We’ve said it before, but we’ll say it again. People seriously love online video. And integrating video into online marketing strategies is a smart move.

MediaPost reported in March that online video usage continues to rise, and viewing from PCs, Macs and laptops from home and from work is up by 45%. Viewers streamed 28% more video, spent 45% more time watching that video and the total streamed videos grew 31.5%, topping out at about 14.5 billion streams. That’s a lot of video.

And YouTube is poised to keep, if not, expand their 43% share of the online video world with their launch of YouTube Live.

So the big question…why roll out YouTube Live? It’s simple — it’s a matter of demand. In today’s connected society, regardless of physical limitations, people want access to what’s going on around the world. And they don’t to wait. Take the 2011 NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament that just wrapped up. It was projected that 8.4 million hours of basketball were viewed online during the course of the tournament. In addition to sports, consumers also want access to pop culture and political events as well. 1.3 million Americans tuned into WhiteHouse.gov to watch President Obama’s State of the Union address.

What might give YouTube Live an edge over their competitors is that they will offer live video content in HD quality. They will also allow for unlimited streaming time which is clutch for both sporting events and concerts. With some 2 billion video views a day – YouTube clearly has a substantial audience for their live content. If the goal is broader access to content for consumers – will advertisers and content providers be willing to negotiate? And, if YouTube can find a smart pay model for consumers would they be willing to pay?

The Next Web had a great post on this topic and reported that the service will be rolling out slowly, to only a select group of big users and the rest of us might see it in the next six months or so. That allows them to get the bugs worked out and see how it’s received.

This might just be YouTube’s big pay day. We’ll be watching – what about you?

YouTube’s Next Big Move – Live Streaming is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

I discovered the brilliance that is Kendall Allen a few years ago. For me, her MediaPost content qualifies as ‘must read’ and it’s a good thing I live a few states away, because if I didn’t she’d have serious stalker issues . I’m a fangirl of the highest order and, although she’s a bona fide hottie, I have a massive girl crush on the gray matter that’s between her ears. Oh, and when I see her posts, I want to stop what I’m doing and read them. Holy crap, why she’s not paying me for that kind of devotion I seriously do not know.

I’m a huge proponent of collaboration in the creative process – actually, I think it’s great in just about any process – and if you’re not doing it, well, that’s your bad. Personally, I collaborate every chance I can. It allows me to produce better results for my clients and learn from the massively intelligent people I’m lucky enough to know and who deign to work with me. Enough about me.

Having read a great AdAge article recently about The Google 5, and being fortunate enough to have a creative client (T2 + Back Alley Films) who gets collaboration (which means I get to live it), Kendall’s post An Old Love Comes to Town on a Rainy Day really resonated with me.

The Big Ad Gig is brilliant. Powerhouse agencies creating opportunities for young minds and fresh talent to work on and present a multi-dimensional campaign and, in the process potentially parlay that into an ad agency creative job ROCKS. It not only allows talent to be crowdsourced and the opportunity to spread through both traditional and non-traditional channels, it supports young talent in the best way possible. It gives them a chance to learn, a chance to shine and has a big, fat reward at the end of the tunnel. And, I’ll give you dollars to doughnuts (what does that mean, anyway?) that there’s not just one winner in The Big Ad Gig. I’ll bet that all the participants get serious consideration (and jobs) as a result of the exposure that participation in the event brings.

The competition is over. I shared the YouTube clip because it made me laugh. Four women and four men gave it their best shot and, given the tragic events surrounding Tyler Clementi’s suicide, made more compelling by the the fact that the client was Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN).

According to Kendall, their presentations were nothing less than “professional poetry.” I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see the outcome. But no matter the official “winner” — all the participants, and the process itself, are winners in my book. And a hat tip to Kendall for the back story. Oh, and if you’re not reading her MediaPost column or stalking her on Twitter, you don’t deserve her. ‘

The Big Ad Gig OR My Love Affair With Kendall Allen is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

We Can’t Rewind, We’ve Gone Too Far

I don’t know why, but most blog post concepts that pop into my mind start with a silly song. This one is no exception. Online video – it’s where it’s at. What is your business doing about it?

Online video viewing is on the rise and it’s going nowhere but up. Sure, I’ve been in a business that for years looked down its pretty little nose at video – much the same way that we eschewed template based websites and other nouveau creative-o (yes, I just coined that term) creative ideas. It used to be all about film, dahlink, and high production values and all that fancy schmancy stuff. Today, we’re a generation of documenters of our every move, amateur filmmakers and veritable content generating machines. And, in addition to generating our own content, consumers are viewing it online in record numbers.

For marketers and small business owners to ignore the prevalence of video in today’s world is, quite simply, a major misstep. Still don’t believe me?

Pictures Came and Broke Your Heart

According to ComScore in October of 2009, there were 27.94 billion (that’s billion with a “B”) videos viewed – in the month of October alone. YouTube captured a lion’s share of that audience, or about 10.52 billion views, but Hulu and Facebook are growing like wildfire. In fact, YouTube is the #2 Search Engine in the World. Yup, you heard me. These days, when people want to know about something, find something, see what others are doing, saying, where they are buying, etc., they head right on over to YouTube, which has about 1 million views a day. Oh wait, there’s more. Mashable reported in the late fall of 2009 that Facebook and Hulu are shattering online video records and those numbers just continue to climb.

According to eMarketer, a paltry 66.7% percent of all US Internet users (only 147.5 million folks) are watching online video on a monthly basis. And oh, wait, it’s predicted that by 2014, that number will rise to 77%. Hmmmm.

Think online video viewing is just for kids? Let’s ignore the young’uns and go straight to the numbers of “mature” online video viewers in 2010 alone:

Ages 25-34: 84.1%
Ages 35-44: 77%
Ages 45-54: 58%
Ages 55-64: 43.8%

Will you look at that? Even the “oldies” have caught on to the convenience and immediacy that online video viewing adds to their lives. And if you think those numbers are going anywhere but up, you’re fooling yourself. I’ll bet you’re listening now.

Blame It On The VCR

Errr. Scratch that. Blame it on the Internet. Consumers are no longer content to wait for content to be delivered to them via television, newspaper, radio, email newsletters and other content delivery platforms. They want what they want and they want it now.

Rob Garner said it brilliantly in a post for today’s MediaPost: “With the world buzzing 24/7, the surfacing reality is that a brand that is not interacting fluidly, or lacks in-the-moment presence, might as well not exist.” My point is this: interacting includes giving customers what they want where they want it. When your customers or prospective customers are online, viewing video, will they find you? Or will you still be relying on those direct mail postcards that they immediately put into the recycling bin. Or buying print ads in newspapers that they no longer read?

So indulge me, if you will – what are you doing about it? Is video content production and distribution in YOUR marketing game plan? And, if not, why not? And, if you’re in the marketing biz, I’d love to hear innovative things that you and your clients are doing with video and how you feel about the importance of this medium.

Video Killed the Radio Star is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency

But to cut to the chase, if you’re a brand, here’s why real time search should both excite you and scare the heck out of you. Everything that people say about your brand is IMMEDIATELY available. To show you exactly what I mean, I saw a post by my friend @stevegarfield on Twitter this morning, lamenting the poorly designed user experience at a Bank of America ATM machine. Lo and behold, those tweets instantly show up in Google search, along with the comments made by others poking fun at BOA.

Real Time Search, Why It's a BIG Deal is a post from: V3 Kansas City Integrated Marketing and Social Media Agency