Bigfoot Interactive Nabs Rich Media Deal

Looking to add bells and whistles to its direct marketing campaigns, New York-based Bigfoot Interactive said it would partner with streaming video play Vendario.

Bigfoot Interactive, which runs e-mail campaigns for clients like Unilever and MCI Worldcom, said the deal would allow the addition of Vendario’s streaming video application within targeted e-mail marketing programs.

By incorporating Seattle-based Vendaria’s Video Mail application into an HTML e-mail campaign, Bigfoot said clients can automatically stream video once an email is opened or activated by the user.

The technology detects the browser version, operating system and media player of the recipient and delivers video content compatible with the recipient’s computing environment.

“In order to reach the widest audience possible, video streams are optimized for recipients with modem speeds of 36K and above. Vendaria’s technology also detects support for JavaScript, which is required to enable the videos to be automatically streamed. If recipients lack the appropriate technology to view the video, the HTML email will be delivered without the video content, which can be accessed by “Click to View” graphics,” the company explained.

Bigfoot CEO Al DiGuido believes the use of video-enriched e-mail in a marketing campaign “can differentiate one’s message and positively impact response.”

While the jury is still out on the effectiveness of rich media advertising that relies heavily on high-speed connectivity, Bigfoot said Vendaria’s delivery process ensures delivery to narrowband targets.

“(Vendaria’s) delivery process ensures that the file size of a video-enriched email remains small, minimizing the risk that it will be filtered by a corporate firewall or halted by a recipient using a slow Internet connection, such as a dial-up modem. For small video messages, the file can also be downloaded for playback with no buffering time.”