Archives de catégorie : Video Marketing

Métadonnées: le commissaire à la vie privé ne croit pas le CST et réclame qu’on modifie la Loi sur la défense

À l’occasion d’une conférence de presse dans l’amphithéâtre national de la presse à Ottawa, le commissaire à la protection de la vie privée, Daniel Therrien, a commenté son rapport annuel lequel a été déposé ce mardi 27 septembre au Parlement.(Page frontispice du Rapport annuel au Parlement 2015-2016 du commissaire à la protection de la vie privée)
À l’occasion d’une conférence de presse dans l’amphithéâtre national de la presse à Ottawa, le commissaire à la protection de la vie privée, Daniel Therrien, a commenté son rapport annuel lequel a été déposé ce mardi 27 septembre au Parlement.(Page frontispice du Rapport annuel au Parlement 2015-2016 du commissaire à la protection de la vie privée)

Dans son dernier rapport publié ce mardi 27 septembre, commissaire à la vie privée du Canada Daniel Therrien remet en doute dans le cas de la communication de métadonnées l’affirmation du Centre de la sécurité des télécommunications (CST) selon laquelle le risque quant à la vie privée est minime et réclame qu’on modifie la Loi sur la défense nationale.

L’organisme de surveillance CST– le Bureau du Commissaire du Centre de la sécurité des télécommunications – a révélé dans son rapport annuel de 2014-2015 que des métadonnées avaient été transmises à des partenaires internationaux du domaine de la sécurité sans avoir été minimisées adéquatement,rappelle aussi le commissaire Therrien

Il remet en doute l’affirmation du CST selon laquelle le risque quant à la vie privée est minime « Les métadonnées peuvent révéler des renseignements de nature très délicate concernant les activités, les associations, les intérêts et la vie des individus. Par ailleurs, le CST a reconnu qu’une grande quantité de métadonnées avait été communiquée », dit le commissaire.

Conséquemment, même si le ministre de la Défense nationale a annoncé que, jusqu’à nouvel ordre, le CST ne devait plus communiquer certaines métadonnées avec ses partenaires, le commissaire à la vie privée insiste pour que la Loi sur la défense nationale soit modifiée afin de clarifier les pouvoirs du CST et d’ajouter des garanties suffisantes pour protéger la vie privée des Canadiens lors de la collecte des métadonnées.

C-51: des outils du 20e siècle pour des problèmes du 21e siècle, déplore le commissaire à la vie privée

Le commissaire à la vie privée du Canada reproche aussi à Ottawa de ne pas avoir avant son adoption en mai 2015 par les conservateurs fait une véritable évaluation de l’impact sur la vie privée de la mise en oeuvre de cette loi controversée et dit de l’arsenal déployé par le gouvernement précédent pour combattre le terroriste qu’il s’agit « d’outils du 20e siècle pour résoudre des problèmes du 21e siècle ».

De plus, il remet en doute dans le cas de la communication de métadonnées l’affirmation du CST selon laquelle le risque quant à la vie privée est minime .

Dans un rapport déposé mardi matin aux Communes, le commissaire dit s’étonner de voir que la plupart des ministères n’ont pas fait l’exercice, alors que cette loi – Loi sur la communication d’information ayant trait à la sécurité du Canada – a été présentée à l’époque par le gouvernement Harper comme «essentielle» pour protéger le public.

Cette loi antiterroriste, représentative de l’approche sécuritaire des conservateurs, donnait des pouvoirs accrus au Service canadien du renseignement de sécurité (SCRS) pour contrecarrer les présumés complots terroristes, accroissait aussi l’échange d’information de sécurité entre organisations et agences fédérales, élargissait la portée des interdictions de vol et créait une nouvelle infraction criminelle d’encouragement à commettre un acte terroriste.

C-51 facilitait aussi l’obtention par la Gendarmerie royale du Canada (GRC) d’une ordonnance de garder la paix pour restreindre les mouvements d’un suspect et prolonger les détentions préventives.

Cette loi a été maintes fois dénoncée par ceux qui s’inquiètaient ( et s’inquiètent toujours) des droits individuels et de la protection de la vie privée. Les libéraux avaient promis d’y voir lorsqu’ils seraient au pouvoir.

