Digital Lifescapes

Worldwide, many enterprise IT organizations are experiencing an exponential growth of data storage requirements as employees create more digital content. Multimedia asset storage is a key driver -- in particular, a variety of video content. In today's enterprise, video is a primary method for engaging with customers, employees and channel partners, via a wide range of media assets. Common video applications include online webcasts, conference sessions or keynotes, training sessions or educational webinars and new customer care use-cases. Demand for object storage systems has blossomed as a results of the growing need to archive unstructured data, such as video and other forms of multimedia content. This growth has fueled the deployment of new cost-effective storage solutions that can scale to support hundreds of petabytes and beyond. Enterprise IT Storage Market Development According to the findings from the latest 451 Research 'Voice of the Enterprise' survey, org...

Why are savvy marketers using promotional video content in their online campaigns? Because they believe that it effectively engages their target stakeholders, but they're really not certain of the actual impact. With online video advertising in the U.S. expected to experience steady growth -- eMarketer now estimates that spending will climb from $3.1 billion in 2012 to $9.3 billion in 2016 -- marketers will need to figure out how to best employ metrics to gauge the value of campaigns on a more individualized basis. As marketers continue to expand the slice of their digital ad budget that's being applied to online video, a better understanding of metrics in this area has become a key part of the process. But due to the common inexperience with online video, as well as the absence of any clear measurement standards, setting goals that define meaningful outcomes will likely present challenges to marketers as these types of campaigns mature. In its latest survey of ad a...

According to the latest market assessment by eMarketer, they anticipate strong growth in the amount of marketing budgets being applied to online display advertising -- in particular, commercial video content. In the U.S. market, eMarketer forecasts that advertisers will increase video ad spending by 54.7 percent and up investments in standard banners by nearly 20 percent. Moreover, eMarketer predicts much lower growth for traditional rich media ads, however, at just over 4 percent -- as brands turn to more engaging online video instead. More marketers are moving beyond a typical direct-response centric model for online display advertising. They're now recognizing that despite low click-through rates, banner ads also have a residual branding benefit. Research suggests that adding video to those banner ads can improve engagement -- increasing the likelihood users will click the ads, as well as boosting the lingering brand awareness that results from viewing creative digita...

comScore and EXPO released the results of a study on the synergy of professionally-produced video content and related amateur video used in marketing campaigns. The study evaluated an actual campaign that included a combination of a professionally-produced “how to” video and a user-generated product video that was created and submitted by a product user. The results of the study indicate that professionally-produced video content and user-generated product videos are complementary, driving higher levels of sales effectiveness when used together. “This study aimed to answer a critical question for today’s digital advertisers: how do user-generated videos complement professionally-produced content, if at all? What we found was strong evidence of incremental benefit with exposure to both forms of media,” said Frank Findley, Vice President, Research and Development at comScore . In the sample campaign, professionally-produced content and product videos drove strikingly higher lifts w...

comScore released data from their latest market study showing that 181 million U.S. Internet users watched nearly 40 billion videos of online video content in January. Google Sites, driven primarily by video viewing at YouTube.com, ranked as the top online video content property in January with 152 million unique viewers, followed by VEVO with 51.5 million, Yahoo! Sites with 49.2 million, Viacom Digital with 48.1 million and Facebook.com with 45.1 million. Nearly 40 billion videos views occurred during the month, with Google Sites generating the highest number at 18.6 billion, followed by Hulu with 877 million and VEVO with 717 million. The average viewer watched 22.6 hours of online video content, with Google Sites (7.5 hours) and Hulu (3.2 hours) demonstrating the highest average engagement among the top ten properties. Americans viewed 5.6 billion video ads in January, with Hulu delivering the highest number of video ad impressions at 1.4 billion. Adap.tv ranked second over...

