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SIX PILLARS OF VIDEO STORYTELLING

bsp-admin-1 on June 8, 2018

Video is one of the top avenues for marketing. But it’s no longer as impactful to just set up a camera and become a talking head without clear direction or a purpose.

Instead, the most effective videos tell a story. They evoke emotion, get to the heart of your audiences’ pain points or desires, and present an actionable solution.

I absolutely love the filmmaking agency Stillmotion because they tell profound stories in their videos. They do this by adhering to the Muse Video Storytelling Process: People, place, plot, and purpose.

I think this framework is absolutely wonderful for organizing your ideas to tell a story in any medium. However, it doesn’t quite align if you are working outside a traditional storytelling format.

Many of us are shooting product demos, internal communications, or quick social media pieces. To work this process into a B2B strategy, I expanded the Muse Storytelling Process so we can regularly use it here at Brightcove.

THE 4 P’S + A + D

Every story has a beginning, middle, and end, but the most profound ones evoke emotion. The Muse Storytelling Process is my recommended way to inject emotion and engagement into your videos. This works perfectly in a B2C context, but I like to take it a step further and add additional parameters to my video storytelling process when working in a B2B context.

When following the 4 P’s, we also need to identify who the “A” audience is, and the “D” distribution platform, or where the video content will live once it is produced. When planning your videos, ask these questions:

  • Plot. What is the story you are trying to tell?
  • Purpose. Why are you telling this story? What do you want people to do as a result of watching this?
  • People. Who are the people in this video story? How do they relate to the story you want to tell?
  • Place. Where is this being shot? Not only from a logistical standpoint, but how does place influence story? For example, interviewing a CEO in his office has a much different vibe than interviewing the CEO on the manufacturing floor.
  • Audience. Who is the intended audience for this story? Existing customers? New customers? Staff?
  • Distribution. Where will this content live and be shared? Social? Blog? Landing Page? Front Page?

Having a great process in place allows me to focus on making sure I get what I need while I am on set.

HOW I USE THIS VIDEO STORYTELLING PROCESS

I am part of an internal creative agency, so one aspect of my job is to help guide content requests that need video.  I usually have at least one brainstorm session where I gather all requirements and then apply them to the framework above. This helps me filter all the ideas that emerge from the meeting so I can scale the information and stay on target, on message, and on time.

Don’t get overwhelmed with the different ideas you or your producer might have. After an initial conversation about what I pitch, the stakeholders and my team continue to iterate on the idea. Sometimes this is incredibly fast, sometimes it takes a few meetings for everyone to land on a concept.

And although you want to tell a great story, don’t get caught up on the “storytelling”. By following this process, it will fluidly form, but if it doesn’t don’t stress, just showing how something works is a great story in itself.

Remember, most of the work is going to happen in the early stages of production, so you don’t have to spend a ton of money and time on shooting or fixing things you missed while coming up with your idea. For the purpose of this example, let’s keep our idea simple, so we can align it clearly to our process.

Let’s look at a basic example of the process in execution:

  • Plot. Highlight the new feature of product X.
  • Purpose. To educate our customers on how the feature works. (Purpose MUST be measurable. Inspiring people, making them laugh, etc. is not something we can measure, so I throw these terms out. More on that in a bit.)
  • People. Whoever can deliver the story in the most engaging way. Most of the time it is someone tied to the product, but think unusual suspects too!
  • Place. Our in-house video studio – living room setup (this is a go-to generic set for us).
  • Audience. Existing customers who have an Apple TV. (Keep this simple to start, don’t overcomplicate the range of audiences – it will complicate how you tell your story. Make a second video that nuances some language towards new business and send that out through the proper channels.)
  • Distribution. Blog and social (if I wanted this on Instagram or Twitter, this would drastically affect the concept, per restrictions of data, usability, and viewer attention).

Once this is mapped out, I come up with various concepts that tie into each of these elements. As I filter through each idea, I can remove ones that don’t work because they don’t align with the purpose, the audience, the place, or the distribution channel.