« À mesure que les défis engendrés par les technologies du 21e siècle prennent de l’ampleur et que les modèles d’affaires évoluent, nous devons nous rendre à l’évidence: même en faisant tout notre possible pour réaliser des gains d’efficience et canaliser nos efforts, les outils à notre disposition pour protéger et promouvoir le droit des individus, à la vie privée sont de plus en plus insuffisants », dit aujourd’hui le commissaire Therrien dans son rapport.

« Nous essayons de nous servir d’outils du 20e siècle pour résoudre des problèmes du 21e siècle et il est évident que ces outils sont de plus en plus insuffisants », a indiqué le commissaire, qui souligne qu’entre temps, 90 % des Canadiens sont très préoccupés par leur incapacité à protéger leurs renseignements personnels.

« Il faut apporter des modifications à la loi, aux cadres juridiques ainsi qu’aux ministères et sensibiliser les gens afin que le Canada retrouve sa place comme chef de file de la protection de la vie privée et que les Canadiens en arrivent à exercer un meilleur contrôle sur leurs renseignements personnels », conclut le commissaire à la vie privée.

La révision de C-51 commence pour de bon aujourd’hui

Le rapport du commissaire à la vie privée apporte de l’eau au moulin du gouvernement de Justin Trudeau qui, tel que promis en campagne électorale, a déposé au Communes une loi pour former un comité de parlementaires qui surveilleront à l’avenir les agissements des agences de sécurité telles que la GRC ou le SCRS.

Les Communes entament cet après-midi l’étude en deuxième lecture de ce projet de loi C-22, décrit par le ministre de la Sécurité publique Ralph Goodale «la pierre angulaire» de la révision de C-51.

160927 Rapport Comm Vie Privee 201516 Fra

Plus d’appareils de loterie vidéo dans les bars – ICI.Radio

Actuellement, les tenanciers de bar qui détiennent un permis d’alcool ne peuvent détenir plus de cinq appareils de loterie vidéo. L’adoption de la loi 74, en mai dernier, élimine cette limite. 

Toutefois, les propriétaires de bar qui souhaitent augmenter leur nombre d’appareils devront respecter les mêmes critères socio-économiques qu’actuellement.

Par exemple, il ne peut y avoir plus de 2 appareils par 1000 habitants et le quartier dans lequel se trouve l’établissement doit compter moins de 12 % de ménages à faible revenu. Les tenanciers doivent également respecter une zone d’exclusion d’un rayon de 2,3 kilomètres autour des salons de jeu.

Loto-Québec précise que le nombre total d’appareils en circulation, qui s’établit à près de 12 000, n’augmentera pas pour autant.

L’assouplissement pourrait néanmoins permettre à la société d’État de redéployer les 375 appareils qui n’ont pas trouvé preneurs l’an dernier en raison de la limite imposée aux détenteurs de permis.  

La société d’État espère ainsi voir augmenter ses revenus, qui sont de l’ordre de 888 millions de dollars.

Le ministre Leitao rassurant

Le ministre des Finances a voulu se faire rassurant quant aux inquiétudes soulevées par l’abolition du plafond imposé aux tenanciers.

Selon Carlos Leitao, la nouvelle loi n’entraînera pas une plus grande concentration des appareils. « Avec les critères socio-économiques, je vois très mal comment il peut y avoir une augmentation de la concentration. Les critères sont très stricts. »

Il affirme également qu’il songe à la possibilité de réduire à 10 000 le nombre d’appareils en circulation.

L’opposition déçue

La Coalition avenir Québec s’est dite déçue des nouvelles règles. Le chef de la CAQ, François Legault, n’a pas caché son mépris pour les appareils de loterie vidéo.