The success of media tablets is raising questions about the e-reader market sustainability. E-readers still offer the best reading experience and appeal most to avid book readers, but a broader group of people prefer additional multimedia functionality -- such as web browsing, video and gaming. Media tablets are optimized to deliver a multifunction experience, and therefore, represent a stronger opportunity for consumer electronics (CE) manufacturers. As a result, In-Stat is forecasting that tablet shipments will outpace e-reader shipments by the end of 2011. "Of the two, the tablet market is the stronger and more sustainable opportunity," says Stephanie Ethier, Senior Analyst at In-Stat . In fact, e-reader manufacturers will likely begin adding tablet-like features to some devices in their product line. Barnes & Noble already offers the Color Nook, which is often compared to a tablet, and Amazon, the leader in the e-reader space with its Kindle, will likely launch ...

According to the latest market study by ABI Research , the global market for digital signage -- including displays, media players, software, and installation or maintenance costs -- will grow from nearly $1.3 billion in 2010 to almost $4.5 billion in 2016. Larry Fisher, Practice Director at ABI, says "Digital signs have a more compelling impact than some forms of traditional media." Today's digital signage offerings have redefined the model for out-of-home advertising through the deployment of signs at malls, airports, and banks, among others -- signs that deliver content in real time, or content that has already been stored and scheduled for delivery at the most appropriate time. The majority of digital signage installations today are IP-based, underscoring the evolution of digital signage away from static advertising -- each media player requires connection to a remote content management server. This connection can be wired or wireless, and in some cases, is mad...

eMarketer reports that executives are taking time to view business-oriented video, according to the findings of a market study by Forbes Insights. In some cases, they may prefer video content to text -- for learning about new products and services. A majority of businesspeople surveyed by Forbes in October 2010 said they watched more online video than a year earlier. Nearly 60 percent of all respondents said they would watch video before reading text on the same webpage, and 22 percent said they generally liked watching video more than reading text for reviewing business information. Three-quarters of all executives said they watched work-related videos on business websites at least once a week, and more than half did the same on YouTube. Video can be highly effective for vendor marketing. The executives surveyed reported taking a wide variety of actions after watching online videos, with about two-thirds visiting vendor websites subsequent to viewing and more than half searchi...

Telepresence is video conferencing taken to the next level -- participants feel as if they are in the same room together. Despite the tough economic environment, sales of telepresence hardware, software and services grew to $567 million in 2009, according to the latest market study by ABI Research . Expanding the options for access to telepresence products and services is critical for maintaining strong market growth. Video conferencing products that are a step above talking-heads at reasonable price points allow companies to experience the benefits and incorporate them into their business processes. According to ABI's market assessment, other major trends and supplier contributions driving the market in 2010 and beyond include: - Saving on travel costs, particularly for companies experiencing supply chain expansion. - Suppliers targeting companies with legacy video teleconferencing systems and expanding telepresence system interoperability. - Telepresence enhanced with...

Results from an IMS Research market study shows that by the end of 2010, nearly 55 percent of all TV Households in the Americas will have access to Internet video, with 25 percent of these capable of displaying Internet video onto their TV set. Rebecca Kurlak, an IMS Research consumer electronics (CE) analyst, says "Now that retailers are actively marketing Internet-enabled devices, we can expect to see mass market adoption. As Blu-ray players have begun to offer price points that fall below $199, this price reduction will create a domino effect on other CE device prices." This has already been observed by actions taken by the game console market in Q3 2009. IMS currently estimates that by the end of 2010, 35 percent of TV shipments in the Americas will have internet connectivity (Ethernet and/or Wi-Fi) built-in. It will take about five years for the gap to close between connected TVs and other devices. Consumers continue to select devices that offer ease of use, and it just...

The typical user experience for pay-TV services hasn't changed much over the years. That's all about to change, thanks to much needed innovation from OTT providers. Next-generation Interactive Program Guides (IPG) are finally emerging that help all consumers navigate through a proliferation of video content. As Internet Content and User Generated Content (UGC) migrate onto TVs and other video-capable devices, IPGs are transforming into Content and Service Discovery Guides (CSDGs), according to the latest market study by In-Stat . Consumers are embracing a growing array of video options. Consumers demand their choice of display device, content, timing and location. Visionary companies are offering content discovery tools to meet these needs and enable service providers and device manufacturers to offer the best end-user experience. Two years ago I described my own interpretation of a TV 2.0 user experience . But, the progress has been painfully slow because the incumbents previo...

