Brightcove Highlights the Challenge Ahead

I have been keenly following the recent developments at Brightcove, one the world’s leading syndicators of video content. Despite cutting back on staff towards the end of 2008, Brightcove has bounced back with the release of Brightcove Express a new iteration of their service aimed at small and medium businesses and priced accordingly.

Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Brightcove, has always been an evangelist for online video. When he launched the company over five years ago he stated his belief that video would become as commonplace on the web as text.

Discussing the launch of Brightcove Express, Allaire said, “In the last 12 to 18 months, we’ve seen a dramatic rise in the number of company sites that are adding video. These are not media companies, but corporations and organizations of all kinds: consumer goods companies, universities, government agencies. Nonmedia companies are our fastest-growing segment.”

Our experience at EyeView is very similar. We are seeing increasing numbers of commercial sites beginning to harness the power of video for their businesses. Everyone wants video but many are coming to the medium without a clear vision of how their investment will be recouped. Even as video become ubiquitous there is still much uncertainty about the business model behind it. Video must be accountable or it will never succeed.

Brightcove have attempted to go around the issue by lowering the price to make it affordable for everyone, but syndication costs are just one part of the budget for video. Bobby Tulsiani, a senior analyst at Forrester, addressed this problem head-on.

The biggest challenge for Brightcove and its competitors, Tulsiani says, “is whether these company websites will be able to monetize their video content. The continued growth of the market will be determined by whether these companies can justify the cost of creating and serving videos on their sites.’’

It all comes down to establishing clear links between the implementation of video and an increase in engagement, loyalty and, of course, revenue.

Video demands ROI and the companies beginning to embrace the medium will too. The ability to deliver proven revenue gains and authentic analytics packaged with a video that is engaging, persuasive and on-message will be the key that unlocks the full potential of video for online businesses.