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uVizz… the next big video sharing platform?

01 Jun 2009

1 Jun, 2009  social media


uVizz, an innovative application for video sharing, could be the next big video sharing platform. It solves two problems for online advertisers. First, click through rates of advertising on social networks uVizzare notoriously low (0.8% on Facebook).  So, while they have a high reach, people very rarely click on them.  The reason for this, is most likely related to the second issue that uVizz solves — that the ads are not relevant to what the consumer is actually doing.  They can certainly be targeted based on content or demographic/geographic information, but the consumer is not necessarily open to seeing them at that time they appear.

Below is my summary and thinking from my demo view of uVizz with the company’s Managing Partner, Matt Johnson.

About uVizz

In a nutshell, uVizz partners with companies who pay consumers to create and share viral videos. It’s a new way to engage users to help promote a company’s products.

How it works… if iPhone started a uVizz campaign, they would decide on an amount they are willing to pay when the video is viewed ($0.15 is the minimum, and I have used $0.20 below).  Hopefully, some passionate consumers, would create a video (or any content, really) about the brand, submit it for approval to the company, and then it’s ready to become viral!  The photo below, explains how this works.

Unique video views

For every unique video view (UVV) (1st view by a new person), the video creator gets 30%, the referral chain (everyone who helped refer the video) gets 20%, and the person (David) who passed the video onto the viewer (Christina) gets 20%.  And, of course, uVizz gets their cut, at 30%. So, if the video gets 10,000 UVV, that all came through David (normally though, not all views would come through one person), iPhone would pay a total of $2,000, and the revenue share would be as follows:

  • Video Creator – $600 (10,000 x $0.20 x 30%)
  • Referral Chain – $400
  • Referral Creator (David) – $400
  • Video viewer (Christina) – $0
  • uVizz – $600 (30% share)

When uVizz launches on June 15th, it will be available as an application in Facebook, Bebo, and Friendster. (it’s also available with Twitter, but is just link sharing that drives people to Facebook or uVizz.  I’ll explain more about how it will work with Facebook, as that’s the most popular of these three sites.  Basically, uVizz is an application that allows the company to set up the campaign, the video creator to upload their video, and the video to be shared.  Everyone needs to add the uVizz application in order to view or forward on videos. The application tracks all the view information, allows the video creator to upload and manage their video, and allows everyone involved to see the money they have made.  The videos spread virally, not only through people sending it to their friends, but also through optional wall posts.

Campaign Information

Even more interesting, is the targeted nature of this.  The company only pays when the video is viewed by someone who fits the demographic profile they have set.  For example, Morningflake, one of uVizz’s first customers, is based in the UK.  So for their campaign, they will only pay for UVV in the UK.  In addition to location, companies can also target by age and gender (more criteria coming at some point). The Facebook application even tells people who of their friends fit the demographic target so they are aware before sending it to a friend.
Consumer perspective

This is a great concept from the consumer perspective.  People who are passionate about brands like getting involved with them, and the fact is, that they are already creating their own content or spreading the word about the brands they love (for example, BzzScapes or BzzAgent).  The benefit is obviously that they can get paid for doing what they are already doing.No Spam

I honestly don’t see any downsides for the video creators.  The only potential consumer downside I see, is that it is encouraging people to push the content on others, in order to make money.  It seems similar to some MLM (multi-level-marketing) schemes.  However, what stops this from happening is the people themselves.  If I keep sending annoying videos to my friends, they will eventually ask me to stop, or unfriend me on Facebook.  So, just as with forwarding jokes via email, you have to use discretion, or you will eventually get ignored.

Company perspective

I think this is also a no-brainer for companies.  It’s like PPC (pay-per-click) campaigns, where you only pay when someone clicks on your ad, yet it’s much more targeted.  The biggest question these days with viral content is “what makes something viral?”  Well, with uVizz, the advertiser doesn’t have to know that.  They don’t have to spend tons of money trying to figure that out.  If something takes off and they have a hit on their hands, only then do they pay.

The other benefit, as Matt Johnson told me, is that “it’s a way to engage the company’s consumers in their advertising, and get them to have a stake in the process.”

I also think that since these videos are user generated content, they can often times be so much more effective than ads created by a company.  Believe me, I AM in favor of corporate marketing, given my background in it, but I think there’s something to be said for user-generated content.

