Believe It: It Takes a Village to Build a Video Business

WASHINGTON, DC --  To succeed with monetizing online video, media companies need to better understand their audiences --  but they don't, said Caroline Little, former CEO of Washington Post/Newsweek Interactive who is now CEO of the Guardian News & Media, North America.

And, they need to build targeted audiences with strong content, a clear brand identity, and an in-depth understanding of their viewers.  This was the big takeaway from the Beet.TV Online Video Roundtable in Washington last week at the Embassy of Finland.

Media companies are "not closing the deal" with online video, declared Brightcove's Jeff Whatcott.  He said that media companies should take a page from the Obama campaign video strategy handbook. The campaign had detailed knowledge of its supporters and created effective, targeted content that had demonstrative impact.

Boston-based Brightcove provides video services to The Washington Post, The New York Times, Gannett, Time.com, and many other publishers.

Dan Farber, Editor-in-Chief of CBSNews.com, said that for too long media companies simply threw up a Web site or a TV show, hoping to succeed.  Now, success will be determined by creating content around targeted communities, he said.

Mark Whitaker, NBC News DC Bureau Chief, pointed out that the cost-per thousand revenue model doesn't work as had hoped, and the industry needs to focus on targeted audiences with quality content.

How the Obama Campaign Used Targeted Video and Strategies at Discovery and the Atlantic Monthly

In a second video on this post, please find below, Max Harper a a senior Obama campaign video strategist spoke about the the campaign's use of targeted video.   Also in this clip is Miguel Monteverde, head of news at Discovery Online, and Scott Haven who heads online video. They spoke about successful video strategies.

If you'd like to watch the entire, two-hour event, it's running as a continuous loop on our Livestream channel.

Andy Plesser, Executive Producer

Disclaimer and Acknowledgment:  Brightcove sponsored last week's event in D.C. Special thanks to Jeff Whatcott for his gracious comments in this clip about Beet.TV and his company's sponsorship. We are most grateful.