Video During Troubled Times
September 21st, 2008 by Seth Kenvin
What a crazy economic week we’ve just had. Although, any trader who took the week off would return to work on Monday morning to discover that the S&P500 had actually gone up a few points. In the mean time both Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch vanish / get absorbed and AIG also has a new owner, the US government. I’m hoping for the best, and am resisting opining on topics in fields like general economics and politics here, so I’ll constrain it to the fact that I’m hoping for the best.
People are frequently asking me what impact economic downturn could have on Market7’s launch and prospects. I actually don’t worry about economic externalities right now. For one thing, those things that are in our own control provide enough to consume us. Also, we just started sales last week. We’re proceeding from a zero basis so it doesn’t take too much success to achieve growth. If we must face an economically challenging period, now is actually a better time for us to go through that, instead of when we’re trying to establish growth above already-robust performance.
If times are going to be tough, I think our offering actually has some distinctive appeal relative to the times. I used to work for a company which provides technology for advanced consumer video services like VOD and HDTV. While the tech bubble was deflating around 2000-2001 one of our executives pointed out that video services can be recession-proof since the family ordering a VOD movie for five bucks is saving a lot compared to parking, movie theater admission and of course the snacks. And I suppose he was right; the company made it through that period and has gone on to flourish in better days.
Video’s capabilities to efficiently disseminate rich content also underscore the case for the sort of organizational video production that Market7 facilitates. Employees can access training programs in the most convenient setting instead of their time being consumed by scheduled on-premises programs. Ambitious occasions like product launches can be broadly shared without requiring expensive travel. Corporate call centers can be relieved by customers getting front-line support by accessing video tutorial information.
By the way, note that for similar reasons to those cited above, corporate video production can be green too. I’m sure we’ll get up a post on that at some point.