My overall thoughts

Overall, I think this is a win-win for everyone involved.  The advertisers get good content, the creators get paid, and people who pass it on get paid as well.  I have a few concerns/questions:

  • Although I do think consumers themselves will stop this from becoming spammy, I still think it’s possible.  People are already getting burnt out on the games/quizzes on Facebook, so I worry if this is just one more thing to add to the list.Camera
  • uVizz primarily promotes itself for viral videos, but they also mention it can include other content (photos, blog posts, stories). I think creating a video can be overwhelming to some people, so the other forms of content could be more accessible to them.  uVizz should stress this.
  • As an advertiser, I would also want to know detailed information about how long people are watching the video for.  As with anything where people can make money, there is always someone out there to scam the system.  Will there be groups formed where people agree to watch each other’s videos so they all make money?  Just click on it for a second, and you’ve “watched” it?  uVizz should be sure they are thinking about these types of scams.
  • uVizz is making 30% of the revenue share, which is equivalent to the video creator. That feels like too much to me.  If I were the video creator, I would like to feel like I was making the most from this.

But, as I mentioned, overall, I LOVE this product.

Photo credit: No Spam, Camera

What do you think of this idea?  Any concerns? Good idea?

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  • Here is my first uvizz video and my first attempt at stop motion! Enjoy ;)

    http://apps.facebook.com/uvizz_app/AdView.aspx?...
  • Adam,

    I'm like you. All of the application stuff that I get wears me out.

    With uVizz, people send out personalized video referrals that appear arrive in their friends' notifications area of Facebook and other social networks (they also see the referral inside uVizz).

    Here's what we do to limit the SPAM:

    -- You can only send 1 referral to a person per video. We won't allow you to send it to the same person again. If they don't want to watch it, sending it again won't help.

    -- If you have a friend who keeps sending you videos that you don't want to watch, you can block in uVizz them without them knowing. They'll think they are sending you videos, but you'll never get them. That's our way of helping you deal with an uncomfortable situation.

    -- We'll be monitoring the referrals being sent. If we see people sending out a lot of them (more than the average user), it could be that they are spamming folks in order to make some money. If that's the case, we'll kick them out.

    -- We'll never post anything on your wall about what you've done in uVizz without your permission. If you want to tell your friends that you just referred a video to your buddy and by having it posted on your wall, you have to manually go in check the box in your "My uVizz" area to do so. We have it turned off when you join. If you're someone who refers a lot of videos, you'll want to leave that off. Otherwise, you're going to be annoying your friends with constant updates.

    -- You'll never be required to refer a video. We'll never tell you that in order to watch more videos you'll need to refer a video to 6 of your friends. Lots of applications make people promote something in order to keep using it. We don't. You can watch videos all day long on uVizz (just like YouTube). You won't make any money, but you're welcome to watch to your heart's content.

    As you can see, we're trying to do things differently than some of the other applications. For us, user privacy and control is the most important part of uVizz. They are in complete control of the advertising process. They choose the videos they create, refer or view. If users feel that we are exploiting them, they won't participate. And that will be bad for us lol



    Seeing uVizz in action makes all of the difference. We have some webinars coming up. You should register for one so that you can see uVizz in action. In fact, we have one tomorrow. Here's the webinar schedule:

    http://www.uvizz.com/uvizz/webinars.aspx

    We also have a recorded demo/webinar. You can watch it now by going here:

    http://www.uvizz.com/uvizz/view_demo.aspx


    If you'd prefer to have a private demo, tweet me and we'll get it scheduled @matt_uvizz
  • Matt,

    Aaaah, that sounds cool then. From my perspective, having an embedded video player will be huge for ya'll.

    What I meant by the spamming thing on facebook is that I often get requests from "silly" applications, like Zombie wars or random what kind of kitchen appliance are you quiz and end up just ignoring the whole lot of them. In other words, any facebook application now has a built in "what kind of silly game/quiz etc. am I being sent now" hurdle to overcome.

    In either case, it certainly sounds interesting but I think seeing it in action will help me better understand it. The potential here is huge, as we all know people love sharing funny videos and now with uVizz adding monetary motivation to the mix it could be a massive success.

    <abbr>Adam Pieniazek’s last blog post..Comment Captcha Fail</abbr>
  • Hi Adam,

    In the previous discussions, we were talking about the video being uploaded to different websites. That's bad for the video creator. They won't get paid when the videos are viewed.

    Remember, uVizz tracks every video view. We do this so that we know when to charge advertisers and who to compensate for video creation and delivery. Right now, we have a "badge" that video creators can use (it's html) to promote their video on other websites. When people click to view the video, it will take them to uVizz.

    In the future, we'll have a player that can be embedded on any website. When a person wants to watch a video, they'll be able to click on Facebook Connect, MySpace ID etc. That will give us the ability to see if they've installed uVizz, check to see if they've viewed the video before, and see if their demographic data makes it a targeted view where the advertiser pays/the video creator makes money.

