Joost isn’t dead, it’s just getting more advertising.
Adconion‘s main aim in acquiring the video firm is to offer its web player to brand marketing clients, CEO Tyler Moebius told paidContent.org. But Adconion’s acquisition also includes the Joost.com trademark and rights for much of Joost’s TV content…
Though Joost itself had decided to exit the consumer video space to focus on white-labeling, Adconion will continue to operate the Joost.com consumer site and will go on seeking new Joost.com video content, he said…
“We’ll continue to pursue a strategy of aggregating premium content,” Moebius said, who is retaining a 12-strong Joost engineering team in New York, pledging: “We’ll continue to innovate on the Joost platform.”
But building an audience for strands like Transformers and Martial Arts TV, where Joost before could not, is not the centrepiece of Adconion’s strategy here. Rather, Joost’s embeddable player and portal site will both become spaces on which to sell ads and a window through which marketing clients can show their emerging wave of branded content...
“Acquiring their technology platform will enable us to combine it with our existing ad-serving solution to provide a white-label solution to publishers and advertisers,” Moebius said. “Now we’ll be able to provide those publishers with a branded video player and iPhone app” (Joost’s app is still available; counterparts Babelgum and Livestation have recently been white-labeling their iPhone apps to other media orgs).
After launching its Adconion.tv imprint in a big video foray last year, Adconion already has its own content development and syndication arm, RedLever (formed after acquiring LA digital studio KTV), ready to produce those videos for clients (it’s already produced a Late Night Jukebox series on behalf of McDonald’s, featuring artists from Sony’s Epic record label).
Adconion will offer its customers a customised Joost player for their own site, distribution for their branded content through those players and on the Joost.com portal, and overlay ads on Joost.com’s existing content (preroll, midroll, postroll, overlay)...
So, Joost.com survives, but may be more marketing-heavy than before. Moebius presumably isn’t as intrigued by the opportunity to make Joost succeed as a VOD portal in its original form as he is by its potential as an advertising canvas - ex Joost CEO Mike Volpi already conceded to paidContent:UK in June that Joost had been rendered unattractive by the Hulus and iPlayers of this world. That prompted the switch toward technology white-labeling - Adconion will get white-label clients Joost had since scooped up, Moebius said, but Joost’s previous managers had let advertisers go when they made the shift, he added.
“When we first looked at the video landscape two years ago, the biggest challenge was giving advertisers premium content and scale,” Moebius said. “We decided to pursue a strategy of pushing content out. We continue to stay focused on content syndication and distribution but, by operating Joost.com, it will complement these efforts and provide a complete video ecosystem for our advertisers, publishers and content owners, giving them the availability to showcase premium content on Joost.com or to license the Joost platform.”
Moebius refused to reveal the price for Joost, nor what happens to assets he is not buying, but credited the Flash web player that Joost invested so heavily on developing to replace its desktop app: “We were extremely impressed with the technology platform that they had built over the years, along with the engineering team responsible for building a state-of-the-art global video platform.”
Despite being headquartered in London, Adconion’s CEO says he will remain in Santa Monica, LA, where it has 65 staff, unless demands dictate otherwise. Last week’s departure of his UK managing director is “completely unrelated” and all the Joost assets will sit under Adconion.tv, operated by Moebius’ CTO, while Joost as a brand will be one of Adconion’s “portfolio products”.
After acquiring KTV, Frontline and HiClip.tv, are more buys on the cards for the company in which $80 million was invested last year? “We’ll always continue to evaluate opportunities that meet our business objective as a leader in online video,” Moebius said.
On the subject of acquisitions, it won’t escape your attention that, like Joost, Adconion’s main financing is from Index Ventures. No word on whether this sale was coordinated by Index.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Adconion Media Group Aqcuires Certain Assets From Joost
Thursday, October 22, 2009
The Nike ID iPhone App
Only a matter of time until fresh sneakers came out o the iPhone....
