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[flixmaster]

A Note About Change - FlixMaster becomes Rapt Media - By Erika Trautman, CEO - Rapt Media

A few years ago, we embarked on a mission to transform how online video was created and delivered.  I was running a video production company and my co-founder was a video game designer. We had a realization – the standard online video of the day was completely missing the point. After all, what is the internet great at? Interactivity, user-navigation, and personal relevance. Were our videos doing anything to harness that? Absolutely not.

So we set out to create an interactive series that empowered the viewer with choice. We wanted an online video experience that was engaging, actionable, and fun, and while we could write the script and coordinate the gaming aspect in no time, there was no easy way to build or publish this experience online, and there was certainly no chance of scaling it to produce multiple episodes over time.  

Remarkably, video technology had not kept up with the rest of the web and our new direction became clear – rather than build one project that inspired some, we needed to build a platform to inspire millions, a platform to empower people around the world to create these kinds of rich, immersive online video experiences at scale without the pain, timeline, or expense of custom one-off projects. Thus we created FlixMaster and it quickly became the essential online video platform for indie producers and enterprise creatives who want audiences not only to watch but also to interact.  

And the producers produced - thousands of hours of footage woven together into interactive projects across the web. Shop-able videos, product demos, entertainment, customer support videos, educational content, you name it. And as top-tier brands and enterprises took our platform and pushed the boundaries of what’s possible, our vision and our mission expanded.

NBC Universal launched webisodes that leveraged our player API to assign points to fans based on their choices in the Covert Affairs online prequel series Sights Unseen. Cinemax launched an unprecedented 24 interactive videos in one microsite that told the backstory of their new original series Banshee. And most recently Philips, in conjunction with Ogilvy, and Maybelline New York, in conjunction with ICED Media, have launched first-of-their-kind clickable video marketing campaigns that are viewable through the browser of most mobile devices without the need to download any app (including iPhone!).  Partnering with the talented people behind these initiatives has been incredible, so we’ve doubled-down and made our platform more robust, more powerful and even more remarkable.

And we’ve chosen to celebrate that expansion with a new look and name that truly represent our vision and the captivating way our platform is fundamentally changing the online media experience.

FlixMaster is now Rapt Media.  Welcome to the evolution of online video.  

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FLIXMASTER REBRANDING AS RAPT MEDIA; FOCUSING ON MEASURABLE RETURN FROM VIDEO

Company Aims to Provide More Creative, Engaging, and Truly Interactive Video

Boulder, Colo., July 31, 2013 – FlixMaster today announced the company is rebranding as Rapt Media, demonstrating its commitment to becoming the singular, scalable, in-house creative solution for business and agencies wanting to achieve measurable  business objectives using online video.

Enterprise and branded video has enjoyed huge popularity as a marketing medium, often representing the first place people click on any web property, but statistics show that nearly half of online video viewers click away after 30 seconds.

The new Rapt Media sees an opportunity to address the rapidly growing need for more creative uses of video by corporations and media properties alike, providing a technology platform and product suite that improves content quality and increases viewer engagement.

Most technology developed for video has been targeted at storage and distribution issues, making the first chapter of Enterprise Online Video about delivering the video and managing the massive amount of data it creates. Sadly, the actual content has been largely ignored, with innovation taking a backseat to simple replications of offline video experiences.

“Since 2011, we have been the essential online video platform for indie producers and enterprise creative professionals who want audiences not only to watch online videos, but also to interact,” said Erika Trautman, co-founder and CEO of Rapt Media, a Boulder, CO-based graduate of the prestigious TechStars program. “Now, our media engine is poised to drive the world’s best interactive multimedia projects and fundamentally change the online video experience.”

“Rapt Media and our new brand position reflects that vision,” CEO Trautman said.

Rapt Media provides a scalable and measurable one stop solution for creating enterprise videos that use the click-through power of the web, resulting in experiences that engage, produce revenue, and address the real-life business needs of retailers, technology vendors, entertainment companies and other organizations, working with their existing distribution strategies to increase ROI.

