Coming to a mobile device very near you…
Commentary by Mike Lee, Executive Producer at Studious One.
I remember my first statistics class, when on the first day the professor boldly claimed, “Statistics don’t lie. But, they can’t be trusted.” And, while he wasn’t undermining his own profession and existence, his point was clear: statistics can easily be manipulated to be misleading or even contradictory.
I mention that first as a caveat to what I’m about to tell you, because I’m about to hurl some statistics on you for this discussion. Take what you will. Interpret what you will. Any way you want to look at these numbers though, the proverbial 30,000-foot view will give you the intended takeaway from this article. And that is…
The consumption of mobile video is growing rapidly.
Let’s just start there. What it means to you and your business is, of course, as subjective as with any other communications tool out there. And, I’ll discuss what that means for you in later articles. But, if you’re thinking that mobile video shouldn’t impact your strategic communications mix… or shouldn’t impact it just yet, remember that staring down at the hole in the sand is pretty much the same view as the one you had with your head buried in it.
Earlier this year, a fairly reputable IT company by the name of Cisco released its “Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast” through the year 2015. Here are some tidbits worth absorbing:
- Global mobile data traffic grew 2.6 times in 2010, nearly tripling for the third year in a row. (Let me read that again. “…nearly tripling for the third year in a row.”)
- Mobile video traffic was 49.8% of total mobile data traffic at YE 2010 (and has since surpassed 50% in 2011).
- From the previous year, average smartphone usage doubled in 2010, to approximately 79 MB per month.
Okay, some of this may sound obvious to you. Casual observation of the habits of our friends, colleagues and our own would suggest the same. I can name on one hand my friends who do NOT have some device running iOS or Android. Hell, my 11-year old has two such devices. So, let’s just say that the statistics in this case seem reasonable to me. Yes, there are some nuances that go to explain the growth (i.e. – video quality improvements, increased network connections, etc.), but again, the statistics don’t lie. Do I trust them? Close enough, in my book. I get the idea.
Let’s go on. Here’s what the Cisco report had to say about 2015:
- Global mobile data traffic will increase 26 times between 2010 and 2015.
- There will be nearly one mobile device per freakin’ person on the planet by 2015. (Yes, I added the “freakin’” for effect.)
- Two-thirds of all global mobile data traffic will be video by 2015.
Take a second. Re-read those. Then continue below….
A recent and tired buzzword flying around these days is that “Aha! Moment” catchphrase, referring to some epiphany or revelation. When it comes to video, though, most of you haven’t adopted video strategies via the web or mobile distribution, which I am arguing (if you cannot tell by now) is essential to any and every communications mix. And, if you haven’t yet experienced that “Aha! Moment,” can you still?
Well, quite frankly no. Those are sold out…. Discontinued…. What we have available at this point, however, is the new model. We call it the “Holy Shit! Moment,” as in, “Holy shit! How much do I have to catch up?”
The good news is that you still can catch up, even if you aren’t using video at all at this point. And, there’s further good news: first movers tend to make all the costly mistakes, so you don’t have to. The bad news is, they’ve also enjoyed the rewards of success through innovation, so you’ve got some chasing to do.
But, not every industry has courted video the same and replicated the same success seen in other industries and markets. And, increased quality is a highly subjective matter that is constantly demanded by the consumer.
Those of you currently utilizing the power of video for traditional TV and web distribution should already understand how each medium affects the design, production, and execution of your message. And, mobile video is even more demanding of carefully designed, multi-dimensional elements that work across multiple platforms and for a myriad of users. It’s not enough to just provide video content… or, to simply re-purpose other videos for mobile viewing.
These challenges present opportunity. Those who do it right can save money, time, and copious amounts of pain-killers, while achieving their communications goals through video.
Add mobile to the mix now.
And, if you don’t have a video mix still, I’ll throw in a re-conditioned “Aha!” with your “Holy Shit!” Free of charge, of course.
For more information on how you can design and produce multi-platform video communications campaigns, contact Mike Lee at Studious One at 412/600-2400 or mlee@studiousone.com.
What the AT&T, T-Mobile Merger Means to You
With the announcement today that AT&T is acquiring T-Mobile to the tune of $39 billion, plans for increased broadband coverage for mobile devices just got into the fast lane.
AT&T is projecting a 8 to 10 times volume growth in their data usage over the next 5 years, and that may be conservative. Advances in tablet and mobile device technology may push that growth even further if consumers are willing to adopt such platforms, which we’ve seen so far that they can and do.
An increase in mobile data usage furthers the need to make web-based data cross platform compliant as we move forward. That is obvious. But, with this merger, the future just got a bit closer.
HTML5 Video Is On The Rise, According to Report
The debate between video formats online rages on, according to recent findings by MeFeedia, Inc. Its latest report shows a whopping 63% of all video on the web today are now HTML5-compatible. That’s up from 10% a little over a year ago. So, the good news is that while HTML5 seems to be gaining ground, it’s still a muddy picture when it comes to the codecs that are used to encode the videos. Google (you may have heard of them) has publicly supported its own VP8 standard, in opposition of Microsoft and Apple’s H.264. That’s why we at Studious One do both. In truth, we actually provide a third format (Theora) as well.
Much of the hoopla behind HTML5 has been justified. The ability to view videos on mobile devices has largely bolstered HTML5 use. MeFeedia’s data show mobile devices accounting for 5% of video views, as opposed to 1% the year before. That may not seem like a lot. But consider the “desire factor” behind someone using their mobile device to see a video as opposed to those sitting at a desktop, for instance. That person with the mobile phone REALLY wanted to see that video. That’s 1 in 20. And, with the continuing proliferation of the iPad and tablets, that number will only continue to rise.
Website re-design underway
Greetings from Studious One. We have started our brand new design of studiousone.com. Actually, we started earlier this week. Instead of completely shutting down, we’re going to simply continue to launch pages and videos as they become available…. That way, if there’s something you wanted to see in the meantime, perhaps it’ll be up.
This site is a working model of what we do. First and foremost, it’s about the videos. And, the videos have to stream to you at the highest quality, without the dreaded “buffers.” Secondly, they have to be viewable on every device that can currently play video. Now, having said that, there are some limitations that we can’t control from our end. For example, if you’re using IE 3.0 from many, many years back… chances are no, these videos won’t play. For that matter, no videos will play from any site, most likely. But, for the majority of users and more importantly, for those with the latest handheld and mobile devices, our videos will 99.9% compatible (gotta’ leave some room for an occasional slip-up).
Anyway, we hope you will learn more about using video to your advantage, and what we can do to help. As the site progresses, we will keep you up to date. In the meantime, if you have any concerns, comments, or just want to say “hi”, please direct your email inquiries to admin @ studiousone.com and your message will be forwarded appropriately. Thanks for coming!
