An interesting move by Sony to rename its website and to change its strategy to show professionally produced video instead of showcasing amateur clips. While TV has always had an "America's Funniest Home Video" type show, You Tube has cornered that arena on the web. Sony's belief seems to be that it will be easier to sell more ad spots on a site featuring emerging professional filmmakers.
My question is - what does Sony have going for it that will encourage viewers to visit their site verse other sites that already cater to this genre. The Sony brand does not represent a filmmaker home. Mention the Sony brand and TVs and cameras come to mind, not movies. And the newly named Crackle brand has absolutely no brand to connect with nor existing relationship with filmmaking; perhaps, the site should have been renamed Sony Pictures or the company they had previously acquired - Columbia Pictures -to connect more to their business and communicate a brand value associated more closely with film. While I believe the future of video success on the web is professionally produced content, it has to be in the right context and with a brand connection that resonates value.
In addition, the user is being inundated with lots of videos from so many sources. And given the low cost of entry, more videos are on the way. The consumer can bookmark a few of their favorite sites, but ultimately, many videos get quickly lost. What we need is a single website that quickly and easily aggregates all these video choices and can help search through the growing library and make some suggestions based on my viewing behavior. Lets call it TVGuideBlinkxTivo.
