The SmartVideo Blog

I'm not referring to video player software, but the top participants driving online video innovation today. If you follow our blog regularly, are familiar with the online video industry, or are just a connected customer then you know that video is booming and will only continue to grow both in video consumption and video ad spending. Between brands, content sites and people, here is a round up of the 15 video players innovating the industry that you should be following today. 

Video advertising is still behind display advertising when it comes to relevance. The display ad space has taken full advantage of visitor tracking capabilities to retarget ads to visitors based on their past behavior on a brand’s website.

How loyal are you? For me, that question immediately derives two words: it depends.

We recently attended the Forrester Customer Experience Forum and learned that we are currently in the “Age of the Customer.” Successfully engaging with empowered customers is what defines this current state, and those companies that are engaging now will come out on top, no matter the industry.

I just returned from two days at the Forrester Customer Experience Forum where leading industry speakers shared thought-provoking ideas and powerful content. Simply put, this event helped solidify my view of the future where the customer is at the center of competitive strategy for the leaders in every industry. In fact, Harley Manning of Forrester shared a graph that compared 5-year total return of customer experience leaders (up 22%) to customer experience laggards (down 46%) to the S&P 500 (down 1%). Clearly, companies adopting a customer-centric strategy are already proving that we are in the “Age of the Customer.”

One of the major challenges in creating a SmartVideo template is maintaining the right balance between a branded, unique experience, engaging and informative content, and a script and structure that will allow enough personalization and repeat viewership opportunities.

Recently, my friend Aaron Fullen wrote a great post about how some businesses should be taking the next step in their personalization strategy, if they are not already. This got me thinking about another angle on the significance of personalization from an audience perspective (vs. business). First, take a look at this video: 

We recently attended the 2012 Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition (IRCE) in Chicago to check the online industry pulse on emerging trends, best practices, and innovations in retail. The discussions, sessions and networking provided a great platform for defining and understanding the way the world shops today and in the future.

You finally did it. You actually made good on your New Year’s Resolution.

Over the last several months, I've had the opportunity to meet with senior executives at top providers in the wireless, MSO and satellite TV markets.  A consistent theme is that, despite significant investments in technology, people and processes, virtually every one of these companies is struggling with the same problem: Consumers are confused by their billing statements.  This confusion leads to high churn, excessive support costs, and a limited ability to expand the relationship within the first 90 days.