Reflecting manufacturers’ desire to respond to the increasing popularity of digital content amongst consumers, the LG Cloud allows users to manage their content on Android smartphones, PCs and smart TVs seamlessly. The [...]]]> Electronics giant LG has unveiled the beta version of a cloud storage service designed to afford users seamless access to digital content.

Reflecting manufacturers’ desire to respond to the increasing popularity of digital content amongst consumers, the LG Cloud allows users to manage their content on Android smartphones, PCs and smart TVs seamlessly. The company, which recently launched a premium content service for 3D Smart TV owners, 3DWORLD, is currently experimenting with a number of initiatives exploring the business potential of users’ growing interest in paying for digital content online.

Elsewhere, the increasing intensity of corporate interest in paid-for content has revealed itself in the unveiling of a new subsidiary company by Barnes & Noble and Microsoft.  Dedicated to providing digital content and developing digital reading technologies. The new spin-off joins Barnes & Noble’s digital content and College businesses together, with funding for new ventures coming compliments of a $300 million investment from Microsoft.

Launched earlier this year, the forum [...]]]> With the inaugural  Digital Content NewFronts (DCNFs) well underway in New York, reports from the event indicate that an audience of brand advertisers, marketers, creatives, agencies and digital & TV media buyers is reacting with enthusiasm as Microsoft Advertising, AOL, Digitas, and Yahoo! line up to demonstrate their latest content offerings.

Launched earlier this year, the forum allows members to gauge and present advance content offerings to potential investors, and with industry luminaries such as Michael Eisner in attendance  it seems that corporate interest in digital content management and distribution is continuing to escalate. AOL CEO Tim Armstrong certainly believes so:

“We’ve seen – from our consumer and advertiser insights – that premium content powers the differentiation that brands are looking for to reach and engage with consumers,” he writes on the company blog.

“AOL powers content and brands through its well-known media properties, including Autoblog, TechCrunch, Moviefone, Engadget, The Huffington Post, Stylelist, MapQuest and Patch …. as a part of this, we are deeply committed to original programming and understand the importance of creating a meaningful marketplace for brands with digital content.”

Over here at the world’s first digital content exchange, we rather tend to agree ..

The leading business newspaper reports that the US-based television streaming service Hulu has announced plans to ramp up spending on content acquisition by 67% to a hefty $500million this year alone. In an announcement [...]]]> Activity in the paid-for digital content sector looks to increase exponentially over the coming year according to latest reports from the Wall Street Journal.

The leading business newspaper reports that the US-based television streaming service Hulu has announced plans to ramp up spending on content acquisition by 67% to a hefty $500million this year alone. In an announcement yesterday the service announced its intention  to release a raft of original content online as it competes for both paying subscribers and advertisers with traditional broadcasters.

Participants at The Guardian’s Changing Media Summit this week were told that systems allowing readers to pay for access to content from multiple news publishing organisations in [...]]]> The success of a number of initiatives to persuade European users to pay for online content is  set to see such models expand across the continent in the coming months.

Participants at The Guardian’s Changing Media Summit this week were told that systems allowing readers to pay for access to content from multiple news publishing organisations in Slovakia and Slovenia have enjoyed encouraging levels of success. Mona Zhang reports that since the experiment’s introduction there has been no negative impact upon traffic to the participating sites, while users have demonstrated clear willingness to pay for all content – including handing over cash for articles already available for free.

According to the project’s organisers, participating publishers are enjoying a considerable boost to their revenue streams, with enough new income generated so far to employ more than 25 new journalists.

Highlighting the growing [...]]]> Digital content’s potential as a tool for big brands is back on the agenda again following last week’s research from brand advertising agency Digitas, which revealed that with 63% of US adults now browsing online content while they watch television, the gap between the traditional and new media is shrinking fast.

Highlighting the growing maturity of the digital content sector, the research indicates that the world’s major brands are gearing up for a period of renewed and intensive investment in the market, highlighting the escalating need for secure, safe and transparent content exchange mechanisms.

Stephanie Sarofian, Managing Director of The Third Act, the brand content unit of Digitas, commented: ”Investing in online video is no longer optional. Consumers are hungry for online content and ready to take this journey with brands. And as the survey results show, today’s viewer is not just passively sitting and watching–they’re sharing, talking, clicking, testing.”

That confidence in the future of content is widely shared. German enterprise software giant SAP today told BtoB magazine that it has created a test lab to measure the effectiveness of the digital content it creates for marketing purposes, while in Vietnam the government has reflected Southeast Asia’s commitment to the sector in an announcement that outlines digital content’s huge economic potential.

As Journalism.co.uk’s Paul McNally reports today, three of the Netherlands’ biggest newspaper publishers are working together to create a digital “kiosk” where readers can buy articles on-demand or [...]]]> We’ve seen some interesting developments in the digital content sector this week, with a number of serious discussions springing up around the challenge of monetising your content.