Here’s the truth – I don’t prescribe that the concept I pitch is the best and only way to tell a story in video. I pitch it because I came to an idea that hits the points above, is doable in the timeframe, and is fiscally appropriate for the stakeholder. We produce,  measure, and make adjustments from there.

APPLY A PROCESS TO YOUR WORK

Whether you have internal or choose external production help, you can save time and effort having a process that helps you outline the important elements of creating a video story that drives action. Best of all, it’s another step forward in getting going with video.

TAKE THE PRESSURE OFF YOUR VIDEO PRODUCTION PROCESS

bsp-admin-1 on June 5, 2018

The sweat begins to pearl on your neck. Your heart is racing and everything is becoming a little blurry. You take a deep breath and move forward in your chair.

But instead of preparing to walk up to the stage and accept your Emmy nomination, you’re in the boardroom and the topic of conversation is about the company’s video production process. All eyes are on you and the team is waiting for an answer to the big question — How are we going to make more videos this year?

You may or may not have your speech ready to answer this question, but there’s no doubt you agree that video is an important tool and medium for marketing, especially in our digital-centric lives. When we think of traditional video, we think of blockbuster films and Super Bowl ads. However, thanks to technology and social media, video has become more accessible than ever — almost everyone has access to shoot, edit, produce, publish, and watch great videos online.

So how can you make impactful videos when you don’t have a huge budget, a large production team, and unlimited time?

In this blog post, we’ll discuss five ways you can start creating exceptional videos for your brand, without the Hollywood budget and set. Let’s start rolling.

BUDDY UP TO YOUR BUDGET

As you begin your video production process, the topic of money will be one of the first areas of discussion. Many of us think of a budget as a roadblock, but it can actually be advantageous. For example, if you have a small budget, you can be scrappier in your approach — and ultimately more creative — when brainstorming, identifying and hiring resources, and buying equipment.

“Identifying your constraints is very important. Find out what your budget is and identify which resources you can and cannot use from your team or from an external team. Understanding what you can’t do will help you decide what you can do,” says James Hamar, Video Production Manager at Brightcove.

By identifying your budget from the get-go, you’ll create a clear path for planning your basic video production process. From here, you can host a productive brainstorming session to scope out the purpose of the video, identify who or what you need in the video, and then purchase equipment and editing tools. Your budget allows you to set these expectations and holds you accountable to your plan and process–just like your best friend.

DITCH THE GLOSSY FOR THE AUTHENTIC

Once you get into the editing stage of your video production process, the sweating may return. But there’s no need to stress — if your video doesn’t have mesmerizing transitions of perfect B-roll footage, it doesn’t mean it won’t be a hit with your audience.

In reality, your audience prefers an authentic story about your company, team, and day-to-day operations. They want to know you are a real brand, with real people, successes, and challenges that they can relate to. And the proof is in the majority. In an international survey by Cohn & Wolfe, 87% of global consumers ranked authenticity above innovation and product uniqueness when asked what they valued in a brand.

For example, instead of constantly talking about your product or service in your videos, you can talk about your people, or even better, have them do the talking. That’s what we did here at Brightcove with our “Meet Your Account Manager” series, and it was wildly successful.

“Not everyone wants to hear your internal brand messaging. Sometimes they just want to meet the people who they will be working with,” says Kaitlin Bowes, Demand Generation Manager at Brightcove.

In our “Meet Your Account Manager” series, we had a conversation on camera with several account managers so they could explain their role responsibilities and why they love working with their clients. Instead of focusing on the capabilities of the Brightcove product, we gave our audience an honest and transparent look at what it’s like when you work with our team.

GOT AN IPHONE? START RECORDING!

Each version of the iPhone becomes more robust than the one before and the camera always gets an upgrade. The latest iPhones can now record footage from 720p all the way up to 4K. The sweet spot for recording and editing is around 1080 HD at 30 fps (frames per second). So what does that mean? Your iPhone can record similar quality video as an expensive dSLR camera. If you’re hoping to save on your marketing budget, but need to create many videos, then look no further than the device in your back pocket.