The company recently announced their solution for the first mobile interactive videos for the iPhone and Android that don’t require an app for viewing, as well as partnerships with globally renowned brands Maybelline New York and Philips, which are are using the interactive technology in major marketing campaigns.

For global technology brand Philips, the company powered the first mobile interactive component for their upcoming Click & Style campaign, the introduction of an all-in-one Male Grooming product for young men. The effort is led by interactive agency Ogilvy & Mather Advertising (Duesseldorf). Willem Schungel, digital campaign manager of Philips Global said, “We needed to find a technology solution and experienced support team to help us execute this ambitious, interactive mobile campaign, and Rapt Media presented the only solution in the marketplace that was powerful and flexible enough to meet our mobile delivery needs.  Their easy-to-use platform allowed our creatives to take control of the interactive building process, so that we can achieve greater mobile engagement.”

Additional enterprises using Rapt Media’s technology include HBO, Addison, Sony, One King's Lane and NBC Universal, among others.

Rapt Media’s new website will launch on Aug. 14, 2013, but  additional details can be found right now at www.raptmedia.com.

About Rapt Media

Rapt Media is the singular, scalable, in-house creative platform driving the evolution of interactive enterprise video for companies wanting to achieve measurable  business objectives using online video. Rapt Media makes online video an interactive experience, allowing creative professionals to produce content at scale that is highly engaging, converts interaction into action and provides significant ROI.  

Based in Boulder, CO and a graduate of the highly acclaimed TechStars program, Rapt Media’s cloud-based technology enhances enterprise videos with the click-through power of the web and creates viewer-engaging and revenue-producing assets for retailers, technology vendors, media companies and other organizations.

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PRESS RELEASE: FLIXMASTER DEBUTS FIRST INTERACTIVE VIDEO ON IPHONES

Company Announces Major Video Marketing Programs for Global Brands Maybelline New York and Philips

BOULDER, Colo., July 10, 2013 — FlixMaster, a leader in interactive online video, announced it is launching the first interactive videos for the iPhone and Android that don’t require an app for viewing. Globally renowned brands Maybelline New York and Philips are using the interactive technology in major marketing campaigns.

“Not long ago, as video content moved online, technology companies were focused simply on how to store and distribute it. No one was paying attention to the quality of the content or what video could become in an interactive medium,” said Erika Trautman, co-founder and CEO of FlixMaster, a Boulder, Colo.-based graduate of the prestigious TechStars program. “The industry solved the distribution and storage issues. FlixMaster’s technology is powering the evolution of the content itself, and a crucial part of this effort is bringing interactivity to mobile users, giving businesses of all sizes a better way to connect and communicate with customers.”

As part of this effort, FlixMaster is releasing groundbreaking interactive video capability for the iPhone and Android. Expanding on successful previous work with clients such as USA Network and HBO’s Cinemax network, FlixMaster’s new collaborations with global beauty brand Maybelline New York and technology juggernaut Philips make them the first to use the company’s iPhone compatible interactive videos. These projects allow consumers to shop, click, and interact with FlixMaster’s cloud-based video technology on their iPhones without the momentum-killing distraction of needing to download an app first.

For Maybelline, the company has partnered with ICED Media on their newly launched #TheGlamourEye video campaign, putting cutting-edge technology in mobile users’ hands and giving the renowned beauty brand a new outlet for communicating with consumers about new products. “Educating consumers on how every woman can pull off the big eyes beauty trend is essential,” said Charlotte Adjchavanich, VP Digital & Communications, Maybelline New York. “By utilizing the actionable and engaging capabilities that FlixMaster provides, our viewers enjoy a unique and customized experience that reinforces our brand’s dedication to innovation, education, and fashion.” 

Meanwhile, FlixMaster is powering the first mobile interactive component for global technology brand Philips and interactive agency Ogilvy & Mather Advertising (Duesseldorf)’s upcoming Click & Style campaign. Willem Schungel, digital campaign manager of Philips Global said, “Engaging and interacting with consumers is paramount when it comes to video, and a big component of this interactivity is meeting the demands of an increasingly mobile consumer. FlixMaster has made it possible for us to share product features with our customers in a completely new way.”

