Joost Gets into White Label Biz, Here’s How to Succeed

Yesterday Joost announced that it has fired its CEO and will focus on the crowded White Label player market. This segment is the most lucrative space to be in an online video market in which costs are high and consumers are loathe to pay. But as Yahoo!’s ditching of Maven on the same day shows, a high profile client list isn’t enough.

To succeed companies focused on this model must really behave like agencies, focused on delivering exceptional service and high measurable ROI for clients while keeping their costs low, a tricky thing when measurable success means more eyeballs and the CPMs for online video in most cases aren’t sufficient to cover the distribution costs let alone the cost of player development. (Unless, that is, you’re willing to use Silverlight in which case Microsoft has some money for you).

So for Joost to succeed they need to be able to do at least one of several things very well:

1. Provide a best-in-class player interface; Joost’s key selling point throughout its history (aside from P2P which flopped) has been its design, like it or hate it they have always been leaders in creating an innovative player interface, but it has come at a cost. Joost will need to be able to create innovative user experiences at low cost and be nimble enough to keep adapting to changes in technology with less staff.

2. Strengthen relationships with major partners; Joost has received funding and support from some major media companies and done content deals, mostly small with a slew of others. Joost needs these companies as partners if they are going to succeed. A major deal with one top tier media company could be enough to keep the company running, better yet they could get bought.

3. Control distribution costs; Without being able to do this no online video player solution will be able to offer worthwhile value to its partners. An innovative player solution isn’t enough, that’s what killed Maven. It needs to be low-cost

4. Provide value to advertisers; If consumers aren’t going to pay for content they’re going to need to watch ads, the player must be designed to deliver maximum value for advertisers without putting off users.

To name just a few, the list of competitors in the white label online video market now includes Brightcove, PermissionTV, Kaltura, KickApps, Castfire, The Feedroom, Magnify, Ooyala and Fliqz All of these companies must focus on becoming best-in-class in at least one of these key areas to differentiate themselves and be successful.