Need a full guide on using your iPhone for video? James Hamar shares more tips on how to shoot quality video content using an iPhone in this blog post.

CREATE REUSABLE CONTENT

Luckily, your video production won’t conclude with a big weekend release like Oscar nominated films. As you’re shooting and editing your videos, consider the many ways you can use it and reuse it across channels. On shoot day, identify if you can get footage for multiple videos in order to maximize your available resources, like teammates, executives to interview, or products to feature.

“Dig deep into your content and find all of the stories you can tell,” says James Hamar. “So instead of focusing on creating one 10-minute video, consider creating two 5-minute videos, or three 2-minute videos, that can be used time over time and in different channels or campaigns.”

We took this approach recently with a series of product demos in our trial experience. Typically we would create one sweeping product overview video that would cover the solution in detail for 5-7 minutes, but the challenge there is you lose a lot of flexibility. You have one mammoth asset you’ll put on one landing page and one or two emails. And, with shrinking attention spans we were seeing significant drop off in play rate and engagement.

For the trial experience, we decided to create five smaller product videos. Each video had a dedicated email within the trial nurture, but we were also able to use them on in-product landing pages, and because they were shorter we could leverage them on social as well. As a bonus the play rate and engagement scores improved, meaning more people were learning more about our products.

This approach can be applied to the promotion of your videos as well. “Think of all the channels where you can use your videos. If you’re producing this video for social media, can it also be re-used on a landing page? In an email? For a product launch campaign?” says Kaitlin Bowes. Don’t stress too much about over-saturation, chances are your audience is not going to see it the first time you post it.

LEVERAGE BASIC VIDEO PRODUCTION TOOLS

Video production can actually be simple. You don’t need a full production team to work on a straightforward interview style video for two months. Instead, consider teaching yourself how to edit the videos or take a short workshop on how to use popular video editing tools.

As video has become more popular, companies have sprouted across the landscape to make it easier for marketers to create quick and impactful videos. Here are a few, inexpensive tools you can use to create Emmy-worthy videos without the Hollywood headaches:

  • iMovie: Apple’s simple video editing tool that makes it easy browse your clips and create trailers and stunning 4K-resolution movies.
  • Adobe Premiere Pro: Video editing software by Adobe that turns raw footage into full-scale productions and videos. Whether you’re just starting out or a seasoned pro, you can edit, adjust color, refine audio, and more — all-in-one seamless, integrated workflow.
  • Final Cut Pro: Apple’s more robust video editing platform.
  • Animoto: A simple video editor that create powerful, professional marketing videos.
  • Wave.video: Wave.video is an incredibly easy to use online video maker for creating marketing and social videos in minutes.

If you don’t have the time to make your own videos, consider hiring a freelancer or a small team to complete the basic video production work. If your budget allows it, you can even engage a freelancer on a retainer basis so you can be flexible and creative with how and when you engage them in video projects

Before you leave that meeting thinking you need to be the next Steven Spielberg, remember that your basic video production can be stress-free. If you let your budget be your guide, lose the luster, create multi-purpose videos, and keep the editing tools simple you’ll quickly take the pressure off of you and your team. Next time the spotlight is on you, you can use this guide and explain with confidence that your videos can be exceptional, authentic, and revenue generating without the Hollywood team and resources.

FIVE WAYS TO TELL A GREAT STORY – MATTHEW LUHN

bsp-admin-1 on June 4, 2018

At PLAY 2018, keynote speaker Matthew Luhn talked about the power of storytelling. As a former Pixar animator, Luhn spent 25 years crafting some of the world’s greatest stories and characters. From Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, and Up, he’s used his storytelling expertise to entertain audiences across the globe.

In his keynote speech, “The Art of Storytelling,” Luhn discussed the five most important things to remember when creating an impactful story, whether it’s a book, a movie, or even a digital ad.

