos in its own player which made it impossible to do any interactive applications involving video (there are some hacks…). From iOS10 iPhone this is solved. There are still some limitations in iOS but these affect only more advanced use cases and there are workarounds. Bottom line: no need to talk about mobile video anymore! Except:
Vertical video
Just admit it, it is really inconvenient to view widescreen video on a mobile. I confess, I am as guilty as anyone. So let’s just accept it, make content for vertical (portrait) viewing 🙂.
Users streaming from their webcams or uploading their personal videos, what can go wrong? Moderation is for wimps, let’s find a brave brand and make online history!
But seriously, for the right brand and project this could add a very personal dimension:
- user testimonials
- music performances
- events where the user can interact
User generated videos could also generate an infinite stream of content to be used as a part of a campaign, in banners, pre-rolls etc.
This was an introduction to online video. Here are all video related articles currently already published:
Forget about VR, AR, AI and ML: Video is the Next Big Thing!
Interactive Video: Why and How
Interactive Video — Example Projects
Personalized Video, dynamics and a fancy word for “targeted”
I will add new articles continuously. Or more likely now and then.
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