Web Strategy Blog

New iPod Nano Commercial and the 1234 song

If you were watching TV this past week, then you probably saw the new iPod Nano commercial. The ad features the upbeat and catchy song "1234" by Canadian singer/songwriter Leslie Feist. I cannot seem to get this song out of my head!

Here are the lyrics to this enchanting song: One Two Three Four, Tell me that you love me more. Sleepless long nights, That is what my youth was for. Old teenage hopes are alive at your door, Left you with nothing but they want some more. Oh, you're changing your heart. Oh, You know who you are.

HP Unveils Video Merchant Services for Retailers

In a recent Business 2.0 article HP talked about its new offering for Retailers - its basically a digital platform that archives movies and television shows and a web service that enables video downloads. I should say up front that Crimson is working on helping HP on this initiative and although I can't comment specifically what HP is doing - suffice it to say that its impressive. Overall, HP is going after a minimum of 15% of the market of the $35 billion Americans spend each year on DVD sales and rentals, downloads and other video purchases. HP believes there is a huge opportunity in long tail video content - those video's that have a loyal fan base, but its not large enough for profitable mass distribution. A new service called Manufacturing on Demand which will allow a user to order a video online and potentially have it shipped within 24 hrs! As a frequent downloader of video - I am personally excited about the potential to increase the scope of available content. HP launched with their first BETA customer Wal-Mart and is now working on refinements. This is just the first release with many new improvements to come as the offering develops. With strong relationships with both the studios and retailers, it looks like HP's big bet will pay off.

Live Stream from Web 2.0 Expo

I've been watching Jeremiah Owyang's live streaming from the Web 2.0 Expo this morning while catching up on some work. Its great to stay connected to the event even though I can't get there myself again until this afternoon - thanks Jeremiah!

David vs. Goliath

In a recent discussion about brands that dominate a market, I was struck by how many examples are emerging in Web 2.0 companies similar to the David vs. Goliath story.  iTunes, YouTube, MySpace, Google all dominate - yet there are emerging competitors that threaten to put a crack in the foundation of what seems like an insurmountable advantage.

I have a belief that there are a few ways that smaller players can still have a differentiated offering and thrive:

• Focus on the user experience, make it dead-easy to use - Was iTunes the first to offer music downloads or even movie/ TV downloads for that matter? Of course not! There were a multitude of legal and P2P download sites before iTunes. The brilliance of iTunes is the sheer no-brainer ease-of-use and the way that you are able to keep purchasing downloads without even feeling like you are spending money.
• Pick a niche and serve it well - You don't need to have 80% of a viable market to have a thriving company. By choosing a focused niche within the market and going deep rather than broad - you can have an advantage over the dominant player. How will you know when you have been successful? When your brand becomes synonymous with that niche, and when you start seeing competitors imitating you. 
• Let users needs guide the direction - Craig's List that now dominates online classifieds has refused to take advertising revenues - why? According to Craigslist President and Chief Executive Jim Buckmaster "No users have been requesting that we run ads'' The now wildly successful Craigslist.com used to run head-to-head against large newspapers and by focusing on the needs of its users it is now considered a threat to the newspaper industry. 
• Make good use of your marketing $ - In order to get above-average response from your marketing investments, I have a strong belief that they need to be driven by BIG ideas. Web 2.0 companies have a clear advantage in this area where so many of the fundamentals of their business are well-suited to interesting and unique marketing initiatives that involve the user and new media. Everything from contests to recognition programs to initiatives that allow member expression - Web 2.0 companies have an opportunity to get returns and buzz with their marketing that more traditional companies envy.

User Generated Content and Doritos

Doritos held a contest for user-generated video's in a "Make Your Own Dorito's Ad" Contest. The winning 30 second ad will be shown on Superbowl Sunday. You can see all the video's here Just like Doritos - its tough to be happy with just one, but Check Out Girl and Dorito Lovers are hilarious, Dorito Dreams is like food porn and Duct Tape has a surprise ending!

Hanging at Rehearsals.com

Spent some time with my friends at Rehearsals.com yesterday getting an up-close look at their stellar operations while watching one of my favorite musicians Pete Yorn rehearse.