1. THE HOOK

A person’s average attention span lasts about eight seconds. So to get people even a little interested in your story, you’ve gotta come correct. Think about this as your elevator pitch—a way to pique your audience’s interest with just a few words in a moment’s time. Luhn recommends creating a “what if” premise, one that’s unusual, unexpected, and rooted in conflict—something like, “What if superheroes were banned from saving people?” (premise of The Incredibles) or, “What if a rat dreamed of becoming a French chef?” (premise of Ratatouille).

2. LIFE-CHANGING CONTENT

Another important element of great storytelling is character transformation, because as Luhn says, people love to see stories about characters who experience change. “Sometimes we feel change can embarrass us, and so we have to show in our story that people can, in fact, change.” Whether that’s a turn from arrogance to compassion, apprehension to bravery, or even kindness to evil, a good story should inspire us to want to try something new.

3. CONNECTING WITH THE RIGHT CROWD

If your idea is to target a certain group—say, moms, for example—Luhn says to craft a narrative that’s relative to that demographic. This can be done by collecting data to know what that group is all about. He uses this Vicks Nyquil ad to illustrate the point. It’s a theme common to all mothers, and it shows character transformation in visual form, emphasized even more by its contrasting colors.

If your aim is to connect with larger audiences—men, women, young, and old—Luhn recommends thinking universally, using universal themes built on fears and desires. Common motifs include fear of failure, abandonment, and not belonging, or the desire for love, safety, and freedom. Everyone can connect to these themes, since we’ve all experienced them at some point in time.

4. AUTHENTICITY

One of the most critical features of good storytelling is authenticity—your story has to be something you’re passionate about. “Be vulnerable. Be honest,” says Luhn, because inspiring stories come from a place of truth. At the same time, avoid force-feeding this narrative to your audience, since viewers want to be in charge of the takeaway; they don’t want to be told. He uses the film Finding Nemo as an example. Rather than definitively telling viewers the story’s theme about letting go of your kids so they can discover life on their own, the filmmakers subtly deliver that same message in a line of dialogue: “Well, you can’t never let anything happen to him. Then nothing would ever happen to him.”

5. STRUCTURE

The world around us operates in beginnings, middles, and ends, all the time. Therefore, your story should be the same. Luhn says to structure your story in three phases: (1) the set-up, (2) the build, and (3) the payoff. The beginning should introduce the problem or explain the problem you want to solve. The middle should highlight the solution to this problem. And the end should show the final success and the excitement it brings. This can be crafted in a variety of ways, so creativity is key.

SHOULD YOU PRODUCE VIDEO IN-HOUSE OR OUTSOURCE?

bsp-admin-1 on May 31, 2018

VIDEO SCENARIOS TO CONSIDER

As the head of video production at Brightcove, I get asked all the time, “James, my customer is new to video and wants to know if they should staff up or hire an agency to start doing more with video. What should I recommend?” My response is usually a long-winded “Well, that depends on XYZ factors in ABC industry, what their budgets are, how their marketing works, etc.”

Basically, there is no easy answer to this question.  BUT, there is a general equation I follow to determine if an organization should produce video in-house or outsource, and it all has to do with how much content you’re planning on producing and how much would it cost to a) outsource or b) hire someone internally. Let’s dig into a few scenarios to see how this plays out.

SCENARIO 1: ONE-AND-DONE VIDEO PROJECT

Say you’re looking at a project that requires a few basic videos like product videos, interviews, or demos that you plan to leverage for a while – evergreen video content. You don’t have a dedicated team of folks, but you have a few players who are willing to lend a hand and get the job done in terms of writing, direction, and production. For all intents and purposes, this video venture is a test of the content type and is budgeted accordingly.

SOLUTION: OUTSOURCE VIDEO PRODUCTION

What are the advantages of outsourcing vs in-house video production? I’m all for DIY, but when it comes to video there are some things you just don’t want to risk. Poor lighting, audio, or a lackluster concept may not be deal breakers for some audiences (thanks to YouTube for those expectations!) but they can leave potential customers feeling that the content is a reflection of the quality of your business. Especially if you’re thinking about video content for your homepage or a major marketing campaign.

