I just wanted to share a very good summary over Europe’s most interesting online video market. PaidContent UK has looked into its glass ball at the key VOD players in the UK and judged their success. Among SeeSaw, iPlayer, Canvas, Hulu, Youtube etc. they believe that the safest bet is still on the broadcasters own websites such as itv.com. I would agree.

I would also argue that one of the key success factors for the aggregators will be to make sure that the syndicators will be empowered to sell and serve their own ads, preferably through their own ad server.

2010 will be a very interesting year indeed!

I’m happy to announce that we’ve found the right guy for us to run our UK office. Gavin is joining us from blinkx where he ran the business development for Europe.

Besides closing big deals with major media companies such as BBC, Ask.com, Miniweb etc. Gavin has a great ability to simplify technology, something that is key for us at Videoplaza. As any other technology company, we sell a tech product, however, the reason our clients buy from us is something else and our challenge is to communicate just that something.

Gavin can be reached at +44 7900821352 or gavin@videoplaza.com

Press release & some coverage: PaidContent, TechCrunch

WebTV Enterprise, a good partner to us and probably the most succesful online video network in the UK, has done what we all should do more, listened to their clients. They’ve asked 101 UK in-stream buyers questions around their spending and the results are quite interesting. And since this is a bi-annual report, it will be even more interesting to see the development of the market in 6 months. The report is really interesting and there are two points about growth I find more interesting than others:

1- Projected growth
It’s quite obvious in-stream buyers are happy since 97% of them are planning to spend more next year. I guess they believe it works.

“The vast majority (97%) of all VOD media buyers expect their online video ad spend to grow over the next 12 months with over half (54%) of survey respondents predicting their spend will increase by 50%.”

2- Barriers to growth
Even if the buyers are planning to spend more next year, there are some issues holding them back.

“When asked to name the primary factor holding media buyers back from greater investment in VOD, the main barriers noted by media buyers were the need for shorter time lengths (10%), more research (24%) and better measurement (31%).”

What we and our clients are doing about it

On the second point, I think we and our clients are doing some things right. We are currently doing two quite extensive research projects. One is together with our Danish clients and TNS in Denmark and the other in Sweden with 3 of our clients. The results of those studies we hope will help our clients prove the effectiveness of their in-stream products beyond the reporting we can provide. We also hope to benchmark the effectiveness of in-stream compared to other media.

Some of our clients are also quite good at using the extensive reporting our platform offers to help show their advertisers how their campiagns have performed beyond impressions and clicks. This is not about just making the data available, it’s more about making sense out of it.

Moving forward we hope to combine the data from the research we’re doing together with the reporting metrics we collect to find patterns that make sense. Hopefully we can soon see claim that X% increase in time spent with the ad will give Y% increased purchase intent.

The full WebTV report takes you 5 minutes to read so give it a shot here.

Today is a big day as we are launching our first two clients in the UK! We have signed Incisive Media and Factory media, both launching sometime during the day on mpora.com and vnunet.com.

Below is the official press release going out today. If you are attending the IAB event later today, make sure we meet up!

PRESS RELEASE

Videoplaza signs first UK Clients

Incisive Media, Factory Media first UK sites to use video dedicated ad server to monetise time

London, June 4th, 2009 – VIDEOPLAZA, announces its first UK clients for its ‘built for video’ ad server platform – Monetizer. Factory Media and Incisive Media will both launch online video advertising services, through Videoplaza, to capitalise on the growing popularity of online video.

Videoplaza, a privately owned company, based in Stockholm and London, enables clients to manage, present and track online video advertising. It has developed an ad server platform that can increase revenues and demonstrate media value, from advertising placed in and around their online video content. Working with leading broadcasters, news media, business and consumer publishers in five countries, Videoplaza’s ad server technology, creative ad formats and real-time reporting enables clients to monetise the time users spend watching online video, rather than started streams.

Factory Media’s extreme sports video channel Mpora will offer advertisers and sponsors access to its valuable audiences using Interactive Pre, Mid and Post Roll advertising. The channel will also use In-stream overlays, served within the video content, a format proving popular with advertisers and users alike and also Companion Ads synchronised with a client’s video ads.

Incisive Media a leading business information provider, is implementing Videoplaza’s ad server to offer exciting new opportunities for brands and B2B advertisers to target its high value audiences, starting with the IT professional community VNUnet

By adopting Videoplaza’s ad server platform both companies will be able to more effectively manage their online video advertising inventory, optimize client campaigns and demonstrate improved advertiser ROI, in terms of advertising exposure and engagement. The deals will also introduce the next generation interactive preroll format to the market called the iRoll.

John Barnes, Managing Director – Digital Strategy and Development UK & Asia for Incisive Media stated “We see a great opportunity in video and want to be equipped with the best monetisation tool in the market. We have chosen to work with Videoplaza not just because of their technology, this company understands this space and has made it work in other markets.”

According to Darryl Newton, Managing Director, Factory Media, “Mpora.com is now a significant part of our business, with over 2 million video streams served each month. Demand for advertising on our platform is growing incrementally and clients are particularly excited by creative video solutions. Working with Videoplaza we feel we can meet the needs of these customers better by offering more dynamic and engaging formats combined with video specific reporting such as engagement rates and time spent with the ads.

Sorosh Tavakoli, Founder and CEO for Videoplaza added “We are delighted to announce agreements with these two great innovative publishers. We are doing everything we can to repeat the success from the Swedish market where more and more publishers have profitable online video products.”

Videoplaza has been in the UK since January 2009 and is building a local team to advise and support both local media owners and international networks based in London.

For further information contact:
Sorosh Tavakoli, Founder and CEO Videoplaza
+44 7530 885 492
sorosh@videoplaza.com

John Barnes, Managing Director – Digital Strategy and Development UK & Asia, Incisive Media
+44 (0)20 7316 9007
john.barnes@incisivemedia.com

Darryl Newton, Managing Director, Factory Media
+44 (0)20 7332 9700
darryl.newton@factorymedia.com

Download the press release as pdf