CEO Series

May 5, 2016

What Is Microsoft Up To With Their New Video Testing Offering?

Video Pulse allows professionals of any kind to collect feedback on top of a recorded video flexibly, at scale, and on demand.

Leonard Murphy

by Leonard Murphy

Chief Advisor for Insights and Development at Greenbook

0

VideoPulseHero_size_edit

 

We’ve been following the progress of the Microsoft Pulse research offering since it was launched, and now the vision for the product is becoming much clearer. Last month, Microsoft Pulse heralded the upcoming availability of a powerful new digital content rating tool, Video Pulse, which allows professionals of any kind to collect feedback on top of a recorded video in a flexible and comprehensive way, quickly and at scale, on any digital property and at any time.

As suspected, it’s evolving into a platform with multiple use scenarios, but the one of greatest interest (I think) is the new application for ad testing. This makes perfect sense as advertising via the Bing platform, as well as analytics via their Power BI suite, increasingly take center stage as major product lines for the company.

Until now, Microsoft Pulse has measured the live reactions of audiences and customers around the world by providing a unique real-time engagement, research, and learnings service. Over 50 million responses and votes have been submitted through Pulse to date from millions of unique users participating in thousands of sessions and events.

Video Pulse is now in ‘open preview’ and available to all Pulse users. Video Pulse works by tying audience reactions to the timespan of a video, enabling users to react and provide feedback to a recorded video, as well as to playback their and other respondents’ feedback on demand.

With Video Pulse, professionals in sectors such as advertising and market research, digital media and broadcasting, campaigns and politics, education and civic engagement  can benefit from on-demand voting capabilities tied to digital video, compatible with any MP4 video encoded through services like Azure Media Services, and videos hosted on Vimeo and YouTube.

I asked Dritan Nesho, Head of Microsoft Pulse, for his take on the implications:

Pulse is pioneering a new way of engaging and reacting to video moment-by-moment.  As we do this we will expand the scale, precision, and depth of reactions from viewers, and the metrics and analytics associated with digital video. Why is this important: we can safely say that digital video is now the communication medium of the internet, growing faster than any other online activity. This revolutionary service will push the boundaries of engagement with short- and long-form video, creating a new standard for stimulus testing and immersive, experiential technologies.

Video Pulse transforms the way professionals across industries will accomplish their goals, including but not limited to, the following list of activities:

  • Ad testing – gauge how potential customers will respond to an upcoming ad campaign, message, or creative quickly and at scale in a matter of minutes.
  • Creative tests– brands, marketers, movies studios, and more can now test content and flow in a precise manner, and without conventional hardware costs of audience restrictions.
  • Broadcasts – As mobile video continues to grow, content producers will be able to engage their audiences with their content beyond the TV screen, whenever the content is produced or viewed.
  • Campaigns – As we head into election season, political campaigns will be able to get instant feedback on how voters feel about any topic shown in a pre-recorded campaign video.

With the new release, Video Pulse will also enhance the producer controls through the following solutions:

  • A one-page, streamlined setup for a Video Pulse that makes it easier than ever to create a Pulse quickly and effectively.
  • With Azure Media Services, YouTube and Vimeo integration, users can use any mp4 video from their content library for a Video Pulse.
  • Producers will have the tools to provide commentary and annotations tied to specific moments within the video.

Here is a video demoing the new product:

 

Video Pulse from Pulse on Vimeo.

 

And keep in mind that all of these features are in a free platform. As of today, Microsoft is still giving away Video Pulse; users just have to supply their own sample and service/management resources.

Video Pulse is being launched at the 2016 National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show, where Microsoft Pulse is demoing its latest services and releasing independent research confirming that Pulse attracts viewers and improves engagement with passion groups across news, politics, business, entertainment, and sports. They engaged with PSB for the validation, and here is an infographic on the top line findings:

 

Pulse PSB

 

If you want to learn more, on Wednesday, May 11, 2016 GreenBook and Microsoft are doing a webinar on ” How to Test Video Content On Demand with Microsoft’s Video Pulse”. More information on the webinar can be found here.

Join the Microsoft team as they discuss how Video Pulse can make market research more affordable and accessible for your organization. Don’t miss this chance to learn more about Video Pulse and how it can change the way you do market research.

I fully expect to see more and more solutions entering the marketplace that disrupt (and enhance) the traditional models of research, with many of those coming from non traditional players like Microsoft. It would behoove all insights pros to understand what these tools offer and how they fit within your research organizations.

0

microsoftonline qualitativequalitative researchrespondent engagement video research

Disclaimer

The views, opinions, data, and methodologies expressed above are those of the contributor(s) and do not necessarily reflect or represent the official policies, positions, or beliefs of Greenbook.

Comments

Comments are moderated to ensure respect towards the author and to prevent spam or self-promotion. Your comment may be edited, rejected, or approved based on these criteria. By commenting, you accept these terms and take responsibility for your contributions.

More from Leonard Murphy

The Next Wave of Disruptive Technology that Changes Everything

Research Technology (ResTech)

The Next Wave of Disruptive Technology that Changes Everything

There have been a few big inflection points of societal disruption driven by technology in the last 50 years: One was the introduction of the Internet...

Leonard Murphy

Leonard Murphy

Chief Advisor for Insights and Development at Greenbook

Quantifying the Impact of Insight Innovation

Insights Industry News

Quantifying the Impact of Insight Innovation

We previously announced the milestone of our Insight Innovation Exchange (IIEX) conference series’ 10th anniversary, celebrating a decade of identifyi...

Leonard Murphy

Leonard Murphy

Chief Advisor for Insights and Development at Greenbook

How Generative AI is Changing the Research Industry

The Prompt

How Generative AI is Changing the Research Industry

ChatGPT (GPT meaning “Generative Pre-trained Transformer”) is a chatbot launched by OpenAI in November 2022. It has quickly exploded in public awarene...

Leonard Murphy

Leonard Murphy

Chief Advisor for Insights and Development at Greenbook

Celebrating 10 Years of Innovation with IIEX

Insights Industry News

Celebrating 10 Years of Innovation with IIEX

Editor’s Note: The following is a joint statement from Lukas Pospichal, GreenBook’s Managing Director, and Lenny Murphy, GreenBook’s Chief Advisor for...

Leonard Murphy

Leonard Murphy

Chief Advisor for Insights and Development at Greenbook

ARTICLES

Moving Away from a Narcissistic Market Research Model

Research Methodologies

Moving Away from a Narcissistic Market Research Model

Why are we still measuring brand loyalty? It isn’t something that naturally comes up with consumers, who rarely think about brand first, if at all. Ma...

Devora Rogers

Devora Rogers

Chief Strategy Officer at Alter Agents

The Stepping Stones of Innovation: Navigating Failure and Empathy with Carol Fitzgerald
Natalie Pusch

Natalie Pusch

Senior Content Producer at Greenbook

Sign Up for
Updates

Get what matters, straight to your inbox.
Curated by top Insight Market experts.

67k+ subscribers

Weekly Newsletter

Greenbook Podcast

Webinars

Event Updates

I agree to receive emails with insights-related content from Greenbook. I understand that I can manage my email preferences or unsubscribe at any time and that Greenbook protects my privacy under the General Data Protection Regulation.*