Given the near ubiquity of video today, it seems almost incomprehensible that just ten years ago the medium was circumscribed by the four walls of a television set.  Today, video has become unmoored from the confines of both the television industry AND set top boxes, and it has done so by the very same route that print and radio have taken—by breaking away from the limits of analog technology.

So what does this mean to you?

As a consumer, it means that you have more choice than ever.  With the advent of TiVo and Hulu, you can watch your favorite television shows whenever you want because appointment television is now a thing of the past.  You can go to YouTube and watch millions of short-form videos: snippets of political speeches, commercials that you actually WANT to watch and almost anything else that you can imagine, from dancing cats to videos of your niece.  iTunes is quickly becoming a destination for music videos and movies, just as it previously became a destination for single hits.  And Wi-Fi capable devices like laptops, smart phones, iPods, and Apple’s iPad are making it easy to consume video on the go.  Video is everywhere and available via multiple devices…freeing it up from the tyranny of the set top box.

But what if you or your organization wants to communicate via video?  What if you have a marketing, public relations, or branding campaign you want to disseminate?  Depending on the message, it means that you have a lot more delivery choices available to you than ever before – delivery choices that can help you reach your target audience via a very powerful and persuasive medium.  No longer dependent on an expensive broadcast medium that threw a wide net in hopes of reaching a small percentage of viewers, you can now target your audience and reach them via a multiplicity of channels and devices.

It also means that you have to do a little more homework before embarking on that marketing, branding, or public relations campaign.  But no worries, over the next few weeks we’ll be helping you think through this new set of challenges