Using the media and telling stories…
Anyone following the video space closely is probably down at NAB in Las Vegas this week. One thing that I’ve mentioned to friends before is how well Jeremy Allaire has marketed his new video startup Brightcove since he launched. Continuing in that vein, he announced at NAB that the long awaited service will exit its invitation only status and be made available to the general public. Why announce via a press release when you can do it in front of a captive audience…
The video space is rife with competition. But so many of the other players have just trivialized the marketing side of their business and let Brightcove steal the show this year. Certainly Jeremy has a great pedigree but what he really learned over his years of experience is how to package a concept and sell it effectively.
The media is part of the product launch. You have to have a media strategy and you have to be a compelling story teller. Writers want to hear stories so they can write better stories. If you can’t tell a good story, then you leave it up to them to screw up your story for you. Frankly, this is why many companies end up getting new CEO’s when they outgrow their founders. The founders are often techy but they look and sound like shit in front of a crowd. They can’t tell cohesive stories. They don’t appreciate that evangelizing your business is partly about entertaining people.
Jeremy is telling people about the future of entertainment. At least that’s what you think. Really he’s like the little Geico gecko who entertains you while you’re watching a commercial. You almost want to watch it. And I applaud him for getting every marketing detail just right. You almost feel like the Brightcove story is a success story before the company has even really launched. I’ve made this observation before. Some have responded by saying that this kind of limelight can’t carry you forever and that’s certainly true. But it sure does give you a leg up on the competition. Tell stories. Great stories. People who listen apparently seem more likely to be good customers.
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