There are several ways in which social networks can monetise on content, including advertising (product placement, behaviour targeting and contextual), social commerce and, perhaps in the future, mobile.

New advertising formats such as interactive video or rich media formats allow higher engagement rates and do not interrupt the user experience, thereby bringing user engagement to a different level and providing brand engagement and better monetisation opportunities.

Video is a key area that social networks, publishers, brand owners and advertisers are looking to increase awareness of. Traditional production companies are snapping up the rights to online video content. Shine Reveille  recently took on MySpace TV content to distribute to  traditional media outlets such as television and DVD, while broadcasters such as the BBC and Channel 4 are distributing their content through platforms like Bebo.

Brands are producing more videos, hosting  these on their sites and using seeding strategies to increase pick-up, interactivity and longevity of the content. Video represents a unique opportunity to communicate marketing messages.

Brands are monetising their video content  through contextual advertising, sponsorship and placement - all of which are not engaging and interactive. And by placing users at the centre of the online video, new platforms and ad format have enabled the fusion of consumer created advertising and non-intrusive but active, participation by viewers.

The success Bebo has had with Kate Modern is now followed by Sofia’s Diary where key brands are sponsoring the series. Product sponsorship can also be married  to online video advertising placements that are non-intrusive and reinforce the value of the product.

Consumer-inspired  commercial opportunities are a real opportunity to capture monetising opportunities. Online video opportunities allow users to interact with the brand, access more information about the product and emotionally connect with brands.

Perhaps the Rolls-Royce of that is when your target audience becomes your brand ambassador and takes the time to create an ode to your brand, product or service. When brands embrace consumer power and involve them in successful ads that are driven by the evolution of video and how that is translated in digital environments, you can see how the medium holds the potential to inspire others to capture similar interest.

Irfon Watkins, CEO

Coull, Bristol

Click here to see the article on Mad.co.uk web site.

Lycos Network Europe, the online advertising sales network, is using a new advertising format, which allows users to interact with content in online advertisements like never before. The format, pioneered by Lycos with Coull, interactive video advertising tools provider, and media agency Carat, is the first of its kind in the industry The new formats enable users to interact with video content while a film plays.

This exciting format, delivered on the Coull Engage platform, means advertisers can now showcase video content online while, by clicking on product features, users can get more information as details are shown in the unit.

Renault is the first automotive brand to trial the format across Lycos Network Europe and sales network partner site About.com.

Users will be able to interact with Renault’s latest advert, learning more about the standards set by the Laguna in quality, comfort and driving pleasure.

Renault has also staged a complete takeover of the Lycos site, using a “push-down homepage takeover” format. The format enables users to roll-over a banner at the top of a page, which scrolls down, pushing the site content down the screen, rather than covering it. The new Laguna TV advert then plays in the space created by the push-down.

Sam Kayum, Sales Managing Director for Lycos UK, said: “These new formats point towards the future of online advertising, encouraging users to interact directly with content - key in today’s cluttered media environment”.

David Isherwood, E-Marketing Manager for Renault UK, said: “Renault has a long history of incorporating innovation into its product development, so it’s only natural we wanted to be the first car manufacturer to pilot this new technology.

“As a continually forward-thinking company, interactive marketing is an area we are increasingly developing an interest in, and its pioneering technology combined with customer experience fit perfectly with New Laguna”.

Lycos has recently signed up a similar campaign by Nivea, which will use the new format in coming weeks.

Click here to to see the article on Marketingservicestalk web site.

Twenty UK Web 2.0 businesses are going on a charm offensive to Silicon Valley, the home of hi-tech start-ups…

As part of a new initiative called the Web Mission, 20 UK tech start-ups have been selected to fly out to San Francisco, where’ll they spend a week hanging out drinking skinny soya lattes with Web 2.0 luminaries like Bebo’s Michael Birch and representatives from the likes of Google, Facebook and Amazon – not to mention investors who are keen to spend their money on backing the internet’s next big thing.

The idea of the trip, which was arranged by entrepreneur Oli Barrett and funded by sponsors UK Trade Invest, BT, HSBC and law firm Heller Ehrmann, is to show the Americans just how splendid our internet businesses really are – while giving these companies a chance to learn from their US counterparts and hopefully make some contacts that will help them develop faster in the future.

The businesses – which were selected from over 100 applicants – have all been chosen because they have the potential to expand into the US. And there are some impressive companies in there: the list includes WAYN (Where Are You Now?), a social networking site for globe-trotting types; edocr, which makes business documents interactive; Coull, an interactive video platform; and our particular favourite Silobreaker, an online search that aggregates news and provides all kinds of graphical content for additional context (although it did give us a video of The Charlie Goodwin Quartet when we were researching Sir Fred Goodwin this morning).

To be honest, we wouldn’t claim to understand exactly what all of these jazzy web 2.0 businesses do – but we’re happy to go with the opinion of former Dragons’ Den stalwart Doug Richard, a member of the judging panel, who reckons that ‘some of these companies are as good as anything coming out of the Valley’. Let’s just hope that they can follow in the footsteps of Silicon Valley graduates like Google and eBay and turn themselves into global behemoths…

Click here to see the article on Management Today web site.

The advent of interactive online videos gives advertisers a new way of capturing consumer interest. But Irfon Watkins, CEO at Coull, argues that success with this new format requires more than just rehashed TV ads…

Over the past few years, the surge in consumer use of online video has happened faster than many people expected.  According to eMarketer, more than 70% of Internet users viewed online videos in 2007.  Despite this rapid growth, advertisers have been surprisingly slow to develop creative optimised for the possibilities of this new medium.