Je déteste les appareils de loterie vidéo. Il y a des gens pour qui ça détruit leur vie. Quand il y a plus de cinq appareils, ça crée un effet d’entraînement chez d’autres personnes. Ce que je souhaite, c’est qu’on les élimine tous 

François Legault, chef, CAQ
Le propriétaire du Blaxton de Lévis attend avec impatience ses nouveaux ALV
Le propriétaire du Blaxton de Lévis attend avec impatience ses nouveaux ALV  
Photo : RADIO-CANADA / Marc-Antoine Lavoie

Des tenanciers de bar contents

Le propriétaire du Pub Blaxton de Lévis attend avec impatience que les nouvelles règles du jeu entrent en vigueur. Antoine Rouleau a déjà effectué les modifications nécessaires pour accueillir six appareils de loterie de plus. Il en détient quatre actuellement. « La nouvelle loi va nous amener jusqu’à 10 machines ou plus, ou à un nombre illimité de machines pour un seul permis de bar. »

M. Rouleau ne croit pas que l’augmentation de l’offre puisse accentuer les problèmes de dépendance au jeu. « En étant dans un quartier plus favorisé, j’ai de la misère à dire qu’on voit les joueurs où ça crée une dépendance. »

Même son de cloche pour le propriétaire du Pub Edward, à Québec. André Morissette a entrepris lui aussi des démarches pour avoir cinq ALV de plus dans son établissement. Il admet candidement que ces appareils rapportent beaucoup d’argent.

Une machine, c’est plus rentable qu’une table avec de la nourriture.

André Morissette, propriétaire, Pub Edward

Les nouvelles mesures entreront en vigueur lors de la publication d’un décret ministériel, qui est devrait survenir au cours des prochaines semaines.

Shimon Peres s’éteint

«Oui, en effet», a répondu Rafi Walden, également gendre de M. Peres, joint au téléphone par l’AFP. Il s’est éteint dans son sommeil «à 3h du matin» (20h, heure du Québec), a-t-il dit.

M. Peres est décédé entouré des membres de sa famille, a indiqué un proche sous le couvert de l’anonymat. Ses proches devaient faire une déclaration à la presse vers 7h à l’hôpital Tel-Hashomer de Ramat Gan, proche de Tel-Aviv, où il avait été admis il y a deux semaines.

Avec Shimon Peres disparaît une figure historique, dernier survivant de la génération des pères fondateurs de l’État d’Israël et l’un des principaux artisans des accords d’Oslo qui ont jeté les bases d’une autonomie palestinienne dans les années 90.

M. Peres était le seul encore vivant des trois hommes à avoir été distingués du Nobel de la paix en 1994 «pour leurs efforts en faveur de la paix au Moyen-Orient», après la disparition de l’Israélien Yitzhak Rabin et du Palestinien Yasser Arafat.

M. Peres avait été victime le 13 septembre d’un accident vasculaire cérébral (AVC) majeur accompagné d’une hémorragie interne. Il avait alors été placé sous respirateur et sédatifs en soins intensifs à l’hôpital Tel-Hashomer.

Ses médecins avaient immédiatement présenté son état comme critique, mais avaient ensuite évoqué une stabilisation puis une petite amélioration.

Ils avaient dit leur intention de diminuer l’assistance respiratoire et la sédation pour évaluer sa réaction.

Mais son état s’était dégradé depuis lundi, a dit à l’AFP une source dans son entourage sous le couvert de l’anonymat.

«Le président est entre la vie et la mort», reconnaissait-elle mardi.

Ses enfants et petits-enfants ont été appelés à l’hôpital, a-t-elle dit.

Des dizaines de journalistes se sont installés dans le hall de Tel-Hashomer, tendant leurs câbles de transmission, alors que déambulaient des patients en pyjama, curieux ou indifférents à cette agitation.

Sage de la nation

Depuis son hospitalisation, le pape François, les présidents américain Barack Obama et russe Vladimir Poutine, les Clinton et Donald Trump avaient envoyé des messages de soutien.

Le secrétaire général de l’ONU, Ban Ki-moon, lui avait souhaité «un prompt et complet rétablissement», ajoutant que M. Peres avait été «infatigable dans sa quête de la paix entre les Israéliens et les Palestiniens».

Barack Obama, rencontrant le premier ministre israélien Benyamin Nétanyahou la semaine dernière à New York, avait adressé ses pensées à M. Peres, «un grand ami, un héros et un géant de l’histoire d’Israël».

