Michael Learmonth of Silicon Alley Insider has a great post on “Special Delivery,” a popular MySpace-sponsored hidden camera show that is a huge success on MySpace (in part thanks to promotion there), and a total flop on YouTube, where the show also has a channel. This attests to a common refrain we say a lot around here (because it’s true): since each video sharing site has different demographics and promotional opportunities, distribution to multiple sites not only increases viewership, but also helps in finding an audience and starting to build a community around content.
In a tired stupor the other night, I told my wife about some of the new companies using TubeMogul. One impressed her the most: Ford Models. “You mean the Ford Models?” she asked. I was aware that Ford Models was a prestigious modeling agency that represented the likes of Christie Brinkley, Courtney Cox and Rachel Hunter, but my wife grounded me in the iconic status of the Ford Models brand. “Everyone I knew wanted to be a Ford Model growing up,” she said. Led by Mitch Grossbach, their VP of Corporate and Business Development, Ford Models is charging ahead with an avant-garde new media strategy, creating a library of high-quality video content of its models sharing changing-room confessions and beauty tips. Since the models are typically bikini-clad, there is no doubt an element of “I just read the articles” to these videos. What’s truly beautiful though is Ford’s emphasis on evergreen content, including “how-to” videos like “How to make a simple ponytail look modern” and “How to create an evening look in minutes.” I’m certain that these questions will be relevant to multiple generations. And via TubeMogul, Ford Models smartly makes their content available in many of the venues where video content is consumed. This brand won’t be considered “your mother’s modeling agency” anytime soon.
Brett Wilson, our CEO and Co-Founder of the company, takes a walk through Madison Park for an interview with Beet.tv, in which he expounds all things TubeMogul (below).
Ron Paul is substantively irrelevant, but continues to lead Hillary Clinton in cumulative video views aggregated across sites, despite her recent lift in viewership from the Pennsylvania primary. Why? Hillary mostly posts professionaly-produced ads with canned, one-word titles, interspersed with speeches that do not do her justice. Contrast this with Barack Obama, whose campaign understands the genre and posts stirring campaign appearances with occasional vlogs. Obviously, demographics and other factors are at play here, but the results are pretty unforgiving.
Of course, none of them can compete with Chris Brown music videos; if only Tocqueville had lived to see this apathy:
(Candidates’ cumulative viewership across sites and Chris Brown on YouTube only).
This morning’s New York Times has a great piece by technology writer Miguel Helft on the growth of the how-to video sector. A popular “smorgasbord” of instructional content, from the “satirical” to the “humorous” to the “esoteric,”as well as platforms to support it, is emerging, he points out, and online video seems like the perfect medium for it, given the enormous range of subjects people want to learn about. How else could you learn how to start a fire with a battery?
It is with these propitious trends in mind that we announce our latest integration: Howcast.com. Users can now distribute and track their instructional videos on Howcast, a newer site with features perfectly tailored to the how-to genre, such as embedable (and printable) step-by-step instructions. To access, simply click “More Sites” in the “Launch and Promote a Video” section on the TubeMogul dashboard. Whether you are a sage or a savant, Howcast is a great place to broadcast your skills to the world and might be the perfect place to find your audience.
The glut (albeit a welcome one) of comedy videos online overshadows the relative shortage of gripping drama series. More than filling this void are our friends at It’s All In Your Hands, makers of the Emmy Award-winning hit, Satacracy 88. They are going to launch several new series soon, and just launched their latest episode of Satacracy to the world today via TubeMogul:
We are psyched to be sponsoring beer at the “BigScreen LittleScreen The Creative Side of Video 2.0!” Meetup this Thursday night at For Your Imagination’s offices in New York City. Click here to register! On the agenda: watching short, online video works and then discussing creative, production, and technical issues. Much more casual than a regular meetup; the plan is to sit on couches, drink beer and have good discussions.
TubeMogul is featured prominently in a recent post titled “Tools For Your Video Career” by Duncan Riley on TechCrunch, who was tipped off by serial TubeMogul fan Chris Pirillo, of whom we are obviously fond, and not just because he is a user. In any case, we must be doing something right because, as one of TechCrunch’s readers comments: “TubeMogul is…a tremendous idea! I haven’t seen a How-To article on TC since 2006!”
Also worth checking out: twoawesome Silicon Valley Insider posts by Michael Learmonth, who utilizes a weekly top-viewed leaderboard we compile, culled from viewership data across sites.
Not to mention our Washington Post piece (although I guess I am mentioning it now).