Sportswear giant Nike has a nifty application in the App Store that allows you to create custom sneakers and order them straight away, with just a couple of taps. The app is in fact a mobile extension of NIKEiD, a program that allows customer to order personalized Nike shoes straight from the manufacturer. And an excellent extension it is.
The free app (iTunes link) has been available on the App Store since the beginning of this month, but surprisingly there hasn’t been a lot of coverage about it. Even despite this excellent video about it (embedded below).
The software program allows you to select flashy looking sneakers that were custom designed by others and purchase them straight away, but there’s a lot more to it than that. For instance, you can dive into your photo library and select any image, after which the NIKEiD iPhone app will automatically detect which colors are in them and let you choose two for your own custom shoe. Or you can just use the Color Picker to select two colors you like.
Evidently, you can filter the results even more based on your specific needs (e.g. only shoes for men, unisex basketball clothing, etc.). Using the My Locker feature you can also save your favorite designs and access those you’ve customized on the NIKEiD website. Once you’ve selected a custom design you like, you can shake your iPhone to shuffle the colors, but you also get some options to genuinely personalize sneakers with your name, a custom logo or whatever you like.
Did I mention you can buy designs straight from the app?
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Pandora Video Series - Matisyahu "Thunder"
My boy Matis gives a breakdown of "Thunder" from his new album Light. Some amazing guitar and classic beatboxing in this video. Worth the couple minutes.
Artist description: "Spiritually orthodox musician Matisyahu brings some unorthodox flavor combinations into his live set, including hip-hop, roots reggae and classic rock."
**The Pandora video won't load so here's an alternative...
The Fun Theory...Stairs Turned Into A Piano
"66% more people chose to take the stairs as opposed to the escalator."
Being that the US is tha fattest country in the world, maybe we could use the "fun theory" to get people to do things that have positive impact on their health.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Turn Parking Spots Into Parks
This is a great idea....
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Apple's Invite Only Product Release Session In San Francisco
Apple held an invite only event today, which was surprisingly hosted by CEO Steve Jobs. This was Jobs' first appearance since October 2008 as he has been recovering from a liver transplant. Some interesting iPod and iTunes updates to look out for in the near future.
Apple introduced an updated version of the iPod Nano that sports a built-in video camera and microphone located on the lower left-hand side. It also features a slightly larger 2.2-inch display, up from 2 inches. There is still no Wi-Fi, or built-in Web browser, so users will first have to sync the videos to their computers to access and edit the files. The upgraded device also has an FM tuner, which lets users listen to radio tracks. This is a feature iPod users have been pining for, for a very long time.
Apple announced the release Wednesday of OS 3.1, which will be a free update to iPhone users and $4.95 to iPod Touch owners.
With 3.1, users on both platforms can now get Genius recommendations for applications they've purchased. These show up in the App Store app, as well as in iTunes, and function in a similar fashion to how Genius for music works. It takes your purchase information and sends it to Apple, which will analyze it for similar purchases, and offer up recommendations. This may end up being a more precise system since there are fewer apps than music tracks.
3.1 also adds a new security feature for iPhone owners--the capability to lock down the device over the air using MobileMe. Previously, if your phone was lost or stolen, this feature would only be enabled if the user had set it that way.
iTunes 9
Apple introduced a new version of iTunes, which offers iPhone and iPod Touch users a way to better organize applications they have added to the device. Users can now drag and drop apps to multiple home screens at once, instead of doing so on the device itself.
Read the rest of the story here, provided by cNET.
Friday, September 4, 2009
One Michael Jackson Video to Rule Them All!
Absolutely unbelievable, a phenomenal tribute. Amazing how similar all the guys look, wait....
ATT Investing Millions To Stop iPhone's Dropped Calls?