As part of their continuing efforts to change the way brands connect with customers through video, FlixMaster is also announcing that they are preparing to rebrand, with the new name and details slated to be announced in the coming weeks. 

About FlixMaster

FlixMaster is the creative platform for enterprise online enterprise video. FlixMaster makes online video an interactive experience, allowing creative professionals to produce content at scale that is highly engaging, converts interaction into action and provides significant ROI.  

Based in Boulder, CO and a graduate of the highly acclaimed TechStars program, FlixMaster’s cloud-based technology enhances enterprise videos with the click-through power of other web experiences and creates viewer-engaging and revenue-producing assets for retailers, technology vendors, media companies and other organizations.

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Steve Waskul of WASKULonTECH Interviews Erika Trautman

VIDEO: From the 2013 NAB Show in Las Vegas, Steve Waskul talks with FlixMaster Co-Founder and CEO Erika Trautman about the future of online video.

Click here for the full video.

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FlixMaster Officially Announcing Module for Enterprise and $1.125 Million in Funding

There’s a lot of great news coming out for FlixMaster today. First, we're thrilled to announce our solution for the growing need for more creative uses for video content. Enterprise video technology has, thus far, been primarily focused on video distribution and content management, yet content quality and increased viewer engagement is what is at the forefront of the minds of creative professionals today.

As a result of our great strides to meet that need, we were recently commissioned by HBO to develop an interactive online experience for the newly launched Cinemax series, “Banshee”, that incorporates FlixMaster video technology and makes heavy use of the Player API. The online destination, Banshee Origins, gives audiences an enhanced viewing experience, driven by interaction with the video player itself. This gives them an opportunity to explore the show and interact with its characters and themes.

This partnership follows our recent work with the USA Network show, “Covert Affairs”, where our technology was the driving force behind a new and acclaimed web experience. This is the very kind of viewer engagement that corporate brands are also seeking, and it’s why FlixMaster has seen significant interest from major brands that are tired of conventional video, brands that want to increase engagement and leverage online video as a broader sales or business driver.

Here’s what Erika Trautman, our CEO and Co-Founder, had to say about the news:

“The promise of Enterprise Video has been high engagement that converts interaction into action. The problem is, most videos simply transfer a conventional TV-like experience to the web, and even though most viewers go to the video first, they’re gone in a matter of seconds. Brands need to produce interactive video experiences that draw viewers in and keep them there. And companies need to be producing those experiences at scale and at a reasonable cost. That’s what FlixMaster offers.”

Second, we are excited to announce the launch of new industry modules for our innovative video editing and deployment platform, specifically designed for online retailing, corporate customer service, and media markets. Online retailers currently make up about 30% of FlixMaster’s overall enterprise customers, and we are thrilled to be expanding our offering to further meet the needs of this unique and growing market.

Finally, FlixMaster is announcing today that we have secured $1.125 million in additional funding from a syndicate of investors, led by New York-based investment firm Golden Seeds. We are looking forward to the developments that this investment will lead to, and are committed to continuing our efforts to turn out services and technology that change the way companies interact with their audience through video.

This is an exciting time for us, and we hope that you will keep checking back with us here so that we can keep you updated on the latest from the FlixMaster team. You can also follow us on Twitter @FlixMaster.

Here's to making waves in the world of online video.  Thanks for your support!

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PRESS RELEASE: FLIXMASTER SECURES $1.125 MILLION FUNDING TO EXPAND IN ENTERPRISE VIDEO

FLIXMASTER SECURES $1.125 MILLION FUNDING TO EXPAND IN ENTERPRISE VIDEO

  Company Announces Module for Enterprise,

New York-based Golden Seeds Leads Funding Syndicate

  Boulder CO, January 23, 2013 – FlixMaster, the creative platform for Enterprise Online Video, today announced it has secured $1.125 million in additional funding from a syndicate of investors led by New York-based investment firm Golden Seeds.

