B2B Video: What a Difference a Year Makes.

A year is a long time in video. We appeared at the 2011 B2B Marketing conference to a mixture of disinterest and laughter at our jodphurs and monocles. Video? Why do I need video? "I like videos of a child biting another's finger but really, why should I, Mister Marketing Manager, produce a video that doesn't get me ROI and data?"... Of course MM's just love data.

 

2012 is all so different. So what sort of video should I be commissioning? How do I tell my company's story? How much does it cost? Can your really good looking Commercial Director appear in our film? Well sort of...

 

Video (a tad behind social media, they should of course have been intertwined) was all over the conference. In total, over 20 films were shown by speakers. 2 TV crews were there to pick up interviews and all (without exception) saw video as a key component to their marketing plans for 2013.

 

Don't get us wrong, data is still so important (they still want to know all about us) it's just that video and storytelling is being seen as a necessary way to impart information. If that means not knowing the mother's maiden name of the person watching then so be it. Distribution and targetting will be the key points now as companies plot their video strategies. The fun is just beginning.

 

jon@thepeloton.tv

www.thepeloton.tv

 

Fashion Call Out.

Today marks the launch of Fashion Call Out.

We are seeking exciting online fashion retailers for a super new project. Followers of ThePeloton.tv will know that we have developed interactive video. This innovative tool allows users to click within the screen and buy from it. This has now been developed for the HTML5 platform and therefore we are looking to launch our (and possibly the world's) first tap-to-buy film.

 

The aim of this project is to seek the right retailer and to work together creatively and with the spirit and enthusiasm that this project will demand.

 

The end result will be that we produce a number of video catalogue type films that enable users to tap and buy!

 

The first shouts have gone out on social media to recruit the right retailer and we will use this blog to update you dear reader on the progress, tears and rollercoaster of excitement we expect.

Looking forward to the next update!

 

jon@thepeloton.tv

www.thepeloton.tv

 

The Futurists' Futurist

Friend of ThePeloton, wannabe futurist and public speaker, Zohe Mustafa, gave a talk at the E-commerce Expo. Now this wasn't a video speech per se but looked at marketing in 2025 and how we get there. Video of course is integral but it's how it will be viewed and used that's so white knuckle-ridingly exciting.

The talk was entitled 'Are We Really Innovating?'. Firstly, probably not. He suggests we are at somewhere like Web 1.5. Marketers have something like 88 different tactics at their disposal. However the point is technology isn't really here to enable this marketing vision. Typing still rules, touchscreens are limited etc.

Take a look at his presentation he has given us permission to share, it allows an insight into where all of this is going. If we were to summarise...

It could get even more difficult to navigate the world of connected business. There are fine examples here of how retailers and brands can develop to embrace Future Tech. Done well they will leave all competition in their wake. Those that embrace technology will totally transform how we do business. Like Disney and their interactive sofa!

www.slideshare.net/z0he/are-we-reallyinnovatingver1

jon@thepeloton.tv
www.thepeloton.tv

 

Take Part in our Video Poll

ThePeloton has teamed up with our good friends at B2B Marketing to create an innovative video poll and we would love you to respond. It's aimed at media agencies and brands and, in fact, anyone who regularly commissions video as part of their marketing mix. We want to pick your grey stuff about how much video you commission and what kind of content works for you.

It won't take you long, just a couple of minutes, click on the link below.

http://www.b2bmarketing.net/blog/posts/2012/10/02/interactive-video-poll

To make it even easier, we've created the poll in HTML5. That means you can watch and respond on the go via your iPad. Pretty neat hey? And, there's more, if you submit your email at the end, you'll be one of the first to get the results of our poll.

A video on video..how very post-modern.

adrian@thepeloton.tv
www.thepeloton.tv

The Land where Content is still King.

There’s a cracking new video doing the rounds on YouTube. No not the South Korean rapper doing the funny dance. The particular film we’ve been admiring and sharing was made by the B2B marketing agency, Earnest. It offers a host of new statistics that are tinkly music to our dainty little ears. For example, 75% of executives watch videos on business sites every week. And 65% of them then go on to visit a vendor’s site after watching the video. There’s lots more stats where those two gems came from. See for yourself. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=V6Q34ID2n1Q

Meanwhile, creating content is set to be one of the hot topics at this year’s B2B Marketing Conference. Ahead of the November 1st event, we’ve been interviewing some of the speakers and panelists. Some of the interviews are now up on B2B Marketing’s website. Here’s Stan Woods, the MD of the B2B consultants Velocity, talking about the challenges of creating great content.

http://www.b2bmarketing.net/video/b2b-marketing-conference-2012-stan-woods

Team Peloton will be descending en masse to the November conference; filming the presentations and doing a spot of light interviewing. We’ll also showing off our interactive video service which offers polling, data gathering and real-time analytics. And it now comes in HTML5. So be prepared to be wowed. The excitement may even make you want to do a funny dance. But just remember that you may get caught on camera...

adrian@thepeloton.tv

http://www.thepeloton.tv/interactive.html

Tech, Tech and more Tech.

We're going to let you in on a secret, not a brilliantly kept one mind you.... 

Our production team has just finished filming the super Becca Laidler and the East Anglian hunk Matt Downton fronting the latest episode of Tech News. It's a weekly look at the more eclectic, mind bending and some times nonsensical world of erm.... Tech.

Written by a team of hacks and the well informed (yes a team, just like some of those US comedy shows, one or two of which are funny), Tech News has now reached episode 30. And, get this, the latest viewing figures from the viewing figures machine suggest that each episode is watched on average 100, 000 times; most of which are UK tech nuts only. 

Web sites like Reevoo and Tom's Hardware take Tech News and benefit from a nice piece of content and, as they say in the world of marketing, a more engaged viewer. Here's a taster..
http://content.bitsontherun.com/previews/Q9c6P6wQ-FcwV6SdG

So there you go, a secret that once was, and now isn't. Now, our Creative Director Matt Warnes has got a secret and it sounds a bit painful. It involves steep inclines and aching thighs. Watch this space for more.

jon@thepeloton.tv

www.thepeloton.tv

Peloton 3 - Bradley 1.

The champagne is flowing at ThePeloton.tv this week. We are celebrating our 3rd birthday and crikey, what a 3 years it's been.

We launched ThePeloton.tv as we saw that there was a space for a team that could make broadcast standard video at the kind of cost that traditional production companies would have turned their backs on. We saw that online media companies were the commissioners of the future and that video content would come from traditional content creators

Cycling fetishist Matt had started ThePeloton with a camera and a mac. Bus man Jon quickly partnered with Matt to bring in some much needed clients and our first ever job was created for publisher IDG and IBM. It was the sign of things to come.

Taxi fan Adrian turned his back on the TV industry having seen that ThePeloton.tv were making waves in the world of online video. He looked to add a little intellectual panache and editorial rigour to what was now hours and days' worth of video content leaving ThePeloton Studio every month. His first project with HSBC is still lauded today.

Since then, IT interviews, awards, makeovers, fashion gurus, Prof. Brian Cox, nervous breakdowns, a studio full of 4 year olds, interactive video, cycling, bussing and taxi-ing has seen us through this exciting three years.

Despite rumours of takeovers and million pound investments, ThePeloton.tv resolutely remains focused on creating top quality content. Quality rather than budget is now the key and we have continued to invest in kit, people and techniques. And that means that we stay on top of our game... for you... forever.

Now if you don't mind 'Oops Upside Your Head' has just come on and Adrian is at the head of the train...

jon@thepeloton.tv

www.thepeloton.tv