As Journalism.co.uk’s Paul McNally reports today, three of the Netherlands’ biggest newspaper publishers are working together to create a digital “kiosk” where readers can buy articles on-demand or as part of a monthly subscription. The move, inspired by the Dutch population’s noted preference for consuming news content online, will allow readers to mix and match content from seven newspapers and is tipped for success by Deloitte, who’s research into people’s attitude to paid-for digital content suggests that a potentially lucrative market awaits such services.

Certainly that has been the case in Slovenia, where nine participating publishers involved in a similar scheme have reported revenues in excess of €26,000 in its first month of operation.

All of which serves to underline the strength of veteran commentator Mathew Ingram’s argument this week that the traditional media’s failure to come to terms with digital has been key to its decline. Providing a lucid rallying call for publishers and media creatives everywhere, he ably demonstrates why the industry must embrace and explore new ways to drive revenues from their content or risk being fatally marginalised in an increasingly connected age.

Using the slogan “connect with your passion” as its central theme, the world’s first digital content exchange challenged creatives and filmmakers to produce sixty [...]]]> Digital content marketplace MyCube has praised the online creative community for the breadth of vision and imagination inspired by its recent competition to create videos promoting the ground breaking new service.

Using the slogan “connect with your passion” as its central theme, the world’s first digital content exchange challenged creatives and filmmakers to produce sixty second videos illustrating the platform’s ability to help users connect, share and consume information about the interests that make them who they are. More than forty professional and amateur filmmakers responded with entries, and MyCube believes the results more have more than justified the company’s investment.

“The competition’s first objective was to generate a range of vibrant promotional videos to accompany the launch of MyCube’s public beta, but in addition to achieving that the depth and quality of the response has only served to underline the demand for a platform where people can discover, share and sell the content they make and love,” said MyCube VP Marketing Todd Kurie.

“You can never underestimate the impact and potential of the global connective community. People responded with a tremendous range of creative ideas, running through every genre from slick advertising style promos to highly inventive comedy animations, and we’re delighted with the results.

Running the competition in conjunction with crowd sourced branding service Zooppa, the MyCube panel of judges eventually selected high-speed montage “Connect with your Passion” by Valerya as the eventual winner. Elangley’s inspired animation Tim Sasaki scooped second place while the cinematographic “What’s Your Passion?” by Hour Films followed closely in third.

Kurie added: “ MyCube unites people with common interests and allows them to share related content.  It’s about finding  people who share your passion and exchanging photos, videos, articles or conversation about the things that excite you, and while they may have gone about it in very different ways, the top three all illustrated that point with considerable style.”

See the complete shortlist: http://www.mycube.com/#profile/0a6389a9-c66e-44be-ab0c-e43c01bb448f

Currently, MyCube supports videos and pictures but we will soon be developing blog/article import and creation features, so that bloggers and other writers can share [...]]]> MyCube is the world’s first ‘content exchange’, where anyone can discover, collect, share and sell digital content about the things that interests them – be it sports, entertainment, hobbies, etc.

Currently, MyCube supports videos and pictures but we will soon be developing blog/article import and creation features, so that bloggers and other writers can share or sell their content as well.

But before we do this, we’d love to get feedback from bloggers on the features you would need to make it worthwhile  - and effective – for you to share and/or sell your blog content on MyCube.

If you are interested in helping us out, please contact us here:

http://3482725.polldaddy.com/s/bloggers

You will be asked to spend a few hours over the next several weeks reviewing some proposed features and giving us feedback, and such things like that.  In return, not only will you be helping MyCube to help bloggers make more money (!), but you will also receive 10,000 ‘cubes’ (the MyCube virtual currency), worth $100, to purchase content on MyCube, or if you really want, to convert into the real currency of your choice.

Look forward to hearing from all you bloggers out there.

For content owners, this means that they can monetize their content directly (via sales), vs. indirectly (via advertising).

So which method will you make more money with – direct or indirect.  Well the only way to know for sure is to put [...]]]> MyCube is a content exchange where digital content can be shared and sold.

For content owners, this means that they can monetize their content directly (via sales), vs. indirectly (via advertising).

So which method will you make more money with – direct or indirect.  Well the only way to know for sure is to put your content up for sale on MyCube and compare the resulting revenue to what you would have earned via advertising.

However until then you can use the following chart to get some idea of what combination of price and purchase rate you would need to achieve in order to reach a given CPM (cost per thousand impressions) equivalent for advertising:

(click twice for full size)

The way to read this is: the price of consuming the content is in the leftmost column.  The purchase rate (% of viewers of the content who purchase it) is in the top row.  The intersection gives you the resulting CPM equivalent.

So for example: you are selling a piece of content (an instructional video, say) for $0.20 per view.  0.50% of visitors to the content (1 in 200) purchase it for the $0.20 you are charging.  Looking up the intersection of those two, you find you have earned a CPM equivalent of $1.00.  Which is basically what you would earn if you were a YouTube partner and getting the resulting advertising revenue.

The lesson here – online advertising CPMs are generally so poor that even very modest purchase prices and rates can result in a significantly higher CPM equivalent.  But you will never know if you don’t try.