  The company said the investment would be used principally to expand sales and marketing efforts, particularly in the corporate enterprise markets. The company also announced it was launching new industry modules for its video editing and deployment platform designed for online retailing, corporate customer service and media markets. 

  FlixMaster is addressing the growing need for more creative uses of video by corporations and media properties alike. To date, Enterprise Video technology has been primarily focused on video distribution and content management, but as those technology challenges fade, creative professionals are looking for platforms that improve content quality and increase viewer engagement.

  “The promise of Enterprise Video has been high engagement that converts interaction into action,” said Erika Trautman, co-founder and CEO of FlixMaster, a Boulder, CO-based graduate of the prestigious TechStars program. “The problem is, most videos simply transfer a conventional TV-like experience to the web, and even though most viewers go to the video first, they’re gone in a matter of seconds.”

  “Brands need to produce interactive video experiences that draw viewers in and keep them there. And companies need to be able to produce those experiences at scale and at a reasonable cost. That’s what FlixMaster offers,” she continued.

  FlixMaster has enjoyed success in media markets where creativity and innovation is critical, as producers aim to translate the quality of their broadcast shows into dynamic web experiences. The company was recently engaged by HBO to develop an interactive online experience for the newly launched Cinemax series, “Banshee”, that incorporates FlixMaster video technology and makes heavy use of the Player API. The online destination, Banshee Origins, provides audiences with an enhanced viewing experience, driven through interaction with the video player itself, and gives them an opportunity to explore the show and interact with its characters and themes. Last summer, FlixMaster’s technology powered an acclaimed web experience for the USA Network show, “Covert Affairs.” 

  That kind of viewer investment is exactly what corporate brands are also seeking and why FlixMaster has seen significant interest from major brands that have grown tired of conventional video and want to increase engagement and leverage video as a broader sales tool.

  “About a third of all online retailers, for example, have hundreds and sometimes thousands of videos, some of which are productive, many of which are not,” said Ms. Trautman.  “We’re delivering capabilities like clicking on products in a video and dropping them directly into a shopping cart or launching product specifications right from the video.”

  “The trick is to capture a viewers interest and get them to act without forcing them to another page. This is a subtle but fundamental shift in presenting video as an active medium vs. a passive experience,” she said.

  Online retailers constitute about 30 percent of FlixMaster’s enterprise overall customers.

      About Golden Seeds

Golden Seeds is an investment firm dedicated to delivering above market returns for investors through the empowerment of women entrepreneurs.  Its member angel network, consisting of 240 men and women nationwide, is the fourth largest in the US. Golden Seeds Fund II, an investor in PromoJam, closed in December.

  About FlixMaster

FlixMaster is the creative platform for online enterprise video. FlixMaster makes online video an interactive experience, allowing creative professionals to produce content at scale that is highly engaging, converts interaction into action and provides significant ROI.  

  Based in Boulder, CO and a graduate of the highly acclaimed TechStars program, FlixMaster’s cloud-based technology enhances enterprise videos with the click-through power of other web experiences and creates viewer-engaging and revenue-producing assets for retailers, technology vendors, media companies and other organizations.

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Build Your Own Interactive Video Postcard!

We're excited to have a lot of new creative folks using the FlixMaster platform to create next-generation, interactive videos and thought it would be fun to offer some assets for creating your first Interactive Holiday Video Postcard!  In this post we're including all of the video assets you need to create your own simple Interactive Video Postcard like this one and, for those of you who want to take it to the next level there is an Advanced User Content Pack that will give you the flexibility to take this simple project to the next level!

Simple Project Asset Pack

Advanced User Asset Pack

Please leave questions, comments, ideas, or post your projects on our Facebook page and also keep track on twitter for more great content packs, tips, tricks, tutorials, and ideas for creating engaging interactive videos.  And if you haven't signed up yet, check us out at FlixMaster to get your free account!

Happy Holidays!  Have fun!!

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Happy Holidays Interactive Video Postcard!

