Peter's Beard

Using Video to Help Sell Products

In the past I’ve pushed brands to produce videos that show off their products. To date, adoption has been slow, which surprises me because video can serve as a powerful piece of marketing collateral. All the hyperbole laced marketing copy in the world can’t compete with a video that shows the features and functionality of a product AND case studies of how the product can be used.

Audi Gets Behind Big Event Webcasts

Brands are slowly but surely allocating a greater percentage of their marketing budgets to online initiatives. Even in a tough economy, when marketing budgets are shrinking across the board, a larger percentage of those budgets is going to online campaigns.

 
 Audi Inauguration Live Video Webcast Sponsorship [32:14m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Vultures Circle

It would be a bummer to be in Farah Fawcett’s shoes during her final weeks. Every news outlet has already cut together their hour long specials so they’d be ready for the, “Sad news, Farah Fawcett has died today. She was 62,” moment.

Standing in Line for a New iPhone

I remember when the last iPhone came out in the summer of 2008, Brad, who worked with us, stood in line at the Apple store in NYC for an entire day to get his phone. He took the day off.

Well Iran

What can we say? I’m shaking my head that you actually re-elected Ahmadinejad, but I can’t really fault you. We did, after all, elect George Bush, not once, but twice. The first time he was the dumb affable guy who ran against the stiff smart guy.
The second time around was a bit more painful, […]

Nicotine: Good for my Brain and my Breath

I recently quit smoking. I’ve been chewing Nicorette and, for a short time, the Duane Reade version of Nicotine gum. The Duane Reade version, while cheaper than the brand name, has the taste and consistency of a rubber band.

Upfronts for Online Media

Broadcast television has the upfronts. Online media outlets and content producers have the onfronts.

Facial Profiling at Your Local Gas Station

The next time you fill up at the gas station on $3 per gallon gas and watch a video advertisement at the pump, the ad you see may be based on your face. Black? White? Old? Young? Male? Female? Fat? Skinny? Tall? Short? Ugly? Pretty?? Stressed? Relaxed?

Sean Knapp, CTO, ooyala

ooyala is a video platform company that was founded by 3 former Google engineers. I spoke to Sean Knapp, CTO, about the opportunity they saw in the market that inspired them to leave a cushy job on the Google campus two years ago for the risky unknown of Internet start-up.

Internet Connection At Slowest Level Since 1996

I’ve noticed, when at home both on wireless and, in seeking to improve the connection, tethered via Ethernet directly to my newly installed cable modem, that my connection is crap. And it seems to be getting crappier.