More Than Just Video

Over the past few weeks, I've been discussing what makes Unicorn Media's Media-as-a-Service™ solution unique from all the rest of the online video platforms in the market.  While my discussions here are certainly not exhaustive, we've covered a lot of ground, and I wanted to take a minute to boil it down.

I've mentioned before that Unicorn Media isn't just a player with some snazzy features attached.  We've really set out to build a whole new way of looking at the online video ecosystem.

But what does that really mean for our clients and partners?

It means that we deliver more than just video.  We deliver profits.

Unicorn Media cuts costs two ways: by providing actionable information to our customers and by improving their operational efficiencies.  Our analytics technology gives our clients the ability to make intelligent business decisions on the spot, in real-time.  Our syndication model simplifies processes and significantly reduces deployment times.  Our transcoding technology allows for high quality viewing at a lower bitrate, and our pricing model only charges our customers for what they're actually using (no hefty licensing fees here).

We've said before that Unicorn Media does OVP the way we think OVP should be done.  So you can certainly call us that if you'd like..but you won't find another OVP that scales to the needs of your business-like we do, or allows for real business intelligence-like we do, or one that significantly cuts video delivery costs-like we do.

So call us an OVP if you'd like, but expect something different...because at Unicorn Media, we're in the business of delivering more than just video.

Live Streaming Goes Mainstream

Live streaming has quickly become a staple within the Internet ecosystem. While video on-demand is a necessity for most media publishers these days, there's also something about our voyeuristic tendencies that draws us all into what's happening now. The idea of bringing live content into our proverbial living rooms is the new norm.  Who hasn't taken at least a glimpse of the adorable pups on the Ustream Puppy Cam?

(I know I was asking for it by linking to live puppies in my post. Go ahead...watch the puppies. I'll wait...)

Puppies aside, the Unicorn team has put in countless hours to bring our clients and partners the best Live Streaming solution out there.  After all, our Media-as-a-Service™ solution wouldn't be complete without it.

The Unicorn Media solution allows our clients to choose from any Flash streaming or progressive protocol, optimizing stream delivery through profiles that allow the player to adjust according to viewers' unique network and hardware resources.

Bottom line?  Our technology provides maximum flexibility.  We empower clients to make decisions based on price and performance for each individual template, easily delivering an optimal video experience based on available bandwidth and system performance.  Our clients and their viewers get a crystal clear picture that doesn't break the bank.

The cherry on top?  Our analytics technology allows clients to analyze audience and traffic in real-time, enabling them to make intelligent business decisions on the spot.  It just doesn't get any better.

Unicorn Media will be providing our live streaming technology for some great events coming up, so stay tuned for that announcement!

(OK, I'm done.  You can go back to the pups.)

Unicorn Uniques: Meet the Team!

Name: Kelly Hoke

Favorite 80's Song: Eye of the Tiger

If you could have any superpower, what would it be? The ability to read minds!

Vegetable you dislike the most: Celery.  It has no flavor!

Favorite animal at the zoo: the penguins!

What color is your toothbrush? Cobalt blue

What's one unlikely fact no one would guess about you? Throughout college I donated my hair to Locks of Love.

Favorite Unicorn Memory: This is tough because there are so many...but it has to be Crazy Lid Day!

The Art of Transcoding

A lot of people might argue that the transcoding process isn't the most electrifying of topics...but we aren't those people.

The fact is, transcoding isn't a science.  It's an art.

So I sat down with Rikki Carls, Director of Software Architecture and the Picasso of Unicorn Media's transcoding architecture to get the ins and outs of how the Unicorn transcoding system was built.

What did we set out to accomplish in building our transcoding architecture?

Rikki: We started with a couple of basic tenets in mind.  First, to encode videos to a world-class standard of quality at a lower bitrate than previously thought possible. Second, to have a dynamic profile system that would enable our customers to choose the video output that best meets their business needs, and lastly to create the architecture in such a way to allow it to scale-anywhere from a single hardware farm to multiple "cloud computing" infrastructures.

Read more »

Case Study: Streamline Technologies

Customer Profile:  Streamline  Technologies

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Streamline Technologies specializes in website and ticketing solutions for collegiate and  professional sports organizations.  By providing a comprehensive suite of products and services, Streamline has earned a reputation for developing applications that are easy to use, enhance client  marketing efforts, and expand revenue opportunities.

Goal:

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Alex Short, President of Streamline Technologies needed the optimal video solution for the company's clients: one that was robust enough to handle the unique requirements of each property, easy and cost-effective enough to publish the large array of media assets these clients maintain, and flexible enough to support potential sponsorship and advertising opportunities as they arise.

The Unicorn Media Solution:

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Unicorn Media's Media-as-a-Service™  solution allows Streamline clients to simply and affordably publish large amounts of video content to their sites, bringing fans closer to the action.

Says Short, "Our college athletic clients generate a large amount of video content, and converting, uploading, hosting, and sharing this content has always been a challenge.  The Unicorn Media Asset Management System addresses all of these issues in an easy-to-use and cost-effective manner."  Unicorn Media's suite of services that include ingestion and multiple format transcoding, content management, syndication, ad-integration, player templates, and detailed analytics give Streamline clients a professional-grade video solution that supports their expanding media publishing needs.  Adds Short, "We selected Unicorn Media because of their focus on publishing video content and the ease-of-use for our customers to upload, transcode, and publish their video clips.  Unicorn showed great interest in working with us and went above-and-beyond in our testing and integration of their services.  We are pleased to offer the Unicorn Media solution to our clients."