Dans son propre pays, après avoir été au coeur des grandes batailles de la courte histoire d’Israël et des farouches controverses d’un monde politique israélien féroce, M. Peres était devenu une personnalité largement consensuelle, considérée comme un sage de la nation.

Les responsables israéliens ont défilé depuis deux semaines à l’hôpital : M. Nétanyahou ou le président Reuven Rivlin il y a deux semaines, le chef de l’opposition travailliste Isaac Herzog ou le ministre ultra-orthodoxe de l’Intérieur Arye Deri mardi.

Premier ministre à deux reprises, entre 1984 et 1986 et en 1995-1996, puis président de 2007 à 2014, M. Peres avait occupé pendant plus de 50 ans de vie publique de nombreux postes à responsabilité : Défense, Affaires étrangères, Finances…

Entré en politique à 25 ans grâce à David Ben Gourion, fondateur d’Israël, M. Peres était aussi considéré comme le père du programme nucléaire israélien.

Malgré les accords d’Oslo et malgré la conversion à la paix de l’ancien faucon travailliste, les Palestiniens ont une vision bien plus noire de celui qui a cautionné les premières colonies juives de Cisjordanie occupée et qui était premier ministre quand l’aviation israélienne a bombardé le village libanais de Cana, tuant 106 civils en avril 1996.

Après la présidence, M. Peres était resté actif à travers son Centre Peres pour la paix, qui promeut la coexistence entre juifs et Arabes, au moment où les perspectives de règlement du conflit israélo-palestinien ont rarement été plus sombres. Mais il avait subi un coup d’arrêt avec deux alertes cardiaques en janvier.

LOOK Japanese eel farming ad comes under fire for sexist nature

A new video created to promote Shibushi city, Japan as an eel farming haven, has resulted in widespread outrage. Many netizens criticised the ad for being sexist and “perverse”. The ad in question features a young girl in a black one piece swimsuit lounging around the pool. She is seen swimming, sunbathing at the side of the pool while eating.

It is later revealed that she is an eel as she peacefully rests on a bed of flames – alluding to grilled eel which is a popular Japanese dish. She then dives into the pool as an eel, bidding a cheerful goodbye to viewers. The video then concludes with a statement saying “We’re farming (eels) with care.”

This is the strange ad:

In a statement to AFP, a local official from the city of Shibushi said that the organisation was aware that people were offended at the ad, which was deemed demeaning to women. The video has since been pulled from the original source.

“We just wanted to make a video that simply explains the city is known for eel farming,” the official added to AFP.

Facebook’s video screwup: A tipping point for brands to be more discerning? – Campaign Asia

ASIA PACIFIC – Facebook’s admission that it had overestimated average viewing time for video ads on its platform—for two years—has once again underscored the need for brands to more carefully evaluate their video strategies and measurement approaches.

Multiple industry commentators contacted by Campaign Asia-Pacific noted that the lack of transparency and third-party verification of metrics provided by ‘walled gardens’ has long been a point of contention.

Ranji David, marketing director at the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), said measurement should not only be consistent (standardised by market and platform) and robust (it must stand up to industry guidance) but also independently verified by a third party in addition to media owners.

Trust issues

“Underpinning all of this is trust—and that’s absolutely critical because without reliable data brands simply can’t make well-informed decisions and that doubt will inevitably impact investment confidence,” she added.

Rene Menezes, co-founder at CtrlShift, said he was curious why the admission took as long as it did, as Facebook has historically shown that it does genuinely want to provide the best possible metrics for its clients.

“Remember when they culled all the dodgy likes from corporate pages? » Menezes asked. « It wasn’t easy to do and was definitely not a popular move to many, but they went ahead and did it anyway. They must, however, deal with these issues with far greater urgency. Not taking the bull by the horns just compounds the trust issues, especially relating to these ‘closed’ platforms.”

After Facebook’s admission went public, the company has been on what has been dubbed an ‘apology tour’.

“The metric should have reflected the total time spent watching a video divided by the total number of people who played the video. But it didn’t,” said David Fischer, vice president of business and marketing partnerships, in a Facebook post. “While this is only one of the many metrics marketers look at, we take any mistake seriously.”