<p>Iframes are required to view this content.</p>

We thought it would be fun to offer an interactive holiday card to our friends, family and users.  Later today we'll also be breaking down how easily we made this project, offering a creation template, and providing a link for downloadable assets so you can make your very own!  So be sure to join the FlixMaster Facebook community and keep your ear open for updates on Twitter!  

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

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FlixMaster & Sony Offer Prosumer Access

We're proud to announce that FlixMaster has partnered with Sony Creative Software to offer an exclusive, limited-time discount to Sony Creative Software users interested in taking their online videos to the next level.  As the easiest and most powerful platform to create e-commerce, entertainment, and e-learning projects, FlixMaster adds a world of opportunity to Sony Creative Software users, and at the amazing price of $19.95/month there is no longer any reason not to take advantage.  It's also FREE to build and publish with up to 250 "video plays" so anyone and everyone can take a spin.  Check out the FlixMaster partner page on Sony Creative Software's site here.

The partnership was announced today and Sony Creative Software plans to roll out an email notification to its millions of users starting tomorrow.  They'll also be hosting a webinar on Thursday November 15th to go over the basics of building a project using FlixMaster so be sure to sign up!  “If you believe, as we do, that online video is going to be interactive in the coming years, then FlixMaster is the platform that is going to get you in the game, ahead of the curve," said Dave Chaimson, vice president of Global Marketing for Sony Creative Software. “The partnership between Sony Creative Software and FlixMaster presents our users with the most state-of-the-art means to exercise their creativity in ways never before possible. It will spark project creation that will amaze, and meet a broad diversity of consumer needs.” 

FlixMaster CEO Erika Trautman is also thrilled with the opportunity.  “FlixMaster frees video producers from the constraints of a linear storyline, and we think Sony Creative Software users will be astonished by what they can do with the platform. We’re honored that Sony Creative Software recognized the ingenuity that FlixMaster put into its platform to drive the next generation of online video, and excited that for the first time, it’s being made available to the a very broad creative market via this exclusive partnership.”

In addition to the amazing price point, FlixMaster has removed "video play" limits for these exclusive users - opening up their projects to be viewed and shared by millions!

Click here for the full press release.

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FlixMaster & Sony Partnership

FlixMaster and Sony Creative Software Partner to Offer Sony Creative Software Users Access to FlixMaster’s Game-Changing Interactive Video Platform

Easiest and Most Powerful Platform to Create E-commerce, Entertainment and E-learning Projects Available for a Limited-time, Sony Creative Software-only Promotion

BOULDER, CO–November 14, 2012–FlixMaster (www.flixmaster.com), the first user-driven online video platform that radically changes the video experience for producers and viewers alike, and Sony Creative Software (www.sonycreativesoftware.com), a leading global provider of professional editing and authoring applications, announced today that the two companies have partnered to offer Sony Creative Software users exclusive access to FlixMaster’s cloud-based interactive video creation and editing platform for only $19.95/month. For a limited time, Sony Creative Software users can experience the enterprise level power of FlixMaster’s interactive editing platform at a fraction of the cost.

Sony will offer this special Sony Creative Software group-only subscription rate to its millions of users via its monthly user newsletter, scheduled to be emailed November 15,  giving Sony Creative Software users special access to FlixMaster’s enterprise-level, interactive editing platform, which offers the best cloud-based interactive building tools for scalable e-commerce, entertainment, corporate, and e-learning projects. The special rate includes unlimited project building, unlimited views (sharing with others) and 10GB of storage, allowing anyone in the Sony Creative Software group to try for themselves FlixMaster’s unique visual branching video creation tools that make video non-linear, participatory and social. In addition, Sony will promote FlixMaster in a Webinar on Thursday, November 15, at 9:00 a.m. PT.

“If you believe, as we do, that online video is going to be interactive in the coming years, then FlixMaster is the platform that is going to get you in the game, ahead of the curve," said Dave Chaimson, vice president of Global Marketing for Sony Creative Software. “The partnership between Sony Creative Software and FlixMaster presents our users with the most state-of-the-art means to exercise their creativity in ways never before possible. It will spark project creation that will amaze, and meet a broad diversity of consumer needs.”

