Archive for August 3rd, 2007
The Wall St. Journal had a great article last week that we all sent to our mothers. Sending articles home to mom & dad isn’t so unusual, but the fact that we weren’t in the article and we still sent it is. The article is all about ecommerce sites that sell PCs adding features, predominantly video. In any scenario, that’s good for us since we have the biggest library of video-based PC reviews in the world. It’s even better because they featured one of our great partners, buy.com, which syndicates all of our PC reviews. We don’t know whether the beautiful Darlene Krysiak at the end of the story watched one of our reviews or a video from another source, but we love the fact that video helped her make her decision. Some day we’re all going to look back and say…’it was news in 2007 that video would help drive purchase intent??’ But that’s ok, what would we do at Expo all day if we didn’t have to tell people how online video is about more than lighting things on fire?
August 3rd, 2007
For those of you who haven’t heard of it, The DM News has been around for a long time. It’s THE trade magazine for direct marketers…which in the old days was synonymous with direct mail. I’ve been reading it for years because I want to understand direct marketing, but frankly, it was a pretty boring read. About a year ago they underwent some kind of transformation and apparently decided that direct marketing was really an internet phenomenon and started covering all of these cool companies doing innovative commerce things online. I instantly became jealous and coveted having a piece in the mag. I’m not the kind of guy to beg for coverage, but my wish came true anyway a couple of weeks ago…and in spades. Click here to read the full article on their site so they can get some advertising revenue. In case the link goes dead, I’ve copied the text below as well. Also, thanks to our friends at Smarter.com for their good words in support of our partnership.
ExpoTV brings video to user reviews online
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By Chantal Todé
July 16th, 2007
It was really only a matter of time before someone figured out a way to take advantage of two of the Internet’s bigger trends: consumer-generated product reviews and video.
Expo Communications Inc. is the company behind ExpoTV.com, a Web site where consumers can upload video reviews of their favorite products. Today the site has more than 55,000 video product reviews.
Expo Communications syndicates this content to sites such as Smarter.com, Buy.com, Yahoo and AOL. So, instead of just reading what their peers have to say about the latest video game release or beauty must-have, browsers can now watch self-produced videos from other consumers as they wax prolific about their likes and dislikes about certain items.
The demand for video reviews has proven to be so strong that Expo is now looking for new ways to build content. Just last week it launched “Everyone’s A Critic,” in which 150 ExpoTV members interviewed real people outside movie theaters to get their opinion of the film they had just seen. In the first installment, “Transformers,” “Live Free or Die Hard” and “Ratatouille” were reviewed.
ExpoTV is also currently working with some of its product reviewers to have them develop how-to videos for specific categories.
For comparison-shopping sites, the video product reviews can bring a “human element” to experience, said Paul Willmes, product evangelist at Smarter.com.
“Comparison shopping sites today are very 2-D, very flat and text heavy,” he added. Smarter.com launched video product reviews from ExpoTV in February.
The popularity of video, in general, also makes the video product reviews a nice feature.
“We felt very strongly that with the vast popularity of online videos as a communication medium - a la YouTube — offering this kind of content on Smarter.com would not only reinforce our position as a leading next generation comparison shopping engine, but would be a medium that was easily palatable for the average Internet user,” Willmes said.
So far, Smarter.com’s results are promising. Consumers are asking Smarter.com how they can submit a video review and the site’s retention rate — the percentage of repeat visitors — has increased by more than 20 percent since launching the video reviews, Willmes said.
Expo compensates creators $5 for every video that is accepted by its review process and $.01 every time a video is viewed.
“We’ve found that in order to get people to submit video reviews, it requires some kind of compensation,” said Bill Hildebolt, president of Expo Communications, New York. This is because most consumers face high psychological and technological hurdles when it comes to producing their own product review videos.
However, the company does not share revenue with its creators, as some sites with consumer-generated content do, because that might produce biased product reviews.
The videos are currently reviewed for profanity, nudity, libel and quality by several interns, with approximately between 5 percent and 10 percent of them being rejected because of poor lighting or sound quality. In several weeks, Expo plans to switch to using its community of creators to review new videos.
August 3rd, 2007
The release below went out this week. My personal editorial is that we’re really excited to add DFJG. Masthead and Prism have been great partners…it’s like someone is out there in the world fighting alongside you…and Jed and everyone at DFJG brings that same mentality. We also think the things they do in the New York venture community including sponsoring the NY Tech Meetup and hosting other discussion venues to be valuable community catalysts. Of course, now the hard work really starts as we need to make good on their faith and capital.