During Advertising Week, currently being held in New York, Facebook marketing chief Carolyn Everson stated that clients and agencies were told of the miscalculation when it was discovered last month, but that it should have come clean sooner.

Menezes noted that the larger any single media platform becomes, the greater its willingness must be to be open so that advertisers can get reassurance that they are spending their money efficiently and effectively.

“Even some of the smallest companies out there allow third-party tracking, » Menezes said. « I don’t see why Facebook would fight this. It helps the entire industry.”

Look at view quality, not just views

Unruly’s chief commercial officer in APAC, Phil Townend, said that it is not surprising that a lack of third-party verification can lead to misunderstandings and discrepancies.

“Hopefully this will provide a tipping point for clients to start to look beyond the view and measure video effectiveness based on meaningful metrics,” he added. “For too long we’ve seen brands fixate on vanity metrics such as view counters rather than looking at the actual quality of the view and how it is performing against brand metrics and ROI.”

According to a report by MarketingLand, more than 20 percent of Facebook’s 4 million advertisers have created a video ad in the past month. However, the bulk of video ad buys don’t come from its largest pool of advertisers, with 70 percent of those advertisers coming from outside of the US.

Facebook is adding the most advertisers in Southeast Asia, where due to still-developing communications infrastructure, many are most likely better served by the company’s slideshow ads or text-and-photo placements, rather than video spots.

While a few clients have reached out to CtrlShift about the matter, Menezes doubts Facebook’s miscalculations will have a significant impact in Asia, having cemented its place in media plans as a staple of almost any campaign.

He added that the only headwind will be that marketers and agencies will now have to develop new benchmarks for this metric of their video campaign performance as the expected discrepancy between previous numbers and new numbers are estimated to be between 60 to 80 percent.

Explore other avenues

“In many of the markets we operate in, when a client says ‘video’, what they’re actually thinking is ‘YouTube and Facebook’, » Menezes said. « So this is definitely a good time for clients to re-evaluate the composition of their video spends and give some of the other video avenues which they have brushed aside, such as programmatic, a try.”

Townend echoed Menezes’ point about diversification of platforms, noting that this is an opportunity for brands to consider reaching audiences across a much broader range of premium environments, where third-party tracking is standard and audiences are deeply engaged. Especially when up to 50 percent of views in some key APAC markets take place across the open web (sites outside of YouTube and Facebook).

He also pointed out that low cost per reach is also a bit of a misleading metric because if a view is counted at three seconds and the brand isn’t revealed until much later, that’s cost per wastage. 

“Why spend all that money on production if a user only sees a fragment of the video ad?” he asked. “Transparency is a critical issue for our industry, and we expect more brands will be requesting third-party validation or looking to other vendors who can offer independent, objective auditing of video campaigns.”

Menezes noted that average viewing time is only one metric out of many that are used to measure video campaign performance.

No ‘us against them’

“Let’s not get too caught up on this, as savvy marketers should be doing their part to determine performance using a combination of this and the many other metrics available,” he added.

WFA’s David reported that to address the issue of Media Quality and Measurement, the WFA is currently working to develop global guidance on the topic.

In addition to the WFA Ad Fraud compendium launched in June this year, the organisation also conducted a half-day session on the topic in KL last month with a repeat session planned for the end of October in Singapore.

“It’s not a ‘them-against-us’ scenario,” she said. “Brands will need to empower themselves to understand the challenges they are facing and must work seamlessly with partners and publishers to address these issues.”

Ocean Park “VR-gearing” up for Halloween Fest

With just one more month to go before Halloween, Ocean Park, one of the largest amusement parks in the region, is once again gearing up for some frightful fun.

This year, the park is trying a new marketing approach to engage its customers with the use of 360 degree video and VR technology. Starring Helena Law, a local actress known for her roles in horror movies, Ocean Park’s latest 360 degree video released online bring viewers into a haunted school.

The theme park advises audiences to play the video with headphones – if you dare!

In the video, Law acts as the principal of the haunted school and helps the viewer “get out”. Launched on September 18th, it has generated over 691k views, 7.4k likes, 2.9k comments and 15,090 shares in 10 days’ time, resulting in a 12% engagement rate.

