Brightcove is a leading video platform that makes video work for you. Founded in 2004, the company provides technical and innovative ways to deliver a great video experience to your clients that helps grow your brand and revenue. As a Brightcove customer myself, I wanted to see how beneficial the platform could be for Photofocus readers. So, I sat down with Nathan Veer, Brightcove’s Senior Technical Product Marketing Manager, to get his thoughts.
Andrew Ford: Thanks for taking the time to chat, Nathan. Let’s start by finding out why you’re so excited about working at Brightcove.
Nathan Veer: I have always enjoyed working at Brightcove because, while everyone says it, we are indeed the leaders in this space. We were here before everyone else — even YouTube! Our mission was to make video ubiquitous with text. It was a radical idea at the time. I think we’re there.
AF: Why would someone looking to publish video content need Brightcove?
NV: Before working for Brightcove, I was a customer. I remember the feeling that if I could get a video into Brightcove, I could do just about anything with it. The idea was that my videos were my most valuable asset and I wanted to use them everywhere in different ways. I wanted to use them often, whether that was recycling old content based on current events to give them new life, promoting my latest event across all platforms at once, or using a video to find out which customers were most engaged and feeding that data into sales. Because Brightcove is the most complete solution out there, once your video is in Brightcove you can keep going back and getting value out of that video in so many ways.
AF: This may be new to many of our Photofocus readers. So, is Brightcove easy to use for beginners?
NV: To get up and running, yes. Thankfully the UI is very straightforward and easy. More importantly, when you’re ready to stretch and get into some “new” territory, Brightcove’s documentation is amazing, easy to find and easy to follow. But wait, there’s more! Brightcove’s staff includes subject matter experts and industry leaders that are available to you to get creative with, solve complex problems or hold your hand. That was the primary reason I signed on as one of their largest customers at the time. Their staff “got it” and were determined to help me succeed.
AF: For the freelancer or small business owner, how can Brightcove help grow the business and brand awareness? What about monetizing content?
NV: I could tell you all about our tools and cool new features, but when comparing checklists, many others appear to have similar options. So, I would say the difference is how we implement solutions! We don’t just solve one problem like AVOD (ad-based video-on-demand), we allow you to build your business whether that’s with ads, server-side ads, subscription models or pay-per-view. The idea is that when you’re starting out, you’re taking a risk. Your technology shouldn’t be one of them. You should experiment with your business models and figure out what works for you. The technology supporting you should be fluid and get out of the way.
AF: I’ve noticed Brightcove is constantly integrating more features. That may be of interest to our readers that are part of larger organizations.
NV: We’ve actually invested quite heavily into our integrations over the past few years. The idea is that most organizations use 5-10 pieces of technology for marketing alone. There’s another dozen (at least) for HR, accounting, and so on. At minimum, we need these systems to talk to each other. Brightcove is the most integrated platform I’ve seen out there. We make sure that when you are generating incredibly detailed data about a prospect (like Sally watched 86% of Video A and then came back the next day and watched 92% of the same video), you can get that data into everyone’s hands. For a larger business, that means your sales team, analysts, marketing team, web designers, and content creators. Best of all, it shows up in the platforms they are already spending their time in. It’s a must-have in this day and age.
AF: I’ve been an attendee of your great creative conference Brightcove PLAY. Sadly, the meeting is physically canceled this year due to COVID-19. I think the Photofocus readers would get a lot out of this conference. Is there a way they still can?
NV: We are taking Brightcove PLAY virtual. However, we didn’t just want to create a run-of-the-mill copy of our event online. We preach that you should lean into the technology and understand that viewers take in information differently based on how they are receiving it. In turn, we are turning PLAY into a complete OTT (over-the-top media service that streams directly to viewers via internet) experience. This means there will be exclusive content and interactions that you will be able to enjoy on your mobile device, desktop, tablet or even your big screen TV. That means you can be at PLAY at home in your sweats!
AF: I’m looking forward to checking out the conference content online in May. Your sessions have always been fun and informative. Click here for more information on the online event. Thanks for your time, Nathan.
