London, UK – 2 October 2019 – For more than six years, Imagen, the leading SaaS video management platform business, has enabled ViralVideoUK to store and share its archive of thousands of user-generated content (UGC) video clips. With over 20 years’ experience in media management, Imagen allows ViralVideoUK to easily upload and edit videos to share with production companies, broadcasters and advertisers so users can monetise their content.
Giving UGC platform
ViralVideoUK was founded in 2013 by former Archive Producers, Belinda Harris and Andrew Hamill, after they found themselves having to regularly explain the process of selling video assets to individuals who had been approached by the media or production companies. With a background in UGC, a range of contacts and a knowledge of budgets, ViralVideoUK began to represent content producers to ensure their clips reach the right people for a fair price. Today, ViralVideoUK acquires, verifies and manages UGC to be monetised and licensed to media outlets.
How Imagen’s platform powers ViralVideoUK’s global video database
Having initially only used video-sharing website YouTube to store content, ViralVideoUK soon realised that this platform didn’t offer the adaptability and easy search function that it required. Additionally, with ViralVideoUK’s founders understanding that most research nowadays starts online, it was vital that they were able to refer people to their website where they can access all the information and assets. This led ViralVideoUK to engage Imagen’s services very quickly after the business’ launch. By working with Imagen, ViralVideoUK has been able to store all of its content on its website and allow users to easily search the site to find the clips they want. Another benefit of using Imagen over third-party platforms is that users stay on the website, rather than being led away to other channels.
Imagen also provides ViralVideoUK with complete control over its archive. It guarantees that the business is able to set specific permissions for users and individuals are only given download privileges once a price has been agreed for the content. This means that individuals whose UGC is featured on ViralVideoUK are reassured that their assets are safe and can’t be misused or shared without payment or permission.
Belinda Harris, Managing Director, ViralVideoUK, said: “Since the advent of social sharing sites, it has never been more important in TV production to be able to have quick access to content to ensure they are at the forefront of topical events. Producers are often working to tight deadlines and need to find and insert the right clip into their programme or advert as fast as possible.”
The UGC collated on ViralVideoUK plays an important role for producers as it allows them to feature instances that are often impossible to recreate, whether that’s extreme weather conditions or real human emotion. With two-thirds of ViralVideoUK’s customers operating in different time zones, having all of their content in one easily-accessible place that can be accessed and searched for at all times is also essential.
Harris explained, “I have been working with filmed content for years and I am still surprised by the spontaneity of people’s reactions and the extraordinary abilities of humans – from parkour to climbing to obscene heights. UGC and archive footage allow us to see the world from myriad perspectives, from a child, an athlete, a world traveller or even a dog.”
As ViralVideoUK has continued to amass content, the scalability of Imagen’s solution has ensured the company is able to handle its growing archive. “Hosting video on a third-party site can be really expensive and as a small company, this wasn’t something we were in a position to do. With Imagen the pricing has been much fairer and it’s something we’ve been able to scale over the years,” Harris commented.
“Throughout the relationship, Imagen has offered ongoing support and we are able to pick up the phone and speak to someone if ever we need help,” Harris added. “We always try to work with companies where it’s possible to speak to a real person as it’s far easier to explain any issues and how to resolve them and that’s something we really appreciate with Imagen.”
Charlie Horrell, CEO, Imagen commented, “It’s so important that UGC is given the right platform for people to store, share and monetise this often-unreplaceable content. ViralVideoUK does just this and ensures that individuals are given a fair price for capturing moments that generally can’t be reproduced. We have enjoyed being part of ViralVideoUK’s journey since the beginning and seeing how its catalogue of content has grown over this time.”