Representatives from Ocean Park said they were bringing in the technology with an attempt to surprise its audiences, “Hong Kong people are ever-curious about new things. We would love to bring in new elements for some new impacts.”

To further enhance the 360 degree video experience, the park will also cooperate with Samsung VR gear for a haunted school bus tour in October, and offer audiences an experience of their 360 video in the gear at their truck. More details will be revealed shortly.

The latest TVC will also be in line with the new approach, as it consists of a number of POV (point-of-view) shots.

Webmaster For Hire Announced New Video Marketing & Video Advertising Packages

(MENAFN Press) Webmaster For Hire now provides Florida companies with cost-effective video marketing and advertising options to take advantage of the growing online video market.

Webmaster For Hire, LLC,just announced the release of new video marketing video advertising packages. These packages are designed to allow local small businesses cost-effective opportunities to take advantage of the growing internet video market.

YouTube, only one of many video platforms online, has a huge demographic reach. Over 80% of all internet users (including Millennials and older generations) watch videos on YouTube. It has become one of the most used search engines, which isn »t much of a surprise as Google now owns it.

The outreach potential of this medium is largely untapped by businesses. Roughly 9% of small businesses have a YouTube channel. Less post videos regularly. Even less have effective videos, designed for the unique YouTube market.

Small businesses often don »t have the resources to devote to video content. Production costs can be astronomical. They can be at a loss for what to create and how. Also, just posting a video to a YouTube channel isn »t enough. True video marketing gets the video out to as many different platforms as possible and is focused on targeting people ready to use the service or product offered.

Regarding Webmaster For Hire’s new video marketing and video advertising packages, small business owners can choose from a variety of useful products and services to help promote their brands. Here are some of the new packages now being offered by their video marketing consultants:

1.A2V (Article to Video) – A2Vs are an effective marketing tool that allows companies to connect with customers and transmit important information regarding products and services. It takes the content of a blog article and translates it into a video. Webmaster For Hire provides this presentation style tool with images to local buness owners who want to increase their online exposure. Some additional features of this package include: music, logo with company name and a Call to Action(CTA) with phone and web address.

2.In-Person Client Testimonial – This interview-style video marketing package features a customer (or customers) on screen for up to three minutes. Optional add-ons include video caption/transcription, YouTube channel creation, and custom intros.
3.Slideshow Style Video – This package showcases either stock or client provided images including call-out text with male or female voice overs. Final video time is approximately 90 seconds and includes library music, scripting, and up to three revisions.
4.Self-Promo – Self-Promo videos features business owners on camera speaking about their respective brands. These 60-second videos are introduced with a logo and company name and close with a CTA and business contact information.
5.Explanation Videos – Custom graphics with voiceovers highlight these 60-second video advertising packages. They also include animation and up to three revisions.
6.Whiteboard Videos – A hand-drawn scenes video that also introduces logo and company name.
7.Spokesperson – This package includes a male or female actor who advocates on behalf of your brand. Video length is up to three minutes.

Small business owners are encouraged to contact Webmaster For Hire regarding services that they are interested in and one of their representatives will either schedule a conference call or an in-person appointment.

Webmaster For Hire, LLC, is a leader in the Web Marketing Services industry around the greater West Palm Beach, FL vicinity. Full-service online marketing is just one of the many strategies offered from this company. They offer search engine optimization, local maps marketing, online review marketing and eNewsletter marketing. They also provide small businesses with responsive website design services and site logistics.

Adidas Invites You to Create Your Own Neo Outfit via Snapchat

Adidas is inviting consumers to enter a design contest for its Adidas Neo sneakers label via Snapchat, with the chance to turn their designs into real outfits.

Budding designers are invited to sign up to Snapchat, then create and edit their own footwear and fashion designs on the platform, using a doodle tool on a photo of a model wearing a white outfit and shoes. Four winners will be flown to the Adidas HQ Germany to have their designs turned into real items.

The campaign launched over the weekend with a funky little online film, seen here, created by Iris Worldwide’s London office and produced by Skunk.

