Pixability, Quad/Graphics, And YouTube Convergence

Today, a big, classic media house bet on YouTube. Quad/Graphics, arguably a major player in traditional print and direct media, is making a bold and major push into YouTube. So what’s going on with the company that prints some of the most famous magazines and nearly all the top catalogs? For some time now, they’ve been quietly experimenting with online video, proving that it not only integrates well with legacy media, but that it also delivers very impressive commerce results. Consequently, Quad is about to make a full-scale, online video push by:
Leveraging its footprint and changing the economic equation around video production
Investing with and partnering with us, Pixability, a YouTube-certified marketing and advertising software company in Cambridge, MA
Joel Quadracci, CEO of Quad/Graphics and Bettina Hein, Founder and CEO of Pixability provide some insight on the partnership.

Why does this matter? Because too many companies just don’t get it when it comes to video and YouTube and are squandering a tremendous digital marketing channel for both brand awareness and commerce. Instead, these organizations are spending way too much money while producing way too little content, hoping that if they put some mediocre video on YouTube, then some viral video magic will suddenly happen. Sorry, but that approach is just not going to work. Ever. As we’ve all heard: hope is not a strategy. Quad/Graphics knows that and has decided to team up with Pixability to shake up the video market.  So how did this come about? You may find the journey insightful.
Quad engaged us first as a customer; not just a typical customer, but also one with the most intense desire for video marketing we’d seen. It was evident they had bigger plans — and they were doing their homework. As time progressed, additional Quad personnel got involved and more details of their video strategy emerged. They weren’t merely a printer; they were a content machine. I was surprised to learn that Quad was involved in all aspects of production including content for the catalogues, copy, photography, layout — the full product management spectrum. I toured one of their many worldwide facilities where they ushered customer along the content lifecycle. They were weaving video into the mix because they had the facilities, the financing, the desire, and the customers to pull it off.
But something was still missing: video marketing. It wasn’t about Quad being able to produce great videos for their customers. They wanted to determine:
What does audience of their brands watch on YouTube?
What types of videos should their brands produce?
What should the content composition be?
How should the content be organized and structured?
Is there an audience or community for their content?
Which videos will drive sales?
Quad found out what major brands, e-commerce companies, and many of the world’s leading agencies know: Pixability had the technical horsepower and expertise to answer these questions with both data and precision. Quad also knew that its integration of video production and marketing was already yielding a 30-40% increases in sales. Now that’s a big deal. Imagine what will happen when there’s one video per SKU, which they can now pull off. I think Quad just came to Cambridge and got its Ph.D. in YouTube.