Unicorn Media's Asset Management System provides users with global online portal access that allows them the ability to manage the distribution of content to websites as well as desktop applications, game consoles, and mobile or other IP-enabled devices, all while enforcing the business rules specific to each unique environment.  This Smart Syndication Technology™, which enables deliver to virtually any destination or device, creates new sponsorship and advertising opportunities for Streamline clients, giving collegiate and professional sports organizations new opportunities to monetize their media assets.

That Party Rocked!

This November, Unicorn Media celebrated our 2nd Anniversary.  We celebrated in style...with everyone coming dressed as their favorite rockstar.  It was a great time, and we're looking forward to many more anniversaries to come!

Andrea, the winner of the costume competition, as Marilyn Manson.

  

The entire Unicorn crew.

Elvis has entered the building.

Madonna-Lucky Star.

For more photos from the event, check out the Unicorn Media Flickr photo stream!

Product Update: REST API

Last week, Unicorn Media put into production our REST API, which will allow clients and partners to utilize Unicorn Media services independently of each other.

What does that mean for new and current customers?

Well, we've been talking a lot lately about why Unicorn Media was founded: because we saw a void in the OVP market that made it difficult for media publishers to seamlessly manage, syndicate, analyze, and monetize their video content.  Our goal has always been to create a type of one-stop shop that allows organizations (of all sizes) to simply and effectively accomplish all of their objectives with one product in one place.  But we also realize that one size doesn't always fit all...

We see the Media-as-a-Service™ solution as the best solution to create an effective online video ecosystem, and while we stand by this philosophy, we also understand that the needs of organizations are as unique as the companies themselves.  With our new REST API, these organizations can now utilize the Unicorn Media services that most effectively help run their business.

Is it a killer analytics system you're looking for?  We've got it.  Looking for an easy way to syndicate your content?  Look no further.  Or maybe you just need a great player for your website.  We've got that too.

Whatever your needs, whether its all of the benefits of our Media-as-a-Service™ solution or just one component to augment your existing workflow, Unicorn Media will help provide the right solution for you.

Look Who’s Watching

Unicorn Media's Analytics System, including a view of the infamous "Magic Frisbee."

So you've syndicated your content out. (That was easy, right?)

Now for the important stuff: Who's watching it? Sounds simple enough, but we've found that the answer can be a surprisingly difficult one to answer.

Analyzing video content on the Interwebz has traditionally been a complicated endeavor.  Content publishers often need two or even three vendors to derive answers to pretty simple questions about their content.  They're left with high costs, hefty bandwidth logs, and a limited perspective into how the content they're analyzing is actually performing.

We saw this as a huge void in the video ecosystem, so naturally, it became a huge focus in developing Unicorn Media's Media-as-a-Service™ solution.

Our analytics system isn't a traditional reporting system.  It's a real-time data warehouse and provides unfettered access to key data points, allowing content owners and publishers to view metrics by video reach, content, consumption, domain, or geography.

So what does that mean to content publishers? It means that UMedia Analytics provides unmatched visibility into how your business is actually working...in real-time.  How much revenue did that video generate?  How many end-users watched that piece of content?  Where in the world is this video the most popular?  Is this particular title profitable?  Whether you want to compare end-user behavior to content performance, or revenue generation to delivery cost, the Unicorn Media solution allows you to create custom reports on-the-fly.

In other words, we've created an analytics system that just doesn't exist anywhere else.

Syndicate or Die: The New World of Hyper-Syndication

If there's one thing content syndication isn't these days, it's optional.  To survive in this world, content owners need eyeballs-a lot of eyeballs on many different platforms.

The benefits of "hyper-syndication" are pretty clear: this strategy allows you to strengthen your brand, attract new viewers, and most importantly, create more opportunities to monetize media assets.

To-date, hyper-syndication has been another example of the hoop-jumping that is the online video ecosystem.  The process of packaging content intended for multiple environments is, generally speaking, complex and costly in both time and resources.  How are content owners able to take advantage of the benefits of a syndication strategy while avoiding the pitfalls of what can be an intense cost?

Enter Unicorn Media's Smart Syndication Technology...and syndication just got a whole lot simpler.

Read more »

The Unicorn Difference

We've all heard it time and time again.  It's a story that's been told over and over throughout the last several months.  The OVP space is crowded.  The field is saturated.  There are too many players at the party.  (It only takes a quick look over at any TechCrunch article covering an OVP to see what I mean.)

Needless to say, there's a lot of hype.

So, what is it that makes Unicorn Media stand out from the rest of the crowd?  What is it that makes us think we'll outlast the hype?  We think it comes down to this:

Unicorn Media does OVP the way we think OVP should be done.

You see, Unicorn Media isn't just a player with some cool features attached (which is why we think a lot of other players in the space look so much alike).

Providing a player is the easy part.

Unicorn Media was founded because we saw a void.  It just took too many vendors to get a video online.  From CDN and distribution partners, to the right player, from syndication to a useful and effective analytics system, content owners often find themselves jumping through several hoops to get to one final product.

Unicorn Media manages all the hoop jumping.  We've  built the most robust system, a solution that provides everyone from the Web 2.0 startup to the largest of media companies with the tools to upload, manage, syndicate, analyze, and monetize their content online.

We know there are a lot of companies out there that say they do it all.  So we don't just expect you to take our word for it.  Over the next few weeks we'll be providing you with the Unicorn Difference, showcasing the ins and outs of what truly makes us the most robust system in the OVP space, all the things that make us extraordinarily unique.

The Unicorn Difference is more than just a feature set.  It's a new way of thinking about the video ecosystem.  So stay tuned, and check back tomorrow for our first installment, "Syndicate or Die: The New World of Hyper-Syndication."