Adobe Scene7 Blog – MackTalk

Now that eVideo has been shown to come as close as possible to bringing the retail shopping experience online, it's also been made simpler than ever for business users to feature on their sites. In a few clicks of the mouse, anyone (really!) can upload, transcode, edit, manage and stream video content online. And now, video sets and new 'clickable video hotspots' can augment the customer-facing experience--upping the time consumers spend online and consequently spiking conversion.

Okay, but what are clickable video hotspots you ask? Clickable video hotspots take the guesswork out of shopping for consumers by enabling them to "click" on video clips, captions or graphics of interest and link to external references (with more info or a way to buy). For the business user, it's simple to create this cutting-edge effect, with drag-and-drop elements that make it easy to add things like pop-up messaging. Delivering information about your product's availability, inventory level, and color or size options, will captivate your audience and help them reach a purchase decision more quickly--an unstoppable combination!

Don't just take it from us though, a recent survey of US marketers by PermissionTV ranked interactive video experiences as the top future trend in online video.*

By now you're likely imagining how interactive video can help bridge the gap between your products and the purchase decision.

*eMarketer, Video Content: A Premium Opportunity, Aug 2009

Posted by Scene7 at 3:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you want to move merchandise, just showing customers a picture of a product isn't enough. Gone are the days where heavy copy and small imagery moves the needle. Now, displaying a combination of dynamically served product images including alternative views or full 360-degree spin (leveraging interactive zoom and pan) and product video tells the whole story. After all, dynamic zoom and pan enables users to interactively examine a product in detail, 360-degree spin creates an in-store experience, emulating the process of picking up and examining the merchandise, and video completes the story, replacing the in-store clerk, and demonstrating in perfect clarity the product features and benefits--on demand (no waiting for the clerk to finish up with another patron first!). And the ability of video to educate, inform, and show off products in all their glory has proven again and again to complement the product images and details.

The perfect execution leverages an "integrated viewer or player" that serves any type of rich dynamic content (high resolution sets of images including colors, lifestyle and alternative angles for zooming and panning, sets of videos or both). A user must be able to clearly understand which type of content he/she is viewing, as well as have the ability to easily toggle back and forth between each dynamic content type. That is why in the latest Adobe Scene7 release, mixed media viewers have been added as they enable even "non-technical" users to upload, build, publish and serve integrated combinations of videos, images (color and multiple views), SWFs, spin sets and audio.

Titanium Jewelry is a great example of a site that leverages product imagery alongside product video for the ultimate online shopping experience. Customers can see jewelry in as much detail as they might within a retail environment, and the video brings the piece to life - showing every angle of an item of interest.

Field & Stream is another strong example of a site that integrates product photography stills with product video in a tray viewing format for easy access to expanded product detail. Shoppers can toggle between product shots (hero and lifestyle) and video for an end-to-end overview of the desired merchandise. Field & Stream worked with Circumerro Media, its interactive agency to enable the dynamic media display using Scene7.

Posted by Scene7 at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The hot topic of the day still appears to be video production and how to cost-effectively integrate video into your site as a way to create site stickiness via improved merchandising. The YouTube craze is likely making us all aware of more and more success stories – nearly everyone is engaged in either viewing or contributing content these days. Remember, seventy-five percent of U.S. Internet users watch video online during a typical month, according to comScore data. And, since YouTube began making its videos available to smart phones over broadband cellular networks — that has only further expanded the potential audience for online video. As I’ve spoken with more and more etailers on the topic - the motivations for producing promotional Web video are clear… and, production questions frequently come up such as: How can a small (or thin budget) e-business produce videos that will resonate with their customers?

First, I think folks need to step back and really re-think their global resource allocation. How much is currently spent on marketing for your site (six figures, seven figures?) – and how effective is that marketing at getting new customers to your site… and… how well does that new traffic convert to sales? Now, what if all your traffic (both newly acquired and repeat) converted at a higher rate due to having video on your site? Is there a case to be made to reallocate some of your less productive marketing spend – into highly effective conversion spent via video? It is worth doing the analysis – perhaps you can break out of the thin-budget mindset by looking more broadly.