    If you're being spammed with uVizz videos, you'll probably want to get new friends ;-). After all, the only people that can send you videos are people with whom you have established relationships (followers on Twitter & social network friends). The videos you should receive will be from friends who are sending them to you because they know you and think you'll be interested in the content. On Twitter, if someone is just sending out video Tweets to the masses, I would consider it spam and stop following them.

    Don't think of this as a "walled garden". We're talking about funny or interesting videos that somehow promote a product and hopefully increase sales for the advertiser. All we're doing is tracking the viral spread of these videos so that everyone involved (the video creators and those who refer the videos) are compensated for helping the advertisers. To do that, we need to know who the people are so we can pay them. As Rachel stated in her post, 70% of an advertiser's uVizz budget is paid to the users. That's serious money.

    Hope this answers your questions. If not, let me know.
  • Hi Ari,

    Sorry for the delay in responding. I've been in a meeting.

    Let's say that I've created a video for the advertiser. It's really funny (people love it) and it promotes the advertisers product. If I upload it to other websites, I will be providing product promotion for the advertiser, but I won't be paid anything when it's viewed. As the content creator, and as someone who likes to make money, I want that video to only be shown through uVizz because that's the only place where I'll be compensated when it's viewed. Basically, my video is my product. If I put it on other websites, I'm giving it away for free. The advertiser benefits from it (they get FREE product promotion), but I don't.

    It's kind of like asking a movie studio to release a summer blockbuster on YouTube and in the movie theaters. What's the incentive for a person to go to the movies and pay for it after they've watched it on YouTube? The studio is only going to release a movie (the product that want to be paid for) in areas where they can make money. Sure, they have trailers and teasers everywhere to advertise the movie, but those aren't the product. The movie is the product....and it's only shown where they can make money.

    We do give the video creator a badge (html code) that they can put on any website to promote their video. When someone clicks it to watch the video, they are taken to uVizz. Think of it as the trailer for the video.

    For those who want to create videos, promote products, increase someone's sales, and not make money for doing it, they should stick with the other video websites and stay far away from uVizz. ;-)


    Hope that addresses the issue. We just want people to be paid for their creativity and for creating buzz about products. They deserve it.
  • Rachel/Matt,

    The question becomes, will uVizz have an embedding option, and if not why not?

    It seems if you could embed videos on blogs and other sites, it would allow the video to become viral while still being able to track views and get everyone paid (except the viewer).

    It just seems to me that having this type of content within a walled garden will cause people to simply not install uVizz.

    Personally, I know now that if someone sends me an invite to uVizz on facebook or a link to a uVizz video I'll be skeptical since I know they're making money off it and might just be spamming the heck out of me with videos they made.

    If videos could be embedded, we'd likely not even notice it's a uVizz video and watch and share it more freely and frequently. I just really don't think the walled garden approach fits these types of videos.

    <abbr>Adam Pieniazek’s last blog post..Scribnia: Yelp for Writers</abbr>
  • Sorry, Matt, I'm having trouble understanding how this is a benefit to the content creator. Shouldn't the owner want to cross-promote the video in as many markets as possible? That's why services like TubeMogul exist: to upload the same video to multiple hosting solutions.

    Or, it's like Rachel's blog here, where she's asking her readers to tweet it, digg it, etc.

    If I put my video on uVizz, I'm giving up those distribution rights. I grasp the UVizz benefit for exclusivity but I don't see how or why a client would agree. Maybe you can provide an analogy to a system I already understand?

    <abbr>Ari Herzog’s last blog post..From a Galaxy Far, Far Away, Star Wars Embraces Social Media</abbr>
  • Hi Ari,

    Before a video creator submits a video, they must agree to our terms and conditions. Our terms and conditions explain that they can't put the video on any other website beside uVizz. They own the content, but we hold the distribution rights. Again, like I wrote in my previous response, we hold the distribution rights to protect the video creator and the advertiser. Additionally, if I'm a video creator, I won't want to upload it to other websites. Why? Because I won't be compensated when the video is viewed on those websites. If people want to watch my video, I want them to do it on uVizz -- because that's where I'll make money when my video is viewed.

    If the advertiser wants to show my video on other websites, they'll have to purchase the distribution rights and content from me. uVizz only holds the distribution rights. As the video creator, I can sell them for any amount of money.

    There are some instances where advertisers will be able to show the videos outside of uVizz without paying the video creator. When this happens, the video creator will know upfront (before they submit the video) that there's been a deviation from the standard distribution/ownership model. Also, in those instances, there will be compensating factors. For instance, one of our first campaigns is for a UK cereal company called Mornflake ( http://www.mornflake.com ). They will have video competition website where they'll be showing the most popular videos from the campaign on uVizz. When the campaign ends, they will be awarding about $25,000 to the video they like best. This prize is being given on top of the compensation that the video creators and fans already received within uVizz. Again, in this scenario, the video creators will know from the beginning that our standard distribution/ownership model is different for that campaign.
  • Hi Matt, you write a content creator owns right but uVizz gets distribution rights. There's no contract signed, right? Meaning, one is free to share content on uVizz and any competitors of yours at the same time, right?

