Friday, April 30, 2010

Online Video Advertising to increase 35% in 2010

On Beet.TV blog they say, online video is the fastest growing sectors in advertising, with spending expected to be up nearly 35 percent this year, says Geoff Ramsey, CEO of market research firm eMarketer.

This poses some interesting points. Online video is really the fastest growing sector in online advertising and has some real meaning for paying customers. Still, despite the rapid rise, the medium faces challenges in technology and content quality.

According to my own knowledge, I have learned that the challenges are:
- How to produce quality content
- How to distribute the content to generate good enough reach
- How to develop more intuitive technology
- How to target your target group better

Two latter ones are on acceptable level by know. Currently media are wondering how to solve the two first points. Well, we are developing a service this, check it out: Videoflow

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Freedom

Creativity



There is always pain
To struggle for freedom
If we don't get it easy
It would not feel good

If we success we probably
Sue each others in the end
Still, that is cool
Just feel the vibe

What I am looking for
Is the beauty
To feel the moment
And finish the journey

That is freedom for me

Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Gaga wears Daniel Palillo (video)



Impressive I must say. Here is an interview of Daniel Palillo in his native finnish.

[YouTube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ly8pj6c_BrY]

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

New Office

We have moved. To new office space in Central Helsinki. Museokatu 44 to be exact.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Strategy In Online Video Syndication

While many video publishers seek the widest possible distribution of their videos through an embeddable player and Media RSS, some, like HealthiNation and Virgin Media, are using a syndicated player which is placed on specific sites.

Controlling the "off domain" strategy is important for many publishers: Some are cautioned about where their videos will appear, often reflecting the concern of advertisers. For others there are rights issues with their content.

So what is the difference to Embeddable players?

With a traditional embeddable player, people really think about viral syndication where a consumer sort of takes the video and embeds it maybe in their personal blog or MySpace page or something to that effect. What we've found is a really effective strategy for content owners is for them to build sort of trusted relationships with distributers--be it very large portals like AOL Video or niche websites that have a really valuable audience. For them to build that relationship with them and to package specific content that they deliver, you know, through a platform like Brightcove, directly through those websites. That really becomes a safe environment for them to build audience off of their own web properties.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Great slides about Social Media

[slideshare id=2005829&doc=wtfissocialmediapgedition-090916075838-phpapp01]

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Nearing the tipping point

In this blog post, Jason Glickman, CEO of Tremor Media tells us how we are nearing the tipping point with online video advertising. The point where Online Video is becoming a major part of the media mix.

Yes, online video has garnered enormous buzz – and venture investment dollars – but the medium has yet to secure much more than a sliver of the $65 – $70 billion advertisers spend annually on television spots.

Until now.

Now I would not be so bold as to call “time of death” on the television model. In fact, with all due respect to Julia Louis-Dreyfus, I think reports of TV’s death are greatly exaggerated. Viewership is as high as it’s ever been and the medium will (and should) receive the lion’s share of advertising dollars now and in the near to mid-term future.

But I do believe that when we look back years from now, the period starting from the third quarter of 2009 to the first quarter of 2010 will be remembered as the turning point for online video advertising.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Beginning of Time

Poem

lips
The pedals of flowers are vain
Even roses do sting and cause you pain
We sat through the blossom
just waiting for the wind of change

The sun cast the last light of day
moon arrived, chasing the blinking ray
We still sat on the couch with a stare
thinking of the moment, is this really so rare

The feel, the touch on your knee
felt like a thousand years, nothing to spare
The fairness of your skin and stare
bought me to sting myself without care

That night didn't bring me to you
still separated by the distinct cove
The moment set ground on the play's set
telling our story, the story of love

Friday, September 18, 2009

Time tested

Poem

lips
I want to remind you
of the time I saw you back then

You had your pink scarf
I was late...and I'm never late

Your smile, your lips
Your eyes, are so perfect

Had never seen anything so pure
Had to have you or to die in vain

In time you said you love me
Those words make me so peaceful
Therefore I love you

Test of Time

Poem

lips
I've always wondered when will this moment come
The test of time, a test for some
To find the flaws in perfection
thats what we face in the end...well...some say.

Night and night you feel nothing
and my pleas count to fuel the feel
Though I've promised to hold my breath
for you until the death

This happened before, with the precious stone
far far away from my current home, so I've seen it
The flaws get sour and never heal
and my love you are lured away by this 'cool' little thing

Hide your face forever
to dream and search again
I will love you forever
And never search again

Sunday, September 06, 2009

Short film for Finnish Catwalk

I did direct a quick short film that was played as opening for a fashion show here in Helsinki. Zero Budget, 4 hours of fun in the forest and few hours of editing. Simple, effective and we gained very good feedback on this. Have a look.




