Name: Richard Wolstenholme

IAB Council: Video Council

Involved in the Council since: September 2016

Day job + company: Head of Brand Advertising, Google AUNZ

Content marketing is a pretty dry term and much of what brands churn out is so bland, so forgettable, that you can only wonder why they bother. Endless generic listicles about 'Five Tips for Healthy Living / Safe Driving / Negotiating Your Home Loan ' (insert just about any topic here), or self-serving corporate videos featuring the CEO talking about the company's latest profit results.

13.4 million Australians watch video online each month. Programmatic buying helps planners reach this audience, extending their reach and enabling more effective targeting, using richer data and real-time results. It seems only one factor inhibits the growth of this practice – the availability of inventory.

AMSTERDAM – At the recent Super Mobility Conference in Las Vegas, ESPN and Hulu said their mobile video audience was expanding rapidly, and said having mobile video was a critical component of their business strategy.

With good reason; both have seen huge growth in the popularity of their programming on mobile platforms.

In August, BuzzFeed announced it has secured $50 million of investment from a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, valuing the company at $850 million. The company has plans to invest in areas including an in-house incubator for technology, increasing resources to its L.A.-based video division BuzzFeed Motion Pictures, and establishing a presence in new markets including Japan, Germany, India and Mexico.

Digital aficianado and Domain Group Product Director, Damon Pezaro, will be taking on our digital past with a regular Throwback Thursday column - kicking things off today with a flashback to the Betamax... 

We recently launched our Video Advertising Council, drawing members from organisations representing a range of offerings and products in the digital advertising industry. In keeping with the IAB's "Big Tent" principle the members include publishers, networks and agencies to ensure that all key issues and challenges faced by the industry are addressed.