BluePoint Venture Marketing

Is video the “it” thing for 2009? You tell me.

December 23rd, 2008 | Author: Beth Harte

I am a big fan of companies including video in their marketing mix (I wrote about it here and over at Search Engine Guide) and I don’t mean the overly produced and edited corporate kind. I mean the whip out the video camera and go to town type of video (okay, maybe with some slight edits). Why? Because I think they put a human face on a corporation…something that is sorely lacking these days.

Recently I was contacted by Tim Hurley, Managing Director at BluePoint Venture Marketing (Note: Tim used to worked for Porter Novelli who was my agency of record at a previous job) to let me know that his client, PermissionTV, just released some findings on where video will fall in the marketing mix spectrum in 2009.

Typically I am skeptical when it comes to PR agencies doing surveys like this for clients because, well, I have done them myself and know they can be…let’s just say slightly skewed. But this survey (complete with details), looks interesting and given that it’s a prediction trend for 2009, we should be able to see if the survey pans out. That said I am more curious to see if you are experiencing the same thing with your clients or within your marketing departments.

Here’s the high-level overview (details here) as I received it from Tim:

PermissionTV surveyed more than 400 senior-level advertising, marketing and media executives-from media companies, Fortune 1000 and small and medium enterprises representing several verticals like financial services, telcos and manufacturers, as well as agencies. The survey findings show that online video will remain a primary focus for digital marketing budgets in 2009-and will be more widely used than search and social media** and will be least affected by marketing budget cuts.

The survey examined the following:

What stages companies are currently in online video initiatives vs. future plans
A comparison of online video investments vs. search and social media
Percentage of companies that expect to implement online video next year
How online video will enhance customer engagement
2009 digital marketing investment trends – what areas are likely to be cut, increased or maintained
Traditional advertising agency vs. digital/interactive advertising agency

**It’s interesting to me that corporations and agencies think they can use videos for branding/promotion efforts and expect that they will go viral (WOM) or that they will be embraced without being social (i.e. engaging their community). This reconfirms for me that companies still might not understand the benefits of social media and developing a community (prior to diving into and using these tools) and that they will continue to use social media tools to do one-way traditional marketing. Am I wrong with this assumption? I hope so.

Your thoughts?

[Image: dalydose]