A post by Murray Newlands on the future of social media marketing got me thinking.  Social media marketing is not only affecting big brands but all businesses, even technology companies that are involved in Internet advertising.  There is a lot of talk about how big brands are struggling to engage in social media arenas, but this condition is not is limited to big brands, it is pervasive through all sectors.

Tom Foremski is right.  All companies are becoming media and publishing companies.  As are people on a personal and professional level, we are all trying to get to grips with “brand me“.

Web and technology companies are no different.  In the technology sector many companies are specialised and are trying to develop their services and products in a difficult economic times.  This means there has been a natural “leaning” process in technology startup companies.  Venture capital is expensive and more limited today and technology companies are getting leaner.  This leaning process has an affect on resources.  Ironically this means that startups will not be as able to leverage the new technologies which they used to be very good at doing.

It is not just big brands that are not engaging as quickly as they possible could, it is most companies, even companies operating in similar fields.

Social media has a cost, it is not free.  It costs time.

Time in leaner companies is a limited commodity.  While we may be running our companies more efficiently, it to has a cost.  It limits our ability to participate in social media marketing.  Catch22.

At Coull we have not got our social media marketing campaign sorted yet.  We have not been able to engage as we navigate through the economic terrain are all operating in today.

We need a social media marketer…..

Interactive video advertising is quite similar, the return is very high, but there is an initial investment that needs to be made, time.  As we all struggle with time to engage in the social media ecosystem and get to grips with how this revolution can assist our businesses, we struggle to find that balance and invest our most valuable commodity, time, in the most effective arena for the best ROI.

Social media traffic and seed has just scaled out massively and overnight.  This is very positive from our point of view as it demonstrates, once again how disruption just emerges.  It is hard to predict the future of online marketing and emergence.  However, there are not many things that you can predict, interactive video is one of those.  It just makes sense.  One thing for certain is that one day all video will be interactive, it will be layered with information, it is just a natural evolutionary step.

One thing for certain, interactive video advertising is going to be a part of the future of online marketing (see Sitting on the Threshold). And for interactive video advertising as for social media marketing, the future is now.

20 July 2009 – Gary Wilson

coull’s first US project has started! We see the Affiliate market in the US as having huge potential for our interactive video platform. Ill keep you updated with progress. Any Merchant or Affiliate can now work with us.

Interesting day yesterday. Coull launched our ’self serve’ interactive video solution for affiliates at buy.at/Platform A’s speakeasy event in London. I was invited to present our product on stage to the audience who were all holding Hit or Miss cards! So picture the scene 200 prospective clients to impress in five minutes with instant feedback. I loved it, what other opportunities does a CEO of a company get to have that sort of feedback in one day?Oh by the way we were a resounding hit!Affiliates and Merchants can now monetise all their video on site by creating links from objects in the video directly to buy.at’s affiliate network. Happy days

Unfortunately we did not win our nomination in the Best Use of Technology within Affiliate Marketing category of the a4uAwards last night.  However, a well deserved congratulations must go out to SkimLinks who won all 3 categories that they were nominated in the a4u Affiliate Marketing Awards!  Well done indeed.

It is nice to see a small company being disruptive and SkimLinks definitely seem to be doing that.  It just goes to show that disruption can happen in niche sectors too, it is not just a global phenomena.  Although we all hope for that globally disruptive concept, I am sure the team at SkimLinks are enjoying the recognition of their niche disruption this morning (or perhaps not, as the hangover kicks in).

Looking forward to more disruptions ahead

Getting the rest of the winners (congrats to you all) off twitter as they are not published anywhere else yet it would seem and interestingly enough, they are but in twitter

Gary Wilson – 2 June 2009

And the winners are:

Innovation in networks #a4uawards winner is @affwindow – ( posted by chrisclarkson )

Innovate merchant of the year #a4uawards winner is prezzybox ( posted by chrisclarkson, corrected by me I think the liquids were flowing and typos were a plenty)

Innovative publisher of the year #a4uawards winner is skimlinks ( posted by exwebjunkie )

Best use of intergrated campaign #a4uawards winner is Argos ( posted by exwebjunkie )

Innovative Affiliate of the Year #a4uawards winner is skimlinks ( posted by alexhoye )

Best use of technology #a4uawards winner is skimlinks ( posted by exwebjunkie )

Digital media agency of the year #a4uawards winner is i-level ( posted by exwebjunkie )

Best new entrant #a4uawards winner is skimlinks ( posted by exwebjunkie )

Finance Vertical (affiliate) #a4uawards winner is leadbay ( posted by chrisclarkson )

Retail (vertical) #a4uawards winner is Argos  ( posted by 10Yetis )

Casino & Gaming (affiliate) #a4uawards winner is bingohideout ( posted by exwebjunkie )

Casino & Gaming (merchant) #a4uawards winner is paddypower ( posted by exwebjunkie )

Travel & Leisure (affiliate) #a4uawards winner is artemis8 ( posted by chrisclarkson )