In this scenario, I always recommend finding a vendor; either a solo freelancer or a production company. This approach will help you get your project off the ground and ensure you have the quality you need. These vendors have all of the capabilities in one place so they can help you write, shoot, and edit the content. And although the expense may seem high, the quality and success of the content you get out of the relationship will be worth it.

SCENARIO 2: YOU’RE ALL-IN ON VIDEO

You’ve already determined that video is a cornerstone of your marketing. And now you’re trying to build a larger video program with product videos, interviews, demos, communications, and some big budget projects.  This means you’ll be looking at managing multiple vendors plus doing on location shoots as well as capturing footage on the fly.

SOLUTION: BRING VIDEO PRODUCTION IN-HOUSE

This is a scenario where you’re really going to start to see the benefit of in-house video production vs outsourcing, both from a management and budget standpoint. For this scenario, I almost always suggest hiring someone internally. Hiring internal staff will help you meet a consistent demand for content. Here, there is a continuous need for internal and external content, that ranges from quick spots to more in-depth pieces. Having someone dedicated internally will enable you to write, shoot, and edit different types of video.

If you are starting out with video and doing simple interviews and events, then someone with less experience and technical skill would be fine. I’d find someone fresh out of school. This way, you can both learn and grow the program–but with a lower cost investment to you as you explore.

If you have more invested in video already, I recommend you look for someone or multiple people with more experience. Look for someone with serious technical chops, the experience to shape your video strategy, and the ability to keep things moving.

WHAT WE DO AT BRIGHTCOVE

When I started, Brightcove was already doing enough content to warrant having an internal person.  The thing I looked at though, was the type of work we were doing and the quantity. We were doing lots of two camera shoots, and while I could manage the setup and the shoot, I knew I would be overwhelmed on set and not produce the best work I could.  So every day we had a shoot, I would hire a freelancer. Doing the math, I saw in 30 days of shooting (we usually shoot 1-2 times a week) I could have hired a part-time person or even a junior full-time person. So that’s what we did.

Over the course of a year, that person became a full-fledged member of the company and we were able to scale the operation to support the vast array of content.  Yes, there are extra costs of bringing someone in-house (like healthcare and other benefits), but the power we have not only as a production arm, but the institutional knowledge, and the relationships with other project owners is invaluable.  I don’t miss the days of having to onboard freelancers or spending hours a week just explaining what we do here.

See our blog for tips on how to build up a studio, see the gear we use at Brightcove, and read our webinar blog where we cover everything from process to editing.

DO MORE WITH LESS — MAXIMIZE ANY VIDEO BUDGET

bsp-admin-1 on May 25, 2018

For many organizations, content plans are expanding and marketers are leading the charge to build and execute on them. But as content needs grow, budgets continue to shrink or stay the same. Many marketers are stuck at a video production process crossroads between low budgets and high expectations.

To help navigate these challenges, I sat down with Chad Lakin, Vice President of North America at Shootsta, to explore the ways in which marketers can tackle basic video production regardless of their video budgets. Here are 5 key takeaways from our conversation and webinar with Chad Lakin of Shootsta.

ASSESS BUSINESS CRITICAL VIDEO

Before you start shooting and producing your videos, Chad stressed how important it is for marketers and creative teams to assess and identify the business videos that are critical in their overall strategy and marketing campaigns. He recommends taking a proactive approach by thinking long-term when creating campaigns.

Marketers can divide their annual budgets into campaigns and then identify the priority videos that need to be created for each campaign. Starting with a 35,000 foot view allows you to plan, prioritize, and execute without blowing your budget within the first few months of the year.

THINK BIG AND START SMALL

Even with a small budget, you can have big ideas. You don’t want to stuff your ideas into a folder on your desktop just because you think they will be out of scope. By thinking big and starting small with your plan and costs, you give yourself the opportunity to test and tweak your ideas. This gives you wiggle room to figure out which videos resonate best with your audience and then allows you to allocate more money and resources to more video production in the future.

