The Buddy Group Collaborates with Internap to Produce Web Videos

By Derrick on January 29, 2008 11:06 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Internap Network Services Corporation, a global provider of end-to-end Internet business solutions, announced today a multi-faceted agreement with The Buddy Group, a leading digital creative agency, to produce and deploy online interactive video as part of a new video ecosystem of service partners. The two companies will work together integrating The Buddy Group's creative talent and digital experts with Internap's content delivery network (CDN), data center colocation, content monetization services and Performance IPTM networking to deliver turn-key solutions for enterprise clients.

According to a recent study of 1,000,000 broadband subscribers in North America, streaming video represents 36% of HTTP traffic on the Web and YouTube alone comprises 10% of all traffic on the Internet.1 The agreement between Internap and The Buddy Group will make it easier for enterprises to create and deliver video as part of their online marketing strategy and execution. For example, interactive customer service videos delivered via Internap's CDN can improve retention, satisfaction and cross-selling. In addition, original and interactive content from The Buddy Group can allow video to be dynamically streamed and seamlessly viewed without requiring the big budget productions common in television.

"Interactive video has become the 'killer content' of the Web, bringing new and innovative ways to reach customers and open new markets," said Pete Deutschman, chief executive officer and chief buddy of The Buddy Group. "The problem is that, until now, creating and delivering Web video has been too difficult and slow for most business and government enterprises. Our relationship with Internap allows us to create a video ecosystem of the right partners to rapidly and cost-effectively produce and distribute video applications -- on Web sites, within games or with digital ads."

Known as 'The Agency's Agency', The Buddy Group believes that aligning with agencies and technology companies can create this new media ecosystem, which simplifies and accelerates the creation and delivery of Internet video content. One of The Buddy Group's most prominent interactive applications includes its new seat selection technology named Interactive Seat Buddy, which enhances the online ticket-buying process by allowing users to see the view from their seats via a video stream before they purchase the tickets. The firm also recently announced the first of its new DotLot digital studios in Irvine, California, offering a one-stop-shop for video from concept development to production and monetization.

"The Buddy Group and Internap have partnered to remove the barriers to creating innovative video applications running over the Internet," said Philip N. Kaplan, chief strategy officer of Internap. "The combination of The Buddy Group's creative talent and video production capabilities along with Internap's content delivery network (CDN), managed servers and storage, and content monetization tools can help organizations easily add video to their Web applications without breaking the bank.'