FlixMaster is the only interactive editing platform that combines the following features to offer an end-to-end video creation experience:

·       Cloud-based

·       Simple, visual  branching video creation

·       Free to build

·       Instant project updates via drag-and-drop map editor

·       Player API

·       Social Sharing

·       Powerful Analytics

·       Built in Native HTML5

 “FlixMaster frees video producers from the constraints of a linear storyline, and we think Sony Creative Software users will be astonished by what they can do with the platform," said Erika Trautman, CEO and co-founder of FlixMaster. “We’re honored that Sony Creative Software recognized the ingenuity that FlixMaster put into its platform to drive the next generation of online video, and excited that, for the first time, it’s being made available to the a very broad creative market via this exclusive partnership.”

The FlixMaster platform was adopted earlier this year by NBCUniversal/USA Network for a first-ever interactive online video prequel created for the network’s hit TV series “Covert Affairs.” In October, One Kings Lane, an online home design flash sale site, began using interactive video created with FlixMaster to help consumers learn more about its products in an experiential way and to appeal to a new user base.

FlixMaster’s next-generation capabilities enable producers to create non-linear video with multiple navigation paths, and its player API extends the reach of the video outside of the player to interact with the actual website – creating a new paradigm where the video player can be the main navigation point for an entire website. Its drag-and-drop interface allows content creators to link videos to other videos, add links to outside URLs, and leverage its powerful player API to easily create professional-grade, highly interactive projects that drive engagement and e-commerce ROI. FlixMaster videos can quadruple viewing engagement and increase clickthrough rates by up to 800%, and unlike other solutions that require producers to relinquish creative control by sending their videos to “experts” who complete them according to predefined specifications, FlixMaster allows producers to retain complete control from start to finish. FlixMaster handles all of the transcoding and optimization and can either host the published videos or integrate with the company’s CDN of choice. These dynamic, interactive projects can then be embedded on any website or easily shared through social networks. FlixMaster is built in HTML5 to integrate seamlessly with iPads and other tablets.

About FlixMaster

FlixMaster (www.flixmaster.com) is a pioneering interactive video platform that offers a radically new video creation and viewing experience. With FlixMaster, anyone – from individuals to businesses – can create and share next-generation videos that inspire, engage and interact with viewers. Unlike complex and costly video creation tools, FlixMaster provides a simple drag-and-drop interface that allows the producer to easily create videos that are non-linear, participatory and social. FlixMaster-made videos get significantly higher clickthroughs, engagement and ROI than their standard online counterparts. Finally, video is freed to act as an interactive educational tool, a powerful e-commerce engine, or as the ultimate entertainment vehicle where viewers can create their own adventures and choose their own story outcomes. Headquartered in Boulder, CO, FlixMaster was co-founded by an Emmy Award-nominated producer and a video game designer, and is a TechStars 2011 company.

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Press Contact:

Krista Van Lewen

0: 303-963-5530

M: 415-608-0263

[email protected]

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FlixMaster Presents: "HUNCH"

An interactive choose-your-own-adventure-style mystery, HUNCH is a FlixMaster-powered web film about romance author Kaitlyn Camrose, who mysteriously dies in what seems to be an empty hotel room. She's vacationing with her older husband and his son. As the viewer, you direct Detective Kyle Marquette's murder investigation from beginning to end, choosing his actions at crucial decision making moments during the story.   Do you inspect the body or interview witnesses? Listen to audio recordings or review surveillance video footage? Each option has a ten second countdown, limiting your opportunity to weigh the choices for very long. Writer/director Ryan Hunter Phillips and producer Doug Landers believe interactive content is the future of entertainment and advertising. We might be biased but we tend to agree.

Think you have what it takes to help Detective Marquette crack this case? There's only one way to find out:

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The Power of Branching Video

If the web had no links, it would be a terrible experience. Most online videos today are dead ends; a single viewing experience with no options to navigate elsewhere. Linking videos together with other videos or maps, photos, stills, or forms captures information. We call this technology "branching videos."