In any event, if you are starting to sort out how to fund a video push – I found this article on eCommerce-guide.com interesting – in that it hones in on some key findings and drills down on helpful hints for avoiding common mistakes when producing video designed to boost sales. I agree with many of the tips provided in this article because, despite YouTube paving the way for low budget production, when people see a video associated with a company, there is still the expectation that it should look more like a polished commercial. And, the only way to get around that is if you actually use customer-submitted footage because then it becomes part of the shtick. The last thing you want to do is make your business or what you sell look cheap. But the irony is that you don't have to spend a lot of money to produce a quality production. If you are thinking about going down the ‘in house production path’, which many companies are pursuing, some key points jumped out at me:

• Get a decent camcorder (will cost $800-$1,500)
• Look for a camcorder with 3 Charged-Coupled Devices (CCDs)
• Invest in balloon-like soft lights (making products and people look good) – lighting is key
• Pin a lavaliere microphone on your subject for better audio, or Use a short shotgun
  microphone
• If you’re going pro, look for XLR audio microphones instead of 1/8-inch mini-plug mics
• Get a tripod that's stable yet light and has a fluid head for camera movement
• Consideration: rent the equipment you need if this is a one-off event!

Learn more from the interview conducted with Larry Jordan, president of Larry Jordan & Associates Inc. , a training firm in the Los Angeles area specializing in post-production.

Posted by Scene7 at 9:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It’s a jungle out there for web retailers, and one of the best survival strategies is watching what’s happening at the top of the food chain. That’s why we bring the most creative, successful web retailers to speak at our annual Adobe Scene7 Customer Experience Live event, which we held last week at Adobe offices in San Francisco.

We were proud to host presentations by three retailers – two large and one small – who lead the pack in building brand loyalty and transforming casual visitors into customers. We’ll be putting out case studies on two of them – Philips, the global electronics company, and Cloudveil, a small manufacturer of high-performance outdoor apparel – in the very near future.

For now, I want to share some of the lessons learned from a presentation by Craig Horsley, manager of site operations for JCPenney’s jcp.com. JCPenney has been in business for more than a century, but it thinking like a start-up in bringing exciting new ideas to web retailing, while also operating more than 1,000 stores in the United States and Puerto Rico. Craig is responsible for new technology on JCPenney’s jcp.com site, which draws 520,000 unique daily visitors to view a selection of 31,000 products.

In one of its first tests of Rich Interactive Applications (RIAs), jcp.com offered a “bed in a bag” product in 2006 where customers could click to see how different patterns for sheets, pillow cases and comforters looked in combination. Sales for the product line were 290 percent over plan, Craig said, helping to resolve internal skepticism regarding the value of RIAs.

Jcp.com has since added interactivity to its Window Design Center for blinds and drapes; provided 360-degree spin for products including shoes; added navigation by both product category and brand; and increased product image sizes by 50 percent.

In October 2008, jcp.com made a big push into video merchandising by launching a “Walk the Runway” feature with models showing off JCPenney clothing lines, as well as offering interviews with fashion designers.

“We let the customer shop the way they want to,” said Craig. The new features, he added, have increased “add to bag” and conversion rates. Craig concluded with his six rules for successful online retailing:

1. Listen to the customer.
2. Make shopping simple.
3. Don’t be afraid to take risks.
4. Measure, measure, measure.
5. Continue to evolve and enhance.
6. Content is king.

Success stories – such as those from Philips, Cloudveil and JCPenney – have always been my favorite way of conveying how Scene7 can help build connections between online retailers and customers. I asked our marketing team to get audience feedback, and we heard the same thing.

“It was great to see what can be done with video,” said Matt Pritchard of Smith & Hawken. “I find it exciting that Scene7 is addressing the gap between common, off-brand solutions and an expensive, custom implementation. Translating the dynamic imaging model to video content is very appealing.”

“I was impressed to see how scalable and applicable Scene7 can be for any industry,” added Charles Solla of ZipRealty. “The breadth of customers represented from consumer electronics such as Philips to JCPenney to Cloudveil clearly demonstrates that Scene7 is a service that anyone can use.”

To watch Craig’s presentation email us and we’ll send you the link to the recording.

Posted by Scene7 at 3:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Since I last wrote about online video in eCommerce, I have received much feedback from customers on what has been successful for them, inquiries on integrating video on their sites and how to do so cost-effectively. We also just finished our second webinar on online video featuring Sucharita Mulpuru from Forrester Research and had more than 500 people register for this session (and over 1000 people total for the two sessions) to learn more – clearly, the interest in leveraging videos for eCommerce is high. I often hear that the #1 barrier to adding video to a website is that the costs of producing the video itself are prohibitive. During our webinars, Sucharita suggested how to get started quickly with videos.