The interactivity of the web has caused it to stand out over and above more traditional forms of advertising. Consumers can click and interact with content; advertisers can provide immersive, engaging experiences that inspire interest and action.

But this full potential has not yet been realised within online video. The increase in bandwidth and consumer appetite for online video has largely been met by advertisers with standard fare. TV slots are simply re-run online. What was once an engaging, interactive medium shifts down a gear to becoming a one-way, linear form of advertising, much like watching TV, or reading a newspaper.

Online video advertising today demands little more from the consumer than a lean back experience.

But what of the web’s intrinsic functionality? Why can’t a consumer watching an online video do all of the things expected on a standard web page – clicking and interacting with objects and information at will? 

Coull has launched Coull engage to help advertisers answer this very question. Brand marketers and digital agencies can use the online video advertising format to easily create interactive video adverts – enabling unprecedented levels of interactivity and consumer engagement.

The first trial of this new interactive ad format was by Boots, running its ‘Here Come the Girls’ ad across the Lycos.co.uk site. Viewers were able to interact with products during play, finding out more information and clicking through to the e-commerce site to purchase.

Results from the campaign highlight a very responsive viewer base, with 29.3% of consumers interacting with the various products within the video -taking engagement with the Boots brand to another level. The Coull Engage format also drove five times the average play rate for a non-auto play MPU ad.

The success of the Boots commercial has been followed closely with a Renault campaign, now underway, and a first in the automotive industry. The Coull Engage format has again been utilised to allow viewers to interact with the new Renault Laguna advert during play, clicking on objects to book a test drive or request a brochure.

Boots and Renault’s experiences highlight the increased scope Interactive video offers brands scope to engage directly with consumers. Maximising the power of online video to drive deeper brand involvement, customer acquisition and sales.

But what results could be expected from content created specially for this new medium? The emergence of two-way, interactive functionality within video offers a significant boost in creative scope. Narrative and content can be designed around this, creating fresh and different ways to engage consumers and keep their attention.

When TV first emerged, producers largely imitated radio, with presenters talking straight into a camera, with no camera movement or editing. Direction of film was also very limited in scope until the creative brilliance of Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane shone light on new ways to bring the medium to life.

Online video is at a very similar stage. The medium offers creative opportunity not possible on TV or film. As trials by the likes of Boots and Lycos highlight the increased potential for online video, attention will inevitably shift to production of content directly for this new medium. Exciting times lie ahead.

by

Irfon Watkins

CEO

Coull

Click here to see the article on Netimperative’s website.  

20 British web entrepreneurs are set to spend 5 days in Silicon Valley in a new private initiative called the Web Mission.

Sponsored by HSBC, BT, Heller Ehrman UK Trade Invest, and with partners including Sun and Oracle, the group will spend time exploring opportunities for their businesses and will meet representatives from Google, Facebook, Bebo, Linkedin and Amazon, as well as a number of up and coming fellow entrepreneurs. 

They will have the chance to pitch their businessses to US-based investors and to attend leading industry events including Web 2.0 expo, taking place during the week.

The trip takes place between April 19th and 24th and is independently organised by serial entrepreneur Oli Barrett and Polecat Ltd. The 20 companies were selected from over 100 applicants.   

Michael Birch, who recently sold online social network Bebo, said: “The Web Mission represents an amazing opportunity for the best of entrepreneurial UK talent to visit Silicon Valley, and learn for themselves the differences that make the US a breeding ground for innovation and more importantly successful execution of ideas. With a spark of inspiration the UK has every opportunity to replicate that success on UK soil.”

Doug Richard, who contributed to the selection process added: “Some of these companies are as good as anything coming out of the Valley.”

To read more about the Web Mission (including an agenda) go to: www.webmission08.com

The 20 companies embarking on the Web Mission are: 

Groupspaces - Web-based tools for groups

Tioti - A social network around TV

Exabre (TheFilter) - Advanced music recommendation

Coull - Interactive video platform

Zogix - Employee services platform

Byteplay (dotHomes) - Real estate search engine

Trampoline Systems - Enterprise software harnessing social behaviour

Hubdub - News prediction social network

WAYN - travel and lifestyle social networking community

TrustedPlaces - Venue recommendation network

Slicethepie - Enabling bands to raise money directly from their fans

Mydeo - Mainstream application for storing and sharing video

Skimbit - Research and share decisions

Huddle - Enterprise 2.0 collaboration

Rummble - Mobile social networking and recommendation

Zebtab - Desktop TV application

Silobreaker - Contextual and graphic search results

Kwiqq - Social Website builder

edocr - Making business documents interactive

ShortFuze - Online movie creation tools for social networks

Details on the 20 selected companies are listed in TechCruch.    

Click here to see the article on Netimperative’s website.  

Renault is the first car marque to trial a new video advertising format that will allow users to interact with the ad as it is shown. The car company is trailing the format on the Lycos European network.The advert has been adapted so boxes come up around the car that can be clicked on while it is showing to give the viewer more product information.

The video ad format, delivered by the Coull Engage platform, was developed by Lycos, advertising agency Coull TV and media agency Carat.

Renault is also using a “push down homepage takeover” advert on the Lycos homepage, which means that a banner ad scrolls down over the homepage when a viewer runs over it with their mouse.

David Isherwood, e-marketing manager at Renault UK, says: “Renault has a long history of incorporating innovation into its product development, so it’s only natural we wanted to be the first car company to pilot this new technology.”

Click here to see the article on Marketing Week’s website.