Travel & Leisure (merchant) #a4uawards winner is lastminute.com ( posted by chrisclarkson )

Technology & Telecoms (affiliate) #a4uawards winner is Formula (Top 10 Broadband) ( posted by exwebjunkie )

Technology & Telecoms (merchant) #a4uawards winner is Vodafone ( posted by exwebjunkie )

Publishers choice awards – account manager – #a4uawards winner is Hannah Swift from Existem Affiliate Management ( posted by exwebjunkie )

Affiliate manager  – #a4uawards winner is Chris Clarkson ( posted by chrisclarkson )

And that’s it… hell that was a chore, gleaning info out of twitter – there is an idea in there

A blog post by Amit Kumar Mishra on Internet Marketing Trends for 2009 got me thinking again about why the uptake of interactive video seems to be generally slower on the Internet than other disruptive technologies that have come along in the past.

As Amit suggests, the interactive video space is definitely one to watch this year, as it is becoming more mainstream.  I personally feel that this will run over into 2010, with massive take up thereafter.  I have been working in this space for 4 years now and in the last 6 months we have witnessed a large mainstream uptake in this arena, with global brands starting to leverage the benefits that interactive video can deliver.  This is not just from the point of view of driving traffic directly from a video to an e-commerce or destination portal, but also information about how the user interacts with the elements within the video.  MTV’s recent venture into the space with the Cold War Kids video and our customers’ ventures are evidence of this.  Unfortunately, this arena may have not seen the instant mainstream adoption that other similar, recent disruptive technologies have experienced.  I personally believe that this is due to the fact, that unlike other, “new” disruptive areas such as social networking, we as users, did not have an established behaviour.  We created a new behaviour to take on the benefits of this new technology.

Our normal video viewing behaviour, which has been established over a lifetime, is somewhat different.  Interactive video changes video from being a fairly unidimensional entity into a multi-dimensional one.  This is very disruptive to our normal behaviour patterns, requiring the viewer to depart from the passive viewing experience and become “part” of the content, make choices.

Interactive video is definitely poised to disrupt our normal viewing behaviour, effectively turning video into a web element like any other, complete with links, cross references, quoting and a web of information behind the elements within the content.

The only question is, how long is it going to take for that momentum to grow? How long until interactive video is the defacto standard of internet video?  Due to this being a fundamental change to how we do, one of the things the modern society does a lot of, watch video, it may take a little while longer than social networking’s pervasive penetration.  However, it is not a question of if, only when.  The benefits of having metadata and links in video itself are to significant not to be taken up.  It is not that hard to imagine watching a piece of content in the future and thinking, “What have I seen him in before?”, clicking on the actor and being given links and/or data surrounding that “object”, his IMDB profile for instance, a list of films he has been in, etc, etc.

When the floodgates open, video will never be the same again…. It is only a matter of time.

28 May 2009 – Gary Wilson

I’m really pleased to announce our new relationship with Platform A. Now all Platform A customers can publish interactive videos within their current contract at no extra charge

I believe video is hugely underrated within the affiliate space and look forward to promoting the benefits to the leaders in the market.

Here is a link to a recent blog covering the news  http://www.onelittleduck.co.uk/video/buyat-get-back-on-the-video-case-986.htm

we currently have a project live with our partner carat for adidas celebrating the 60th anniversary of the great brand. This is our second project with the great team at Go Viral. They really know how to get audience for video online!

Here is link to article in this weeks NMA

We have been working with our partners Platform A on new video affiliate products. The first iterstion of this was launched by Littlewoods Shop Direct in 2008 and I am pleased to anounce that this project has been shortlisted for the Revolution Awards to be held on the 20th March 2009. Looking forward to a great night whatever happens  http://cde.cerosmedia.com/1I49a2b7e320f82012.cde/page/28

Really pleased with recent coverage of coull’s Nike project in The Times

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article5598872.ece

Advertisers are finding new ways to hone in on that very human weakness: the impulse buy.

Those tempted by sweets near a till may want to look away now, but technology has been developed that will give viewers the option to instantly purchase the products they see being advertised on screen.

The “hotspot” technology means that during an advert, bubbles pop up on screen alongside products. Viewers can click on anything they see that takes their fancy and then make their purchase at the press of a button.

As the latest fashions parade on screen, or as a seductive voiceover entices you to try out expensive new foods, people will be able to point at what has caught their eye and quickly fill their virtual shopping basket via their remote control.

Related Links

• ITV plans unavoidable TV adverts

• Google stays strong amidst the gloom

The first use of the technology can be seen in a new Nike advertisement featuring Cristiano Ronaldo, the Manchester United star. As he runs around the pitch and strips off after a match, fans can click on his shirt, shorts and undergarments to buy them instantly.

The clip can now be seen online, but those behind the advert believe that once the switchover from the analogue to digital TV signal is complete by 2012, the technology will be utilised on television as well.

“Now you see the red button on screen, this is the next evolution of that,” said Luke Aviet, managing director of Go Viral, the company distributing the new advert. “As everything merges into digital, you will see this being used.”