• Easy, short talking points
    – Brief, impactful video (i.e. 1-2 minutes maximum) is all you need
• Use your own employees or vendors
• Leverage inexpensive technology
    – iMac, digital camcorders
    – Need not be executed in a professional studio
• Costs are primarily editing labor and server capacity for most basic executions

The feedback I have been receiving from our customers who have started using video typically is: 
1) The products on which I post videos significantly outperform other products; and
2) I have figured out a cost-effective way to produce my videos (a la Sucharita's suggestions above) - and it was the right decision - it is less important to strive for 'perfection' in video production and more important to produce as many videos as possible. 

What do you think – does offering online videos on your site require expensive production? Post your comments below and let me know.

Also, if you are interested, here is the link to view the full recording of our eVideo webinar.

Posted by Scene7 at 1:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Over the past year, as I’ve spoken at various industry events and trade shows, I’ve felt very ‘lonely’ as I have evangelized the power (and potential) for video in eCommerce. There are two key things that have fueled this belief for me. First, as part of Adobe, I have seen the voracious consumer appetite for web video outside eCommerce - largely media and social networking sites. comScore has been tracking this growth throughout 2008 – noting that in July, 134 million Americans watched 11.4 billion videos… or more than 2 videos per user, per day. This represented 75% of the US Internet population watching video! 6.5 million Americans also watched mobile video in August. comScore’s data shows this isn’t a US-only phenomenon either – more than 25 million people in France watched more than 2 billion videos in September… 26 million Germans watched 219 million hours of web video in August (118 videos per viewer)… and 27 million people in the UK watched more than 3 billion videos in August. Consumers love web video – a lot. Second, through my Scene7 imaging experience, I’ve learned the old adage ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ rings very true in eCommerce. So what is a moving picture (a.k.a. video) worth?

It is obvious how video benefits ‘hardgoods’ categories ala appliances and consumer electronics to demonstrate and review a product; but can video help in any category? I am starting to conclude that it can. One of my favorite videos is on the Littlewoods UK site – a major player in the apparel market. They are an early innovator in video and have gotten ahead of the pack in eCommerce – I think they have more than 1,500 videos at this point, maybe more, many of which they’ve invested to produce themselves. So, check out this video on Littlewoods.com.

Every time I watch this video, I go back to the product page and feel like it pales in comparison to the ‘selling’ that happens in the video. First, the spokesperson has a great personality to convey the ‘fun’ of the brand – and she is very crafty in conveying the utility of the dress, the types of occasions one would wear it, how it would fit, what body types would benefit, etc. It is nearly impossible to get all that information across – in a mere 30 seconds – in any other format. And, did I mention consumers prefer watching video to start off with…?

Not into dresses? If you are a skiing enthusiast – watch this Cloudveil video. The clip shows extreme skiing interspersed with demos of key product features (entertainment and selling). These videos were all internally produced, keeping the quality high but production costs low. I used to think you had to keep your clip under a minute – but when it comes to talking to a targeted audience – in this case, skiing enthusiasts – three minutes of content actually works quite nicely.

Clearly, our industry (eCommerce) has really lagged this consumer trend (opportunity). I’ve been a bit surprised not to see more progress sooner as leading etailers look for the next big conversion and customer experience opportunity. However, I picked up on a research study from eMarketer yesterday that made me think “perhaps the revolution is finally underway.” eMarketer surveyed retailer intentions on new innovations – and adding “video or streaming media” has flown to the top of the list – even ahead of some real stalwarts like reviews and improved search! It would appear those retailers who have been dabbling in video – now have religion – and a strong intention to really make this ‘the next big thing’ to better serve their customers. The link to the study: http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?id=1006883

This move from "dabbling" to "top intended new capability" is exciting for the industry and the consumer. By no coincidence – with my strong belief in video – we at Adobe Scene7 will play a major role to enable (and ease the implementation of) the video revolution in eCommerce. Coincidental with the eMarketer release, we put out this announcement yesterday ourselves: http://www.scene7.com/news/2009/20090126.asp

As Adobe has established a great standard in web video with Flash video – delivering a very elegant and high quality experience for the consumer - and as Scene7 has similarly become the de facto platform for publishing and delivery of images to eCommerce sites, this very much felt like one of those ‘peanut butter meets chocolate’ moments when we became part of Adobe in 2007 and put together our joint product plans to add Flash video publishing. It is really something seeing it all come to reality with consumers, retailers and suppliers all converging on this great opportunity. I can’t wait to watch more moving pictures.

As you think about your video strategy, drop me questions in the comment box and I’ll either respond in the comments or email you back.

Posted by Scene7 at 2:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)