It\’s only been three months since mobileStorm started offering digital video distribution – and using our own service to disseminate mobileStorm\’s marketing news/comedy show. Already our product release and own leap into online video marketing have proved astute, at least according to a new survey.
Ipsos MediaCT – which researches the media, content, telecoms and tech industries – says that early this year, online video viewership rose while viewership of other types of media fell. Among those surveyed:
In Feburary 2008, 19 percent said they watched digital video on their computers in – up from 11 percent the same month in 2007.
Meanwhile 70 percent said they watched traditional TV in February 2008 – down from 75 percent saying they did so the same month a year earlier.
During the same period, the percentage of viewers watching movies in theaters fell to 5 percent from 7 percent.
\”On-the-go\” ways to watch video – whether a portable digital media player like the iPod or Zune, a portable DVD player, or a mobile phone – also increased in usage among those surveyed.
My takeaway from the Ipsos report? Plenty:
Cutting-edge marketers need to get into video, especially if they want to beat their competition.
While TV and movies are still the mainstream way to reach consumers, their effectiveness is slowly shrinking.
When marketers distribute video, they should try to make sure clips are downloadable as well as streamable – to take advantage of the increasing number of video viewers using portable devices.
Video on cell phones is also important, as its usage is also increasing. Thus, videos should be created especially for the mobile phone platform – such as fitting technological parameters, ideal running times for on-the-go watchers, and placed on mobile Web sites.
Interestingly, the survey said the number of people ages 55 and older who went to the movie theater was less than those ages 12 to 24. Since that age group is known to be thrifty, it makes sense that they\’re drawn to the cheap and/or free video they can get elsewhere – such as digital sources.
No doubt about it, video marketing is rapidly growing – especially for marketers who want to reach busy and/or thrifty consumers of all ages.
Eydie Cubarrubia
Marketing Communications Manager, mobileStorm
“I’d rather you text me”
* Kidd Video was a Saturday-morning cartoon in the mid-1980s that featured a pop band getting sucked into an animated video world somewhere in the ether. Digital video was non-existent back then; ironically the premise is more relevant today.