According to eMarketer, when the American Business Media (ABM) Annual Conference was held recently in Amelia Island, Florida, most of the speeches were optimistic. Reviewing the financial performances of business-to-business (B2B) publishers in print, online, events and data from 2006 to 2008, Richard Mead, managing director of The Jordan, Edmiston Group, said, "This has all been part of a controlled evolution." That's a little like saying driving a car off a cliff is all part of a controlled stop. With equal denial of recent industry performance Gary Fitzgerald, CEO of Meister Media Worldwide and chairman of the ABM, said, "It's a time of great opportunity." Unlike the spoken words, however, eMarketer says that the data presented at the conference was more sobering. According to the ABM, B2B media ad pages declined 30 percent in the first two months of this year. And last year was not good, either. Looking first at the B2B publisher's largest source of ...

The digital signage market in the United States -- including hardware, software, installation, and maintenance services -- is expected to grow by about 33 percent in 2009, according to a new market study by ABI Research. This latest forecast factors in the likely declines due to the recessionary economic environment, showing a healthy growth rate despite the current uncertain financial conditions. There are several reasons for the positive outlook. Most traditional advertising media are losing their appeal. Consequently, digital signage has emerged as a potential way to deliver highly customized and targeted messaging in a variety of public locations. And in a fast-changing world, the ability digital signage to be updated in real-time is a significant benefit. Retail, education, hospitality and corporate communication are apparently the first verticals deploying digital signage. Adoption is also encouraged by improvements to a display's appearance, the generally falling prices of e...

If you were an early-adopter of video camcorders -- like me -- then you probably have a significant amount of personal video content trapped on VHS video tape. Perhaps you have also used your camcorder for business purposes, capturing training sessions, seminar presentations, etc. In the past, the choices to convert your video to a format that you could use on your computer, and ultimately make it available online, were limited by your technical skills. While video capture cards that insert into a desktop PC slot have been available for years – this approach was not user-friendly for mainstream consumers. The alternative was cost-prohibitive. I've used professional video transfer services, but due to the processing fee I've only converted a small amount of my analog video content to a digital format. I recently had a situation where I needed to convert and enhance very old video content. I decided to try a do-it-yourself solution that promised to be easier to embrace, and I was...

Fueled by the unstoppable flow of audio, video, photos, and text being generated or converted in digital formats, the global market for Digital Asset Management (DAM) solutions -- software intended to capture, organize, store and distribute digital content -- is expected to pass the $1 billion mark in 2013. According to ABI Research industry analyst Zippy Aima, there are a number of forces acting to drive this market to great heights, but DAM also has some significant challenges to overcome. "Large quantities of digital media content require collaboration across all personnel and departments, from creation to delivery," says Aima. "DAM system ability to enable integration is driving demand." Until recently, the different operations concerned with rich media content were siloed and isolated. DAM solutions available today can integrate with existing third-party applications and systems, such as ERP and enterprise content management (ECM) applications. Another factor m...

The commercial applications for digital media are growing fast. IDC conducted a survey to assess adoption of video usage within the business environment for internal communications with employees, training, collaboration, etc. Their findings come from IDC's Enterprise Panel. The panel is an online community of IT and line-of-business professionals who influence the technology-related investment decisions of their organization. The panel includes worldwide businesses of all sizes and in all industries. If you believe that business video applications are just for large corporations, or that SMBs can't benefit from the availability of digital media basic authoring tools, then you should read my post entitled " Business Video on an SMB Budget " -- which is featured on Dell's Small Business blog. Key findings from IDC's survey include: - Videoconferencing (or TelePresence ) is the most dominant use-case for enterprise video today, followed closely by employee train...