Rehearsals.com allows you to watch established and emerging recording artists prepare for concerts, television appearances, tours and recording sessions. It gives you that "insider view" of candid, raw footage of entertainers doing their thing. The studios have remote controlled cameras that film in high definition and the state-of-the-art broadcast center is very impressive. You really have to see the quality of their facility to appreciate what goes into the filming of one of their segments.

I see a big trend in the emergence of some really differentiated content like this that is starting to bridge the gap between what was traditionally broadcast TV content and what is now possible to view online or on devices like downloads to PSP. I get giddy thinking of the possibilities of where this company can go.

Juiced About Joost

I'm very excited after seeing the BETA for Joost (AKA The Venice Project) because it promises to be one of the most innovative advances in watching video online...imagine watching full-screen, broadcast quality video on your pc! After seeing the BETA I was blown away by how intuitive and easy to use the interface is. AND - I am most excited about the potential for real-time social networks on Joost - watch a video, share it with friends, rate it, chat about it, blog about it. Imagine being able to watch a TV show season finale with friends and other fans from around the world and being able to communicate about it while its in progress - its a TV junkie's dream.

Some screenshots from the Joost BETA (images from Joost):

MTV to Create Mobisodes

MTV just keeps expanding their content into new frontiers. They announced that they will be creating mobsiodes with Amp'd. Later this year, mtvU will offer "Suck Less, With Kevin Smith," which appears on Amp'd and features filmmaker Kevin Smith teaching the first-ever mobile media production class at UCLA. That's great news for those of us who LOVE Kevin Smith AND for those of us who want to see more mobile content! MTV seems to be making a big push into mobile content and I predict that 2007 will be the year when mobile content makes huge headway in the US - particularly with short form film and UGC.

TV Content

Happy New Year! Over the holidays a lot of friends and family have been buzzing about the amount of new TV content that is now viewable online. Interestingly, research shows that the younger you are, the less inclined you will be to watching TV on a television set and the more likely you will be to watch TV content online on YouTube or network sites. This has been confirmed in various focus groups and primary research that I have been involved in. Numerous converging factors such as time shifting (Tivo) and location shifting (download to PC or iPod) and delivery shifting (Netflix) have created a revolution in online TV content. On many sites you can now watch trailers, pilots and full episodes.

I have been looking at online TV content for some time now and here are some of my favorite sites:

Niche or Show-based Sites: TV.com, TVGuide, Zap2it, G4TV, iFilm, MobiTV, BrightCove, MeeVee, Television Without Pity, Court TV, FoodNetwork, HGTV, DIY, C-Span, YouTube, Adult Swim 

Network Marketing Sites: ABC, A&E, CW, NBC, CBS, CBS Innertube, CBS Netcast, Fox, MTV, CNN, HBO, TVLand, PBS, ESPN, Bravo, BBC, Discovery Channel, Oxygen, Lifetime, Turner, CTV, Global, BET, Cartoon Network

Portals with TV Content:  MSN TV, Yahoo TV, AOL, AOL In2TV, Google Video, iTunes

A Few of My Favorite Things...Movie Sites

I've woefully neglected my blog in recent weeks in order to focus on a flurry of project delivery and business development...now I'm back!

I've done a LOT of online market research looking at the best-in-class media content out there and I thought I'd share some of the best I've seen. I've literally reviewed 1,000's of sites in the past month (Music, Movies, Games, TV, Kids/ Family and Sports content). There are far too many to list, but  I thought I would share some of my favorites over the next few weeks - starting with:

MOVIE SITES

Observations: Along with increasing focus on online video, online movie content is growing by leaps and bounds. Trailers are still king and a few sites are starting to offer legal downloads of full length feature films. According to Forrester research, almost half of all online video viewed is in the form of movie trailers, and the largest consumers are 13-21 yr olds... with Hispanic's commanding an impressive piece of this audience. Not surprisingly, mobile and HD trailers are becoming immensely popular.

Studio Sites: Disney Pctures, Sony Pictures, Fox Movies, Fox Atomic (Teen Community-based site), Warner Bros. Studios, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, Lions Gate.

Aggregators: Movies.com, Hollywood.com, Metacritic.com, Comingsoon.net, ifilm.

Portals: Yahoo Movies, MSN Movies, AOL Movies, Google Movie Previews.

Databases: IMDB, Allmovie.com

Downloads: iTunes, Guba, Movielink

Community: Rotten Tomatoes

Tickets: Fandango

UGC: Youtube