Comcast Moves Toward Hybrid Pay-TV Apps

What do you do when HTML5 doesn’t pan out as a panacea? When it comes to pay-TV apps, you start looking at hybrid alternatives.

At a workshop on « Delivering Video Services to Customer-owned Devices » at the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo event this week, the message to attendees was a cautionary one about the limits of HTML5 development. According to Matt Kalman, a principal consultant on cable, media and wireless at the Interactive Broadband Consulting Group LLC (IBB) , the industry is starting to coalesce around video player standards in HTML5, but the foundation doesn’t exist yet for a write-once/read-everywhere app development system. And in fact, even as hybrid apps are gaining traction, the bulk of TV app development is still done in the service of native app platforms such as Roku, Android, iOS and Amazon Fire TV.

Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK)’s SVP of software development engineering, Matt Zelesko, agreed with Kalman’s assessment, but he also disclosed that Comcast, at least, is already moving toward a hybrid-app approach in porting its X1 service to new devices.

« I think we’re really coming down somewhere in the middle, meaning I would expect the platforms we build are going to be hybrid platforms, » said Zelesko. « So you’re going to have the ability to do a native rendering experience, and that’s typically when the performance — the frame rate, the animations that you really want to get a top-tier experience — when you really need that, sometimes you may still need to go native. But there are large parts of the UI, and particularly as we start looking at a third-party app ecosystem on X1, that we’d love to drive through an HTML5 basis. And in fact we’re moving in that direction now. »


Want to know more about video and TV market trends? Check out our dedicated video services content channel here on Light Reading.


The issue of how apps are developed for different TV platforms is an important one, particularly in light of the FCC vote scheduled for this week. The FCC has proposed that pay-TV providers be required to create apps that allow their services to run on major third-party platforms, and it’s recommended that operators be required to go through a licensing body as those apps are developed. (See FCC’s New Pay-TV Plan: Shove It Up Your App.)

There was some concern that creating a standardized licensing process would lead operators to default to a lowest-common-denominator HTML5 app version. (See Roku: HTML5 No Panacea for TV Apps.)

However, a recent filing by Roku Inc. with the FCC now suggests that the Commission is willing to make provisions for native platform extensions as appropriate. According to the filing, the FCC is considering defining a standard app license so that it « will include technical appendices addressing any features unique to a particular widely deployed platform. »

In other words, pay-TV providers may end up with the responsibility for developing apps that meet some platform-specific requirements as outlined in existing Software Development Kits (SDKs).

So how should operators handle this situation? Regardless of the politics, Kalman believes that pay-TV providers should strive for modularity and re-usability via HTML5, but also plan to address all of the major native platform ecosystems by, yes, working through those platform SDKs. Not only does working through an SDK ensure an app is delivered efficiently, it also gives pay-TV providers an opportunity to work with retail hardware players on the troubleshooting experience.

And as the move away from a traditional leased-set-top model continues, that issue of troubleshooting is going to become increasingly important.

— Mari Silbey, Senior Editor, Cable/Video, Light Reading

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Email Video Marketing: Everything You Need to Know to Get Started



What if we told you there was a video marketing tactic that could increase your business’s revenue by 40 percent? It’s not a new trend, either; it’s been around for years, in fact. We’re talking about video email marketing.

Video-Email-Marketing-Tips-1That’s right — putting video in your emails instead of solely on video distribution platforms can greatly increase click-throughs, revenue, and more. GetResponse found videos embedded in emails sent out to subscribers tend to result in a 20 percent increase in return-on-investment (ROI), a 24 percent increase in conversion rates, and overall 40 percent higher revenues than brands that don’t use video email marketing. Additionally, Forrester Research discovered videos in email tend to increase click-through rates 200-300 percent.

With all the benefits of video email marketing, you’d expect more brands and companies to be all over this tactic. Part of why many don’t use it, however, is because it’s been tricky to implement. Until recently, the internet lacked a standardized video format before the more widespread adoption of HTML5, a coding language which has improved the deliverability of multimedia like video. Many email service providers now support HTML5, and therefore the seamless playback and inclusion of video in emails.