In our pitch a year ago at TechStars demo day, we used the example of Domino's Pizza's sedentary video versus an interactive one by a much smaller brand, Hell Pizza. Hell Pizza had a mere one fifty third of the annual budget that pizza giant Domino's utilized yet their video had 4M hits to Domino's 800K. Why?

It's simple. Videos that are branching are sixteen times more likely to receive at least 200,000 views (the benchmark metric for a successful viral video). People also spend twice as long watching them. This deep engagement leads to a doubled conversion rate.

Fox, Universal, Burger King, Honda, Old Spice, and E-Trade are just a few of the major brands that are capitalizing on branching video but with FlixMaster, you don't have to have a major brand's budget to create compelling content. Why shell out hundreds or thousands of dollars for an experience you can't reuse? 

The benefits of interactive video are tangible. Built in HTML5 and powered by a passionate team in Boulder, FlixMaster makes video as rich, connected, and interactive as the rest of the web. 

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Old Spice Interactive Integration with Vimeo

You probably aren't surprised to hear that Old Spice has hit another ball out of the park with their new interactive video of Terry Crews, former NFL star and brand identity, controlling a host of percussion instruments with his muscle flexes. The video was uploaded last week and already has 4.7 million views, 10,000 likes on Vimeo, and is referenced in over 29,000 places online. For only a few days of play, that is an impressive return on investment.

What makes this video so popular? How is a single piece of flash content so compelling? Let's walk through the process.

Short but illustrative Upon first click, the average viewer might not even realize the video is interactive. For a minute and sixteen seconds, we see Terry create an ab-powered drum solo, occasionally yelling, "Danger zone!" When the video concludes, the option to create your own drum solo, powered by Terry, appears. Pressing random keys causes a flex to occur, resulting in drum beats or words like, "Sausage!" and "Internet!" shouted.

Ridiculous It's a drum solo fueled by twitching biceps. The biceps belong to a famous athlete who now spends his days as a sitcom actor and reality star. If the magnitude of anthropomorphized cat videos reigning over the internet aren't already a dead giveaway, people embrace all things preposterous. The more absurd, the better.

Interactive We have talked about this one in depth. Audiences want to engage!

Share-able The opportunity to create your own video and then upload it to Vimeo streamlines the sharing process because no download is required. Less is more. If you then share your video, you're spreading the Old Spice gospel and driving even more traffic back to Old Spice's original content. It's a win-win for them.

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5 Reasons (Interactive) Content is King

1. Entertainment Lights, cameras, action! FlixMaster uses HTML5 to create branching narratives and options that keep viewers interested, laughing, listening, and learning. Our interface is simple and user friendly. You build the story using our straightforward, three step template and we handle the code to power the whole adventure. We're generous like that because we like to code. 

2. Engagement "Stories are the creative conversion of life itself into a more powerful, clearer, more meaningful experience. They are the currency of human contact." - Robert McKee Remember the Choose Your Own Adventure book series? We do. Regardless of how old you were at the height of these books' popularity, a timeless concept remains: giving readers (or in this case, viewers) choices keeps them engaged. Users are far less likely to stop an experience that they are controlling. Being in the driver's seat is universally fun at any age. 3. Built-in Customer Support How many times have you been stuck on hold with customer service? Terrible elevator music aside, don't you find yourself wishing there was a way to expedite the process? If problem x, then solution y. FlixMaster solves this process by allowing companies to build interactive video content in which the user drives according to their specific issue or concern. Would you rather listen to an unrelated monologue about a different problem, willing the moment to go by, or skip directly ahead to find the solution you actually need?  We hear you. 4. Superior Communication Video content can cater to a variety of audiences when it's hyper-customized by FlixMaster. When you tailor the choices to offer multiple paths, you're sending the crystal clear message: "We hear you and care. Let's skip the nonsense. What next?" This rare, deep involvement by a brand is music to a client's ears. 5. Data and Optimization Tracking the analytics of a user's experience watching a video is worth its weight in gold. At what point did they stop watching, pause, or click away? How does this compare to other users? Which moments of content had the highest traffic? Our back-end data grants you the ability to be a non-bothersome fly on the wall to your customer's experience. You can optimize your content at any time by continually discovering what works (or doesn't) and adjusting accordingly. In a world ruled by technology, the option to edit your video content to maximize profits, leads, or customer satisfaction is crucial.

