If 2005 was the year consumer generated audio (e.g. podcasting) took off, yesterday’s launch…
…of the new video-capable iPod and iTunes is a sure sign that that 2006 will be all about video and vidcasting (or vodcasting if you prefer).
Both citizens and corporations (in the form of advercasts) are going to going to start creating or repurposing their existing content for the small screen.
My initial reaction as a marketer is that we’re going to need a whole slew of new tools to mine all this data – and fast. Thankfully, there are already a few companies rushing to fill this void. One is vodcasts.tv – a Podcast Alley for vidcasts. However, SearchForVideo is an even better example. SearchforVideo does a good job searching for videos and then delivering these results via RSS. They also offer a solid base of general video RSS feeds.
if you think about it, all SearchforVideo (or Google or Yahoo) needs to do is figure out how to convert indexed videos to conform to the iPod’s standards, attach these enclosures to an RSS feed and boom – you have a customized vidcast feed for your iPod. This is easier said than done. There are some big technical and digital rights hurdles here. However, you just know that someone in their spare time is already working to figure this out. Apple is also helping by posting instructions on how to prepare iPod-friendly videos.
Marketers will also jump feet first into advercasting. And why not? They already have vast libraries of video available at their disposal from years of TV and rich media advertising. Imagine if the now defunct BMW films republished their webisodes in vidcast form. I would love to subscribe to these via RSS in iTunes and consume it all on the go on a video-capable iPod. Of course, citizens will jump into the act with their own advercasts as well. (Jose, get your video camera ready!)
This should all be fun to watch – grab some popcorn.
Steve Rubel is a PR strategist with nearly 16 years of public relations, marketing, journalism and communications experience. He currently serves as a Senior Vice President with Edelman, the largest independent global PR firm.
He authors the Micro Persuasion weblog, which tracks how blogs and participatory journalism are changing the public relations practice.
