Maryrose Lyons blogging since 2003...

2007 : Year of Flash Video

February 22, 2007 at 8:11 pm

Or more precisely, the year that flash video shifts from being something ‘clunky’ to being ‘content’.

Video as Content

Our belief is that the time has come for Irish businesses to shift their perception as to what is web content.

Back in the early 1990′s it was all about big images and rotating gifs. Eye tracking studies revealed that our brains process words and headlines. Now our sites are constructed to maximize impact and facilitate large amounts of data going into the brain in as few seconds as possible. View some classy examples here, here, and here.

What we’re very excited about at Brightspark is that we’re moving into a new phase: where video becomes content and key messages are delivered in a way that we’ve known and loved for decades – through video.

Here’s what I mean…

We’ve always believed that Flash adds value to a site when used to convey complex or technical messages. If you can’t describe it in 150 words, or if you find yourself relying on diagrams and charts, then move it to Flash.

Now we’re seeing Flash blended with video to distil multiple and complex messages, into user friendly videos of no more than 2 or 3 minutes long. My favourite example of this is salesforce.com. Go visit the site, select ‘View Demos’, and see how technical sales messages are being done right now.

Last week in the US, severe weather conditions caused many JetBlue airline passengers to get stranded. JetBlue responded by issuing a video apology - direct from its CEO on Youtube (and its own site of course). Watch it on Youtube and read the responses – people are responding well to Geoff. That’s because he’s coming across as real, concerned, and credible.

The New York Times has been broadcasting audio, video and photographic images of key stories on its home page for some time now. Right now at the bottom left of its home page, you can choose from stories relating to politics, opinion, sport, and of course whether Forest Whittaker is going to win an Oscar for his portrayal of Idi Amin in this weekend’s Oscars.

Yes, it’s a pity that the sites above are all in the US. I found it difficult to find some Irish examples. But I bet that this time next year that will be a very different scenario. I’m reminded of 2003, when I decided to go for a blog on this site instead of pdf downloads of ‘marketing tips’ or other twaddle. Some people questioned whether this latest ‘craze for web diaries’ would last. Well it did. And it has. And blogs have now evolved to be valuable business tools on so many levels.

I’ve got the same feeling about Flash Video. Now’s the time to get into it, so that when everyone’s at it, you’ll have experience and will know what works for you. If you have a message that could best be communicated by Flash Video, and you’d like to know more about the steps involved in getting a flash video on your site, you know what to do: contact us!

Flash Video : Nuts & Bolts

The tools that we use to create Flash video content have been improving and since the release of Flash 8 last year, it’s been really easy to add video to a website. Quality is improved and file size reduced.

At the same time, broadband penetration and the fact that 97.3% of internet enabled computers have Flash readers means that practically everyone can view Flash videos. While the popularity of sites like Youtube, MySpace, and Google Video highlights the fact that there are many millions of people who want to.

Much has been written about consumer generated video content and the mainstream media is now alert to the fact that people are equipped with the tools to record and publish on the fly using mobile phones and webcams, using YouTube and MySpace to broadcast.

Thanks to Tom Green whose series of articles on flash video inspired me to write this!

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