No, I’m not changing the lyrics of the 80’s new wave pop music hit “Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Buggles. That incredibly catchy song, which made its debut as the first music video on MTV, forever altered the landscape of the music industry. For the first time, consumers had images to go along with the music they heard on the radio, and a commercial art form was born. Artists who weren’t as photogenic as Madonna or Prince were going to be passed by when it came time to see as well as hear them. Certainly some artists without singing talent, but with a great image, would benefit from this new medium.
Now, just as that first music video opened the floodgates that made videos an integral part of packaging musicians and marketing to the masses, we’re at the dawn a new era for online digital video. Today, all marketers are talking about how digital video is going to radically alter marketing as we know it. Consider these stats: 80% of Millenials say that their computers are more of an entertainment device than their televisions; and U.S. online video viewers grew by 46% since 2006 and 73% of active web users watched online video in December (source: eMarketer and Nielsen Online). The tide of digital video users is rising like the flood waters of Katrina.
Just as the transition from silent pictures to “talkies” made stars out of some actors but ruined others who had weak voices, the adoption of digital video for marketing will leave some companies behind while others rise on the tide. Yesterday Google announced Google Video for Business, a new application that enables companies to distribute video internally among their employees, enabling the same YouTube experience to a closed corporate audience. Last week, Nikon announced the D90, a Digital SLR camera with interchangeable lenses that, for the first time, can record digital video. From both an online interface as well as a product perspective, digital video is growing by leaps and bounds.
So, where does this leave PR professionals and other marketers? Well, there are some companies like Blendtec (www.willitblend.com) that are the gold standard in using digital video to showcase products. And for every successful online video that is produced, there will be many more that are unsuccessful. That reality doesn’t stop clients from desiring a hit “viral video” that will be passed along to millions of viewers. But there are no guarantees that a video will catch fire on the Internet like Matt Harding’s dance video (www.wherethehellismatt.com).
The growing prevalence of digital video presents both an opportunity and a challenge for marketers. Clients will rely on their agency partners to help them navigate the ins-and-outs of scripting, producing, shooting, editing, hosting and distributing video content. All agencies must understand how and when to deploy video content. If they are not smart about digital video, and willing to adopt it as a new tool in the communications toolkit (like the venerable press release), they will be doing their clients (and themselves) a huge disservice.
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