As a dedicated iPhone user who curses AT&T everyday, I'd be thrilled if this actually went down and we could go a day without dropping a call. Apparently there are too many iPhone's for the AT&T network....glad they sorted that out ahead of time.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Theo Walcott and Wieden+Kennedy = More Nike Magic
Ed Note: If the video doesn't want to show, click here (http://creativity-online.com/work/nike-walcott/17141)...
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
The 12 Most Annoying Types of Facebookers
Great list put together by CNN.com:
The Let-Me-Tell-You-Every-Detail-of-My-Day Bore. "I'm waking up." "I had Wheaties for breakfast." "I'm bored at work." "I'm stuck in traffic." You're kidding! How fascinating! No moment is too mundane for some people to broadcast unsolicited to the world. Just because you have 432 Facebook friends doesn't mean we all want to know when you're waiting for the bus.
The Self-Promoter. OK, so we've probably all posted at least once about some achievement. And sure, maybe your friends really do want to read the fascinating article you wrote about beet farming. But when almost EVERY update is a link to your blog, your poetry reading, your 10k results or your art show, you sound like a bragger or a self-centered careerist.
The Friend-Padder. The average Facebook user has 120 friends on the site. Schmoozers and social butterflies -- you know, the ones who make lifelong pals on the subway -- might reasonably have 300 or 400. But 1,000 "friends?" Unless you're George Clooney or just won the lottery, no one has that many. That's just showing off.
The Town Crier. "Michael Jackson is dead!!!" You heard it from me first! Me, and the 213,000 other people who all saw it on TMZ. These Matt Drudge wannabes are the reason many of us learn of breaking news not from TV or news sites but from online social networks. In their rush to trumpet the news, these people also spread rumors, half-truths and innuendo. No, Jeff Goldblum did not plunge to his death from a New Zealand cliff.
The TMIer. "Brad is heading to Walgreens to buy something for these pesky hemorrhoids." Boundaries of privacy and decorum don't seem to exist for these too-much-information updaters, who unabashedly offer up details about their sex lives, marital troubles and bodily functions. Thanks for sharing.
The Bad Grammarian. "So sad about Fara Fauset but Im so gladd its friday yippe". Yes, I know the punctuation rules are different in the digital world. And, no, no one likes a spelling-Nazi schoolmarm. But you sound like a moron.
The Sympathy-Baiter. "Barbara is feeling sad today." "Man, am I glad that's over." "Jim could really use some good news about now." Like anglers hunting for fish, these sad sacks cast out their hooks -- baited with vague tales of woe -- in the hopes of landing concerned responses. Genuine bad news is one thing, but these manipulative posts are just pleas for attention.
The Lurker. The Peeping Toms of Facebook, these voyeurs are too cautious, or maybe too lazy, to update their status or write on your wall. But once in a while, you'll be talking to them and they'll mention something you posted, so you know they're on your page, hiding in the shadows. It's just a little creepy.
The Crank. These curmudgeons, like the trolls who spew hate in blog comments, never met something they couldn't complain about. "Carl isn't really that impressed with idiots who don't realize how idiotic they are." [Actual status update.] Keep spreading the love.
The Paparazzo. Ever visit your Facebook page and discover that someone's posted a photo of you from last weekend's party -- a photo you didn't authorize and haven't even seen? You'd really rather not have to explain to your mom why you were leering like a drunken hyena and French-kissing a bottle of Jagermeister.
The Maddening Obscurist. "If not now then when?" "You'll see..." "Grist for the mill." "John is, small world." "Dave thought he was immune, but no. No, he is not." [Actual status updates, all.] Sorry, but you're not being mysterious -- just nonsensical.
The Chronic Inviter. "Support my cause. Sign my petition. Play Mafia Wars with me. Which 'Star Trek' character are you? Here are the 'Top 5 cars I have personally owned.' Here are '25 Things About Me.' Here's a drink. What drink are you? We're related! I took the 'What President Are You?' quiz and found out I'm Millard Fillmore! What president are you?"