REVIEW BASIC VIDEO PRODUCTION BUDGETS

In the webinar, Chad and I discussed common video budget ranges and how companies are spending these budgets. Here’s a recap of our findings (these are strictly production cost estimates):

  • $1-5K
    • simple, pure execution videos
  • $5-10K
    • more detailed and consultative videos
  • Over $10K
    • serious production, locations, and actors

In addition to production costs, attendees on the webinar said their biggest roadblocks were production equipment, management buy-in, content planning, and production talent. To breakdown these roadblocks, you need to align their video production plans to your budget.

By having a clear view of your goals and even constraints, you can make decisions in the production planning process to stay within your video. Are these videos being used for social media? If yes, then do you really need to shoot with an expensive, 4K camera? Do you need to hire outside resources to shoot the video? Or can you gather an internal team to shoot and produce your video? Ask yourself questions before you start rolling so you can maximize your video budget.

CONSIDER A HYBRID HIRING MODEL

You may grapple with the decision to hire talent in-house or to outsource and hire external resources to run your video production process. In-house talent is a great choice when you need subject matter experts on your product or service, need consistent delivery, and have a wide variety of content topics you want to cover in the videos. External talent is valuable when your video content or planning requires an outside perspective, need specialists to deal with complexity, and need to fill skills gaps.

Instead of choosing one or the other, Chad explained how Shootsta provides a valuable solution. Shootsta discovered that many internal teams were stretched thin to produce great video content. Shootsta provides a hybrid model to video production by bringing in a team of experts to work with a company’s internal team to make monthly video content. Bottom line — you don’t need to choose one option and only stick with that. Hybrid models can help you maximize your time and resources.

SUCCESS STARTS WITH PRE-PRODUCTION

If there is one thing we hope you take away from the webinar is that pre-production is your best friend.

Forty percent of attendees said they produce more than 30 videos per year. Now that’s a lot of video. Pre-production can save you tons of time and money on shoot day. Before you say action, you want to write everything down and have a clear plan for which types of videos you want to shoot, when you have the resources and talent available. You never want to assume you are going to shoot the video and just figure it out along the way.

By plotting out your content roadmap, you can also identify the ways in which you can leverage the shoot day to record additional videos. The more organized you are in pre-production, the more opportunities you will have to be adaptable.

BRIGHTCOVE LAUNCHES OTT FLOW FOR VIDEO CONTENT OWNERS

bsp-admin-1 on May 21, 2018

It’s no longer a choice for media and entertainment companies to make their content available over-the-top (OTT). Now, it’s an expectation. Viewers around the world want to access and enjoy content on their chosen device and platform wherever they may be.

At Brightcove, our goal is to help content owners of all sizes capitalize on the exploding OTT market, whatever their needs may be. From companies just starting their search for a turnkey experience to sophisticated broadcasters seeking a more customized offering, Brightcove now offers a complete suite of solutions to meet the needs of everyone, at all ends of the OTT continuum.

Today’s content owners are challenged with the need to attract and support viewers across a wide variety of platforms and delivery methods. This requires specific skill sets and a capital investment to address the different platforms, operating systems, stream formats, advertising framework, billing ecosystems, and user experiences.

We recognize these challenges can impede on an organization’s ability to capitalize on the market opportunity, and more importantly, get their content in front of audiences when and where they want it. To address this, we’ve created solutions that allow our customers to address their viewers and adopt a multi-platform strategy depending on where they are on their OTT journey.

For customers starting out or needing to optimize time to market, OTT Flow is an award-winning turnkey solution that does not require any technical resources or up-front costs. At the opposite end of the continuum, Brightcove Global Services can design beautiful, bespoke solutions that address all of your market requirements, and it’s a great solution when time to market is not critical.

By working with customers of all sizes and industries looking to go the OTT route, Brightcove has identified an audience with more complex requirements and customization needs than a pure turnkey service. Not only that, but customers need these capabilities while balancing time to market with budget and/or availability of technical resources.

THE LAUNCH OF OTT FLOW X

We are excited to announce the launch of OTT Flow X, powered by Accedo. OTT Flow X builds on our award winning turnkey solution, OTT Flow, allowing broadcasters and content owners to get to market quickly while also offering greater UX/UI customization, deeper integrations with third party systems, and delivery to more platforms—specifically smart TVs and game consoles.

