Localizing Online Video

While YouTube and other online video platforms allow users to upload, view and search for whatever content they wish, one company is offering a localized twist -- a video platform specific to one market, South Africa.

Brands such as FHM, Sports Illustrated, Cosmopolitan, Die Burger and Kick Off have dedicated brand channels on MyVideo.co.za, South Africa's first online video platform. The site was launched in January 2007 and targeted at South African Internet users.

"Where videos posted on YouTube are likely to get lost in a sea of clutter, MyVideo ensures that South African content is aired as the sole focus, ensuring that companies who use it are connecting with targeted internet traffic," says MyVideo marketing officer Tristan Owen.

This is an interesting development that mirrors so many other like minded communities of interest (think blogs) that have developed because of digital technologies, and which provide new opportunities for marketers. By understanding the localized needs and desires of South Africans, marketers like Sports Illustrated can push localized content on MyVideo. This even creates new opportunities for low-budget, local businesses, whose messagse may be lost in the vastness of YouTube.

As Owen notes"By developing content that is both relevant to your brand as well as topical to users, you are creating an empire of possibilities."