Blended Distribution Strategies & New Marketing Opportunities

by on 22 August, 2007 - 20:39

by: Josh Hawkins

Last week, Phil Leigh, host of the video blog "Digital Media Thought Leaders," posted a two part interview I did on broadband media distribution and marketing. In the interview, I touch on a number of strategies I believe are necessary for content owners to run a successful broadband video business and for marketers to take advantage of the fast-changing and self-selecting consumer media behavior. 

1. Expand distribution of video content beyond branded destination sites. There are a number of technologies available to content owners which can be used to enable bloggers, MySpace page owners and Facebook account holders to embed single title video players into their webpages. Viral distribution like this can quickly expand distribution through communities of interest and word of mouth promotion. Centrally managed viral distribution strategies offer a powerful opportunity to blast performance-based advertising through micro channels and niche communities.
2. Package premium content and provide select video lineups to approved affiliates. Building a premium affiliate network for content distribution provides a brand-safe context for more traditional forms of advertising, such as targeted, genre-based pre-rolls, which are part of larger, integrated campaign runs.
3. Embrace industry standards. There's an enormous number of exciting new ad products hitting the broadband video space. But without consistent industry standards, an already complex process becomes unmanageable. Remember, for broadband advertising to work, all of the following parties need to be working seamlessly together: a) publisher/programmer; b) ad operations; c) creative agency / media buyers; d) ad serving platforms; and e) broadband media distributor. At this very early stage in the development of broadband media sector, it's important to make it as easy as possible for cross-purpose creative and IAB-endorsed ad formats to be used, enabling marketers to participate in the distribution of broadband video and tap new avenues to reach online communities. 
4. Support your community. Whenever possible, solicit, capture, package and distribute consumer-generated media. This is an old Splintered Channels theme, but worth stating again. Instead of sending your community to YouTube to contribute content around a campaign, harness the power of community to generate new, exciting, and authentic experiences for your own online properties. And, I argue that mixing professional and amateur media content provides a compelling new form of editorial content and venue for advertising.

Click here to access part one of the interview and here for part two.

Original post: http://splinteredchannels.blogs.com/weblog/2007/08/blended-distrib.html