OTT Flow X provides customers with a premium UX experience and the flexibility needed to extend the reach of content to the most popular devices, including web, iOS, Android, Chromecast, Roku, AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, Samsung, LG, Xbox, and Playstation platforms. Published apps are managed from a single console enabling seamless updates.

More importantly, OTT Flow X simplifies and expedites the go to market process and gets content in front of viewers quicker, allowing content owners to capitalize on their investment sooner, while at the same time keeping costs down by eliminating the need for custom development.

Read our complete feature comparison of OTT Flow and OTT Flow X.

SUCCESS OF OTT FLOW

In the two years since Brightcove launched OTT Flow, powered by Accedo, its established itself as the premium turnkey solution on the market, and it’s had a strong reception from companies who embrace the idea of a turnkey service that gets them up and running quickly with a robust, full-featured OTT platform.

With over 20 customers and 150+ apps in market, OTT Flow is helping content owners of all sizes reach and grow their audiences. This quick-to-market, low-cost value proposition continues to be relevant in today’s OTT landscape. Apps utilizing OTT Flow are frequently featured in the various app stores alongside bespoke offerings, proving turnkey does not have to be a compromise.

ONE-STOP SHOP

Brightcove is the go-to partner for online video solutions. Whether companies are looking for an out-of-the box OTT solution, more flexibility in a turnkey service, or a custom solution, Brightcove has you covered. With the launch of OTT Flow X, powered by Accedo, Brightcove delivers on its commitment to provide powerful and comprehensive OTT solutions for wherever you are on your OTT journey.

HOW TO INCREASE REACH AND REVENUE WITH LIVE STREAMING

bsp-admin-1 on May 16, 2018

We’ve changed how we communicate to each other, from tweets to ‘grams to snaps. We’ve changed how we pay each other, from cash to iPay to crypto. And we’ve changed how live streaming is created, distributed, and consumed.

Most people think about live in terms of linear broadcast, i.e., content (live events or pre-recorded programming) distributed one-to-many to an audience unidirectionally consuming content in linear “real time.” But today, how we originate and distribute content within the definition of “live” has evolved with the capabilities enabled via digital.

So what else are companies doing to increase reach and revenue?

MORE MONETIZATION

With the ability to more cost effectively live stream premium content to global audiences, companies are now taking advantage of live events for niche audiences. Even if these niche audiences are small compared to the traditional broadcast share, companies can lower the bar for determining the revenue potential, either through targeted advertising or sponsorship for an ad-supported approach or turning the content into a transactional opportunity a la digital PPV.

DESTINATIONS BEYOND YOUR O&O

For many companies, the destination for their live content is their own O&O. However, we’re also seeing companies licensing directly to partners. Instead of companies transcoding live content into adaptive bitrate renditions and distributing that content to individual end users, these companies are distributing high quality live content directly to aggregators to include in their digital skinny bundles.

And it’s not just broadcasters that are licensing content into skinny bundles; the door is open for pure play digital companies, changing how we think what should be included in a skinny bundle. It’s not just about choosing–or losing–broadcast and cable channels.

GETTING MORE SOCIAL

In a similar manner, social networks have introduced live streaming as part of their offering over the past several years, and as a result, social amplification has become another alternative for distribution to purely O&O properties. As we’ve seen, social networks provide an immense opportunity to engage – and sometimes monetize – an audience that may not engage directly with their O&O. To this audience, the social network is the content.

RETHINKING SIMULCAST

Often, we hear companies push live to the back burner because they think live requires actual live content or it is a format specific to traditional broadcasters. However, we have started to see a trend whereupon companies with vast libraries of archival content, snackable content, or seasonal content would think like a broadcaster and begin to program their content on a daily basis using the “traditional” concepts of dayparts and blocks but output the content as a digital linear stream.