Still think it's too good to be true? We put our money where our mouth is and want you to try FlixMaster for free. Happy creating!

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FlixMaster Presentation of Interactive Video Platform at Fortune Brainstorm:TECH

Did you miss FlixMaster CO-Founder Erika's Presentation at Fortune Magazine's 2012 Brainstorm Tech Conference? Don't worry, you can still experience the magic of a FlixMaster Demo - right from your own computer! Click the image above to watch our chief hustler presenting last month in Aspen.

Brainstorm TECH Demo - Flixmaster from Fortune Conferences and Fortune Conferences on FORA.tv

[flixmaster]

The Future Is Interactive Video: "A Commotion" by Feistodon

Select the image above to open a new window and view the collaboration. Musicians Feist and Mastodon recently collaborated on a split of their music, titled Feistodon. The video for the song "A Commotion," was built in HTML5 and viewers have the option of toggling between the voices of the two singers. Drag the bar to the far left to hear only the melodies of Canadian songstress Feist and to the far right to hear the harsher vocals of grizzly, metal Mastodon. Rest it somewhere in the middle to hear the harmonies magically compliment one another in sharp contrast. The interactive music video took the internet by storm, making immediate appearances everywhere from independent music blogs to Rollingstone and 5,000 copies of the 7" sold out in record time.

While we can't take credit for the music video, we're still excited. Here at FlixMaster, we are huge believers in interactive, HTML5-powered video, music or otherwise. Not only does this new form of media offer built-in user engagement, it also provides hard analytics about what your viewers, or in this case listeners, prefer.  You may now return to your regularly-scheduled guitar smashing. 

[flixmaster]

From Fortune Tech Conference to Public Launch: A Busy Month for FlixMaster Interactive Video

It’s been an exciting couple of weeks for us here at FlixMaster HQ in Boulder, CO as we’ve been hustling at events, launching new projects, partnering up with some great channels and communities, and debuting our new pricing model. We’re excited to keep the ball rolling as we round out the summer and transition into the fall - exciting projects and partnerships are coming soon to a FlixMaster player near you!

For our friends who like to fall off the grid on occasion (Bart Lorang, we’re looking at you!), here is a recap of some of the things we’ve been up to:

We also partnered up with our friend Michael Siegler at ErliBird.com to offer a great promotion to ErliBird's community of “Erli Adopters” – a fiercely passionate group of savvy tech enthusiasts. In ErliBird we’ve found a great community of new FlixMaster users and we’re really excited to see what they produce! (Pssttt… There are still a few slots open. Become an Erli Adopter to get three months of FlixMaster Pro for free!)

Most recently, on July 17th, our Co-Founder and CEO Erika Trautman got the opportunity to demo FlixMaster’s platform at Fortune’s Brainstorm: TECH Conference in scenic Aspen Colorado, joining big names such as Anne Sweeney and Peter Thiel. We were thrilled, and decided to use the opportunity to not only announce our public launch, but also to debut our new “freemium” model that allows anyone to create next generation interactive video experiences for free. Cool, right? We think so.

We've had a great (albeit, crazy) couple of weeks and we're excited to keep the FlixMaster ball rolling. Tune in soon to catch more announcements on our latest projects and partnerships, including some fun work with Bay Area Video Coalition, a great community of filmmakers. (take a look at their blog)

Check out some of our recent buzz:

  Fortune   |   PandoDaily   |   The Next Web   |   All Things D   |   PC Magazine

PS: Want to see a cool FlixMaster project? Check out the great interactive video our friend Ryan Phillips made and check out his website!