Sunday, August 16, 2009

Flow Festival 2009 Helsinki

Art Review

Flow Festival 2009 is fucking amazing. Never been in Flow before and I'm surprised of the quality. Finally an event organised in Helsinki has the similar quality as a whole as what I used to in London. 3 days + 1 special concert by Kraftwerk. Full of art, design, good food, and great soul and electro music! and its just 5min from my apartment! Best ones, Nitin Sawhney and Fever Ray coming tonight
[gallery columns="2"]

Friday, July 03, 2009

Mårten Mickos on effective teams

Academic

I am reposting a great summary of team building, expecially for executives. By Mårten Mickos of MySQL.

1. The team members ask each other "How can I support you?"
2. The team members hold each other accountable while also allowing each one to show vulnerability.
3. The team practices open and authentic communication.
4. The team arrives at key decisions together through discussion, debate, and synthesis.
5. The team has fun.
6. The team members see success of the whole team as the best form of success.
7. The team operates at a strategic level and empowers the organization around them to make and execute operational decisions.
8. Each team member builds his/her own teams following these principles.

And there is an implicit characteristic number zero (which should be self-evident): 0. Each team member individually follows Drucker's eight practices for effective executives.

Some observations and further comments on the team practices:

Item 1: In a great executive team, all executives help each other, and they engage in the broad management of the business and not just in their own area of responsibility. This cannot happen if there is a team member with a supersized ego. So by defining this practice, we are also saying no thanks to people with egos too big to fit inside an effective team.

Item 2: There is a virtuous circle in all of this (and a vicious one in the opposite scenario): When each team member does his/her job, trust emerges between team members. When there is trust, you can admit and show your vulnerabilities and weaknesses. When you can admit your weaknesses, you are also bound to improve. When you improve, you do your job better. When you do your job better, more trust ensues.

Item 3: It could be added that this practice is both about communication inside the team and outside.

Item 4: How a team arrives at decisions is a very important issue. Note that it says "key decisions" -- non-key decisions can be made individually or at a lower level in the organization. Arriving at a decision "together" means that everyone will be heard, dissent will be encouraged, pros will be weighed against cons, and so on. But it does not mean that it is a democratic decision or a decision by consensus. At the end of any decision-making process in a corporation, there will be a single responsible decision-maker (many times, but not always, the CEO) who will have to make the final call. But during the process, he/she will engage the whole team and build up better insights, common understanding, and broad commitment, no matter what the ultimate decision will be. Many times in such an open decision-making process, new ideas emerge that shape the ultimate decision.

Item 5: Fun means genuine fun, not superficial fun. Fun doesn't require money, great surroundings, great food, or great wine. We have nothing against those things, but at the end of the day they are not vital for having fun. They only add luster to something that it is fun by itself. Fun happens when human beings interact on a plane deeper than what they are used to or what they expected.

Item 6: It takes a lot to get a team in a condition where overall success is more rewarding than success of any given individual. But when it happens, it is an amazing feeling for all involved (and for all who are observing from around), and it produces better results.

Item 7: Teams need to not micromanage the world around them, but to build layers of managers and teams that can run the show.

Item 8: Building a team is very difficult, but also incredibly rewarding.

My hope is that these practices can be useful to those who build executive teams. I have seen, participated in and built a number of executive teams in my career and I know firsthand the turbo boost a company gets from having an effective executive team. The one we built at MySQL was unique in this regard, if I may say so myself. I am very eager to hear comments and suggestions for improvements on this text. Please send them to

Despite Recession, online video is growing 40% in 2009

In Beet.TV interview, American eMarketer Senior Analysist David Hallerman, believes that online video is becoming a very important medium for advertising. He calls for longer content, thus there could be more ads.

“Overall, online video advertising will grow at a 40% clip this year and for the next few years, outpacing most other ad mediums, Hallerman said to Andy in the interview.

That increase would bring online video ad spending to $1.1 billion this year and $4.1 billion by 2013. Other estimates place total spending at a smaller amount: media agency Magna projects Web video will corral only $699 million this year and won’t reach $1 billion until 2011.

Despite the different projections, researchers agree that Web video will remain a rare bright spot and continue to outpace other mediums. But, the recession is still affecting Internet TV, and its growth this year is well below last year’s more than doubling of dollars, Hallerman pointed out”.

Well… in CityVice we wholly agree, thou the growth will also come from more focused short-form content. Relevancy is the key word.