Viewers consume the content as any other live stream, and if the company desires, content can even be scheduled to align with traditional times “at the top of the hour” or “at the 30.” And with the capabilities of SSAI, this digital programming and playout approach can be monetized as effectively as any simulcast content.

CLIP IT TO WIN IT

One of the most underutilized facets of live is the ability to generate VOD content.

HIGHLIGHTS AND CLIPPING

Companies often miss one of most impactful derivatives of live content: highlights. Whether it’s that “can you believe they did that” to the “can you believe they said that” to the “what’s going to happen after that”, the use of social platforms to extend and amplify the offline dialog cannot be underestimated.

During the live program, using highlights across all available platforms – from O&O to Twitter to YouTube to Facebook – is a critical tool to increase engagement and drive additional incremental viewing of the originating live program.

During last year’s Australian Open, Brightcove customers created over 300 highlights – with average completion rates of over 80 percent – each day to drive interest and engagement with fans. Live streaming itself cannot be thought of as an independent and transient experience.

Whether it’s a trombonist being knocked down in the end zone in the greatest play in the history of college football or Hollywood’s greatest “twist” during the 2017 Academy Awards presentation for Best Picture, those are the moments of live events that resonate forever in the ripples of time and keep us pressing replay.

POST-EVENT REPLAY

Highlights are the snacks, but after a live event, many viewers want the full meal, wanting to see the entire event start-to-finish. With social media’s ability to near instantly inform a global audience, it’s critical to reduce the time to publish for post-event replays.

For the Australian Open, this meant providing full replays in a matter of minutes after the live match had concluded. The value of replays should not be underestimated, as the transient nature of live can be leveraged – and monetized – hours, days, weeks, even years later.

There are numerous opportunities to expand live content beyond the simulcast that can drive real results in terms of increased views, engagement and revenue. To fully reap the rewards of this growing market, companies need to look at all angles and avenues for their live content–from the contribution of content to the audience to the multiple approaches of monetization.

BRIGHTCOVE POWERS OTT EXPERIENCE IN VIETNAM WITH VTC NOW

bsp-admin-1 on May 6, 2018

In 2018, Brightcove was honored to attend Vietnam Television Corporation’s (VTC) launch event to debut its new OTT app, VTC NOW. Chaired by Mr. Nguyen Kim Trung, General Director of VTC, the event was attended by 120 Vietnamese senior leaders from the media, broadcasters and partners of VTC.

After the unveiling, audiences downloaded and tested out the app, featuring comprehensive content offering that combined VTC’s content library with programming from radio broadcaster Voice of Viet Nam (VOV). The app was a milestone achievement for VTC whose mission is to stream breaking news, TV shows, exclusive original content, movies and stream radio shows and audiobooks – all designed to engage their viewers across various fronts, from watching to reading and listening.

Founded in 2004, VTC is one of the leading broadcasters in Vietnam, initially tasked to building television stations across the country as the national free-to-air broadcaster. Fast forward to 2018, VTC initiated the roll-out of its digital transformation strategy with an objective to extend its linear broadcast experience to online.

Powered by the Brightcove video platform, VTC NOW delivers 16 linear channels online, available in both VOD and Live streaming formats, catering to millions of local and global Vietnamese diaspora audiences.

Across Asia, linear broadcasters are launching OTT services to take advantage of the mobile-first phenomenon, as mobile devices become the most entertainment device. The smartphone is the new TV device in most countries.

Brightcove is passionate about shaping the future of TV in Vietnam with VTC, as the company evolves its strategy to respond to shifting TV consumption trends and deliver linear and online TV experiences to 69 million audiences across Vietnam and 4.3 million worldwide.

The service is available on Web, iOS, Android and Android TV platforms, including Tizen devices. Viewers can access VTC NOW by downloading the app from Google Play and the Apple App Store.

Manage YouTube’s public settings with Video Cloud Social

bsp-admin-1 on May 2, 2018

One question we often get from customers is “Is Brightcove in competition with YouTube? The answer is both yes and no, but we would like to encourage you to make use of YouTube as well. This is because YouTube has a billion viewers and is one of the best video platforms for the purpose of ‘awareness’.