by Dylan Dickey | Jun 25, 2015 | How-Tos and Tips, Mobile and HTML5
We understand that choosing an interactive video platform is a big commitment. From the creative process, to the amount and type of work required by developers (depending on what’s possible with the platform), to how the content is hosted for worldwide delivery, there are a lot of pieces to consider before making a decision.
We know there are many interactive video development platforms out there, each with their own technical capabilities, so we made it easy for you to get the lowdown on Rapt Media’s platform. To help you make an educated decision, we condensed all the critical info about our interactive video platform – including mobile compatibility, technical capabilities, support, and the creative process – into one handy tech spec sheet.
If this seems a little too technical and not within your purview, feel free to forward this to your tech team or leave us a comment. Below, we’ve pulled out a few examples of what you’ll find in our tech spec sheet.
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by Jen Bergen | Mar 5, 2015 | In the Media, Mobile and HTML5, Project Examples
It’s almost the weekend, and if you’re keeping up with the latest Hollywood buzz, seeing “Focus,” Warner Bros.’ caper about complex cons (and the attractive con artists pulling them off – cough, cough, Will Smith), is probably in your plans.
But behind every great movie is great advertising, and before you hit the popcorn stand, you’ll want to check out the incredibly creative social media campaign, “Focus on the Con,” created by Warner Bros. Keeping with the theme of the movie, the campaign allows users to step into the shoes of a con artist, testing their skills through a series of interactive video scenarios to see if they have what it takes to pull off a con. Whether you attempt to con the Internet Mogul, the Investment Banker, or the Art Dealer, the fun campaign gives you a more personalized experience with the story.
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by Erika Trautman | Dec 23, 2014 | In the Media, Mobile and HTML5
This article was originally published on Forbes.com on 12/8/14.
The online video industry moves quickly. As the year comes to an end, we’re already contemplating what’s in store for online video in 2015. For marketers and publishers alike, the new year creates a tremendous opportunity to shake off the shackles of everyday execution, start thinking big for 2015, and determine how to deliver a new level of sophistication, user engagement, and results.
From mobile video to marketing automation to digital-first programming, here’s how we see today’s emerging trends growing into marketing must-haves in 2015.
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by Jen Bergen | Nov 3, 2014 | How-Tos and Tips, Mobile and HTML5
News flash. Americans love online video. In fact, the U.S. watched (or started to watch) 38.2 billion videos in Q2 2014 alone – an increase of 43 percent over last year (Adobe’s “U.S. Digital Video Benchmark Report”). And while the number of online video views is on the rise, so is the number of drop-offs. According to Adobe, only about 50 percent of videos watched on desktops are viewed 75 percent of the way through, and that number plummets to 17 percent for mobile devices.
“Started to watch” versus “watched to completion” are two very different things – and a huge part of why most video marketers are still suffering from the same age-old problems: poor engagement and low conversion.
However, a subset of savvy brands and agencies are taking action and using interactive video to create content that solves those pain points. Unlike its linear cousin with deflated completion rates, interactive video sees completion rates of 90 percent and above. And that’s just one of its advantages.
Online video is the single most powerful tool companies have to communicate with customers, so don’t let your online videos fall victim to steep drop-off rates and poor ROI.
Here are 4 reasons why you should start producing interactive video and incorporate it into your online video strategy now.
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by Jonathan Woodard | Aug 29, 2014 | How-Tos and Tips, Mobile and HTML5
In a recent story written by TechCrunch about Rapt Media’s latest funding announcement, one comment in particular caught our eye. The commenter was curious about what makes our product worth a total funding of $7.5 million when, in his mind, it’s something that a custom development shop can build for a lot less.
After three years in the interactive video business, this type of question still comes up from time to time – often when talking to a prospective customer who’s evaluating interactive video vendors versus building a custom one-off video experience in-house. In the era of YouTube, it’s understandable for consumers to look at online video and think it’s cheap, easy, and straightforward – and with the right tools, it can be.
But there’s more to online video than the end product the viewer sees and shares with their friends on Facebook. How the video works behind the scenes is a whole other story, and the reality of video delivery on the internet is anything but simple. If you want to build a top-notch interactive video experience, you first need to decide whether to build or buy the platform. Here are the five key pieces to take into account before making that decision…
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by Erika Trautman | Apr 24, 2014 | In the Media, Mobile and HTML5
This article was originally published on The Next Web on April 21, 2014.
Cassette tapes, 8-tracks, and … Flash. All three of these mediums need a player to work, and all three mediums are either dead or dying. Just as CDs replaced tapes as a more efficient means of playing music, and digital files replaced CDs to do the same, HTML5 is making Flash obsolete.
The HTML5 versus Flash debate has been a hot topic among Web developers for years – and even more so since Steve Jobs published his now infamous 2010 letter touting HTML5 as the future and Flash as “no longer necessary.” But whether you side with Flash or HTML5, there’s no denying that the implications of HTML5 on video and the Web are real.
For online video, HTML5 offers two things Flash does not: mobile capabilities and semantic markup. The growth of mobile engagement; the rise of Interactive Video for entertainment, advertising and shopping; and HTML5’s open structure all combine to create the future of an HTML5-based Web, leaving Flash to eventually shuffle into its place in the Retired Tech Hall of Fame (make some room Windows XP, Palm Treo).
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