EXPOTV ANNOUNCES THE ADDITION OF INVESTOR DFJ GOTHAM;
HITS MAJOR MILESTONE OF 100,000 VIDEOPINIONSSM REVIEWS
Leading Video-Based Social Commerce Network
Posts 132 Percent Increase in New Video Product Reviews
NEW YORK CITY – July 31, 2007 – ExpoTV (www.ExpoTV.com), the leading provider of consumer-generated video product reviews, today announced the expansion of funding to include New York-based DFJ Gotham Ventures. DFJ Gotham Ventures joins the previously announced venture capital investors Masthead Venture Partners and Prism VentureWorks. DFJ Gotham is investing in ExpoTV through DFJ Gotham Venture Fund II, L.P., its second venture capital fund. Separately, ExpoTV reported a quarterly growth rate of 132 percent in video submissions in the second quarter, reaching a milestone of more than 100,000 VideopinionsSM Reviews representing by far the largest catalog of product reviews available on video.
“We are excited to expand our investors to include such a proven and active partner like DFJ Gotham Ventures,” stated Daphne Kwon, CEO of ExpoTV. “The New York region has become a nexus for innovative media startups, and DFJ Gotham Ventures’ deep involvement with the entrepreneurial community here, along with their track record of success, make them the perfect addition to our investor group. We’re proud that DFJ Gotham Ventures has claimed a stake in the explosive online video space with ExpoTV.”
The increased capital will help ExpoTV accelerate the growth of its video contributor community, whose Videopinions reviews cover thousands of national brands in a broad range of categories including electronics, health and beauty products, home appliances and consumer packaged goods. The site recently re-launched with a suite of new social networking tools for its consumer contributors. The expanded investment will also be used to advance ExpoTV’s publishing technology and content management capabilities, allowing the company to syndicate content to leading portals and ecommerce destinations including Yahoo!, AOL, Google, YouTube , Smarter.com and Buy.com.
“ExpoTV has tapped into a powerful new consumer voice,” stated Jed Katz, managing director of DFJ Gotham Ventures. “We are confident the site’s unique word-of-mouth marketing service will become a tremendous force in influencing shopping behavior by utilizing the power of video. ExpoTV is a perfect fit with our investment strategy. We look forward to partnering with ExpoTV to expand their success on a national scale and continue their substantial leadership position in the new VideopinionsSM space.”
About Expo Communications
ExpoTV is the first and largest video-based social commerce network specifically tailored for the consumer in control, offering a fun, fast way for real people to connect, share and celebrate the products they are passionate about. Think of it as YouTube meets Consumer Reports. ExpoTV.com is home to the world’s largest catalog of more than 100,000 “Videopinions”SM Reviews created by a fast-growing community of brand influentials. ExpoTV’s army of opinionated shoppers demonstrate products from a real-world perspective in an easy-to-understand video format. Covering a broad range of categories including kitchen products, consumer electronics, entertainment and travel, ExpoTV’s Videopinions are available online at www.expotv.com and they are distributed through partnerships with the world’s largest portals including Yahoo! Video, AOL, Google and YouTube; to leading ecommerce destinations like Smarter.com and Buy.com; and to more than 25 million digital cable homes through VOD partnerships with Comcast, Time Warner, Charter, Verizon and other cable operators.
About DFJ Gotham Ventures
DFJ Gotham Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on early-stage technology companies primarily in the Greater New York Region and other parts of the Eastern Seaboard. Since its first investment in 2000, DFJ Gotham Ventures has backed over 20 companies spanning a wide array of technology sectors. DFJ Gotham Ventures partners with extraordinary teams of entrepreneurs to build strong and successful businesses that make a huge impact in their industries. DFJ Gotham Ventures takes pride in being an active partner, leveraging its experience, knowledge and relationships to provide substantial value to its portfolio companies. DFJ Gotham Ventures is proud to have backed such category leaders as Massive (acquired by MSFT), XOsoft (acquired by CA), Q-Link (acquired by Adobe), Mimeo.com and ContextWeb, among many others. For more information, please visit www.dfjgotham.com.
About Masthead Venture Partners
Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., Masthead Venture Partners is a venture capital firm dedicated to providing early stage information technology, internet infrastructure and services, and communications companies with the capital and hands-on operational support they need to develop into industry leaders. The firm has the advanced technical expertise, proven operating experience and deep industry knowledge and relationships to help entrepreneurs build companies with category defining potential. For more information, please visit www.mvpartners.com
About Prism VentureWorks
Founded in 1996, Prism VentureWorks (Westwood, MA, Santa Monica, CA) is a venture capital firm built by experienced entrepreneurs in technology and life sciences. With approximately $1.25 billion in capital under management across five funds, Prism’s primary goal is to deliver superior value to its investors. Its partners have served as the founders, CEOs and senior executives of numerous venture-backed companies. By leveraging its network of seasoned entrepreneurs, skilled executives and long-time industry contacts, Prism identifies and works closely with companies with the potential to be market leaders. For more information, visit http://www.prismventure.com.
Contact:
Meagan McCrystle
Racepoint Group
mmccrystle@racepointgroup.com
415.694.6704
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August 3rd, 2007