    <abbr>Ari Herzog’s last blog post..From a Galaxy Far, Far Away, Star Wars Embraces Social Media</abbr>
  • Hi.

    uVizz is a new concept for advertising. It's understandable that there will be some confusion regarding how the platform works. I'm going to address a few things....

    Ownership & Videos Being Show Outside of uVizz

    When someone uploads a video to a campaign on uVizz, they retain ownership of the content. However, the distributions rights pass to uVizz. This is done to protect the video creators and advertisers. Here are 2 scenarios:

    1) Let's assume that someone creates a video that becomes wildly popular on uVizz. It's getting hundreds of thousands of views. The advertiser sees this and decides to take the video and put on other websites. That wouldn't be fair to video creator because they wouldn't be compensated for any of the views that take place outside of uVizz. Solution: If the advertiser likes the video and wants to use it outside of uVizz, they can purchase the distribution rights and content from the video creator. The price is negotiated between the two of them and we release the distribution rights.

    2) An advertiser reviews a video submitted by a video creator. For some reason, they decide to decline it (let's say there's something inappropriate in the video) and would really prefer that it is never seen by anyone. When the video creator learns that the video has been declined, they put it on YouTube. The advertiser finds out about it and comes to us. Since we hold the distribution rights, we can go to YouTube and have it taken down for the advertiser. We don't anticipate this happening very often, but we're prepared if it does.

    As you can see, the ownership/distribution model that we've designed protects both the advertiser and video creator.

    Watching "Ads"

    I don't want to watch typical ads. They're boring. I skip them when I watch a recorded show on my DVR. I do something else when an ad plays on Hulu. Trust me, I feel the same way you do ;-).

    The idea with uVizz is that people will create funny, interesting or engaging videos about a brand that people will enjoy watching. When advertising is funny or interesting, everyone watches it. Think of the Super Bowl commercials. What about the Kobe and Lebron Nike puppet commercial that was the hot viral video a few weeks ago? We watch ads when they entertain us. If not, they become irritating and turn into white noise. If people create boring content on uVizz, nobody will watch it....and it certainly won't be shared among friends.


    Making Viral Videos

    We don't claim to have the recipe for making a viral video. We've just created a platform where people can create videos for advertisers. When the video is viewed by someone for the first time that meets the advertiser's demographic target, the video creator gets paid. If the video becomes really popular, the video creator stands the chance of making quite a bit of money. If the video doesn't generate many views, the video creator won't make much. It's pay for performance.


    Scamming the System

    Rachel brings up a good point about people trying to scam the system. We have measures in place ( I won't disclose what they are ) that monitor this type of activity. People will be banned from the application if it appears that they are trying run up advertiser costs.


    I hope I was able to address the issues here. If I missed something, let me know.
  • Rachel, you had me up until you said:

    "Everyone needs to add the uVizz application in order to view or forward on videos."

    That's pretty much a deal breaker since in the end, uVizz sounds like a tool to push viral promotional videos. Why would I (or any consumer) willfully install an application whose sole purposes is to show me ads?

    Things go viral when they're easy to share. Having to install something to view these videos is a tough sell for the average consumer who is already bombarded with advertisements.

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but seems the best videos would get ripped out and posted to Youtube (as Ari said), where they would might truly go viral while bypassing the whole uVizz system.

    <abbr>Adam Pieniazek’s last blog post..Scribnia: Yelp for Writers</abbr>
  • Adam - Thanks for your comment. Just to clarify, as my note might not have been clear... by "install the application", I mean on Facebook. It's not something you have to download to your computer. I agree, this will be a slight deterrent (and I hadn't though of that), but, on the other hand, people do it so frequently on Facebook, that they are used to it.
  • That's a lot of information to digest--and it's clear you've done your homework, so let me ask two questions to start:

    1. You wrote, "In a nutshell, uVizz partners with companies who pay consumers to create and share viral videos." That's a misnomer, for the definition of a viral video doesn't come into play until (typically) thousands of iterations after its initial view. So, why mention that bit?

    2. If I need to install the uVizz application to share a video on Facebook--and if my Facebook friends need to also install the application to view it--how does the company respond to my bypassing the application and displaying the video via Youtube which everyone can see by default?

    <abbr>Ari Herzog’s last blog post..From a Galaxy Far, Far Away, Star Wars Embraces Social Media</abbr>
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