Howzit MSN takes video lead

Howzit MSN, one of South Africa’s largest Web portals, has launched a new video channel that will host online video content in South Africa, making it one of the few to offer a dedicated video channel to South Africans.

The new channel will provide advertisers with exciting ways to engage their target markets with attention-grabbing advertising while giving users convenient access to a selection of expertly curated content across a broad range of topics. Says Marcus Stephens, general manager at Howzit MSN: ‚Online video consumption is set to hit South Africa like a tidal wave, thanks to falling bandwidth prices and growing penetration of broadband into the market. This is an emerging opportunity that neither publishers nor advertisers can afford to ignore.

‚Video is one of the fastest-growing formats in online advertising worldwide, and with good reason. It is particularly effective at getting and keeping the audience’s attention and allows brands to showcase their offerings in a rich and interactive manner.‚

Market researcher MagnaGlobal projects that global online video spend will grow at a compounded annual rate of 19.6% between 2011 and 2016, making it the fastest-growing advertising segment in the world. The South African market can be expected to follow this growth trend, says Stephens.

Microsoft’s Advertising and Online Lead Nazeer Suliman said that Howzit MSN’s introduction of a video channel was one more way of pushing for greater enhancement to the portal in South Africa, in order to grow quality audiences and help advertisers better connect with them.

‚Watching video on a computer, smartphone or TV is a key example of convergence, and comes closest to being a three screen activity. From a marketing standpoint, that means that video is a compelling format in which to tell a cohesive story and drive richer engagement across all screens,‚ say’s Suliman.

Howzit MSN’s video channel will offer a range of advertising formats, including pre-roll commercials that appear prior to online video clips and banner ads within the channel. The content is sourced from a range of top providers and covers entertainment, news, lifestyle, sports, comedy and many other topics.

In time, Howzit MSN will allow user-generated content to be posted in the video channel to complement its string mix of professionally created content. The combination of great user and professional content will position Howzit MSN as the country’s top destination for video on the South African Web, concludes Stephens.

* Gadget is the official Howzit MSN technology and gadget partner. You can view the page here.

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