Toronto-based Formidable Technologies was recently awarded a licence to distribute the streaming video technology developed by U.K.’s Forbidden Technologies plc. Forbidden was founded by Stephen Streater, whose Eidos firm created the Lara Croft series.
Formidable sees the burgeoning mobile streaming market as the perfect tool for marketers in getting their message across to a sector of consumers that spends less and less time in front of the traditional medium of TV. Pipeline spoke to Vicky Talangbayan, vice-president of Formidable, about the potential of the technology for IT marketers.
Pipeline: How does this technology work?
VT: Forbidden started out as a video streaming company and it evolved to develop other products. The founder is Stephen Streater and that company produced Tomb Raiders, and from them on it expanded to business applications and a lot of other uses for video streaming and lifestyles. We are now doing a Web page called Clash; the idea is to video-share plus do a blog page, so we will probably do a soft launch in mid September after the the International Broadcasting Conference in Amsterdam.
Pipeline: Who is already using it and how?
VT: At this point it is very big in the U.K. There’s a big broadcasting company in the U.K. which is using it for broadcast news, and the post production houses have started using it. That company is going to do a pilot in mid September, and Simply Stream, which has the distribution rights for Forbidden ‘s streaming video technology for the travel sector, uses it for doing their advertising for travel.
Pipeline: Where do you see the biggest opportunities for this technology?
VT: There is a big church group in Canada that is very interested in us. They want to connect churches because of the dwindling membership.
Pipeline: Why should IT marketers be interested in this product?
VT: Because it will get their products out in the market faster. We can see this marketing as downstreaming directly to your laptop. We’re also launching a home security product that will stream directly to your cell phone if there is any activity in your house. It will tell you if there is movement at your cottage while you re in Toronto and you can alert who you want to in that area.
Pipeline: Do you have any agreements in place with service providers?
VT: We were working on one but we ve stopped it. We’ve just started to put together a marketing team; it has been just me and my partner, but I’m starting to interview sales staff next week.
Pipeline: Is the current market of cell phone users in Canada ready for this?
VT: I would think so. We did a little survey and found out that since early this year, the Internet has surpassed newspapers and magazines, and in some small way new is being streamed to cell phones, so that’s a great way to market a good product — via cell phone.
Pipeline: What is the best models for marketers in using this technology to get their messages in front of users? Would people have to choose to download it or how would that work?
VT: We can Bluetooth, we have been experimenting with that. We don’t want to limit the ability to download; we want to expand it if anything. Flexibility is the key, and mass reach is the purpose here — to reach as many people via videostreaming as we can.
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