Now, including videos in your emails is easier than ever, and also a smart choice when looking to increase your company’s conversions and sales. Here’s how to get started:

Produce Great Video — Always

Before you can include video in your email campaigns, you need to have a clear vision and production plan for the clips in question. Make sure you understand exactly why you’re making each individual video (Is it for driving more sales? Providing more information? Driving brand awareness?), as well as what you want viewers to do after they watch the videos in your emails, such as purchase your product or leave a comment on a related blog post.

You also need to follow the rules of quality video production for each piece of content you create for email. This means filming a well-lit video which has superb, clear audio, even if you’re doing an animated piece. The video should also be edited for the flow and length appropriate for the goals you set up beforehand. For example, if you want to inform customers, your video will more likely be in the three- to five-minute range, as compared to a shorter, one-minute clip on the release of a new product.

Take Tech into Account

Charity:Water not only utilized video within this email, but they made it the primary focus with a large fallback image and very clear 'play' button.

Charity:Water not only used video within this email, but it made video the primary focus with a large fallback image and a clear Play button.

Despite the rapid proliferation of HTML5, not all email providers support it, which means some won’t be able to show or play videos included with your emails. It’s best to check with your email provider in particular and follow their instructions on embedding videos in emails. You can also use a service like Viwomail, Covideo, or BombBomb to help ensure you always deliver videos in a viewable, no-strings-attached format.

As of this writing, Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Outlook, and Android devices don’t support HTML5 video in email. Apple Mail, some iOS devices, and Outlook.com do.

Whether you embed a video in your email client or work through a video email marketing service, there’s one rule of thumb you must always follow: Include a fallback image. A fallback image is a screenshot of your video with a Play button placed over the image so that it looks like a video. Link the image of your video to where the video is hosted (perhaps on YouTube, Vimeo, or Wistia, for example). It’s best to include a fallback image with all of your videos, if given the option, in case any of your subscribers are unable to view the videos.

Include the Word “Video” in the Subject Line

Subject lines can be agonizing to write as they’re often the key to whether or not a subscriber opens an email. The good news is that by simply using the word video in your subject line, open rates increase dramatically. Cisco found using video in an email subject line can increase open rates anywhere from 7 to 13 percent.

Test it for yourself: Create a series of emails all containing videos with the word video in the subject lines. Compare the open rates of these emails to the rates for your plain-text campaigns, and see which type your subscribers prefer interacting with on average.

Avoid Autoplaying Videos in Email

Some email providers that support video playback within emails may let you opt to turn on autoplay. However, you should avoid the temptation to do so, because it’s simply an unpopular choice. In a survey by Ask Your Target Market, 53 percent of respondents said they can’t stand autoplay videos. Autoplay has even been dubbed “the most hated digital ad tactic, by Digiday.”

Business coach Marie Forleo routinely includes her latest MarieTV video episodes in her emails to subscribers.

Business coach Marie Forleo routinely includes her latest MarieTV video episodes in her emails to subscribers.

 

That said, you can opt to make your videos autoplay, but with a few precautions in mind. Make sure you can track if subscribers close or delete the offending email faster because of the autoplay, and be willing to turn the option back off if you think it’s negatively affecting your open rates as well as user experience.

Include a CTA

It’s important to provide a call-to-action (CTA) within the videos you embed in your emails. For example, you can ask people to download your latest white paper, read your newest blog post, or sign up for to be notified when a product launches. Provide the related link below the video in text format, and you’re good to go.

Make sure you only include one CTA per video, however, so as not to confuse or ask too much of your viewers. And, if your video is publicly hosted somewhere like YouTube or Vimeo, make sure you include the CTA link in those descriptions as well, in case a non-subscriber finds them online.

Video email marketing is essentially a no-brainer when you consider the positive impact it can have on your business. When 20 percent ROI and 40 percent more revenue is on the line, you shouldn’t hesitate to try this proven marketing technique in emails you send to subscribers. The worst that can happen is you discover your subscribers don’t prefer to receive videos (and if that’s the case, you have a decidedly unusual group of subscribers). Start by following these five tips for video email marketing success, and you’ll find yourself on the path to more opens, more click-throughs, and more profits in no time.