Review: Joost and What it Means for Marketers

I was lucky enough a few weeks ago to receive an invitation to join the beta test program for Joost. Haven’t heard of it yet? Don’t worry, you will. Joost (pronounced “juiced”) is free internet TV. Joost was created by the founders of Skype and Kazaa, and offers professionally produced, high quality streamed TV. For free. From a marketing point of view, this service has enormous potential.

Last month, Joost successfully negotiated a contract to distribute content for Viacom (the parent company of the Comedy Central network). Already you can watch MTV, Much, and National Geographic channels. There are voices that suggest that Viacom may not have been so bold with it’s recent Google/YouTube suit if it didn’t feel it had a winner with Joost. Certainly, Joost has managed to generate a lot of buzz and get some good content on board in a relatively short period of time. Even BitTorrent thinks the idea is a good one.

The Service - First Impressions

Joost does not run in a browser, and it’s not a website. Instead, it’s a streaming video platform that you can install on your desktop. I have to say that Joost easily installed on my home machine and runs beautifully (as it should on a 2.8GHz dual-core).

A word of warning - when you first load it, Joost starts in full-screen mode, and neither the resize window or exit buttons are entirely obvious. This could be a real problem for people who are not so savvy, and could turn people off in frustration if they can’t resize or exit. Once you do re-size however, you can move the window wherever you want and work on the side. If you hover over any of the buttons, an explanation generally appears. Otherwise, the interface is smooth and pleasant to use.

The quality and content is really very good. If you’ve ever wasted time researched videos on YouTube or other video sharing service, you know that the quality leaves something to be desired. Joost’s content however, is professional and easy to watch. So far, there is very little time spent waiting for shows to load, and channel requests are completed quickly.

There are ads, which I don’t mind in the least, especially since the number of them are actually kind of sparse and well within my admittedly short level of tolerance. The ads can be a little abrupt - they just kind of cut in and leave you wondering if you’re missing anything. But so far, I don’t think I’ve missed anything.

If a show is really interesting, you might find it more comfortable to lean back and watch the show full screen. In this case, the quality is still quite good on a 19″ LCD.

Content

There are some good channels on Joost, however, my personal feeling is that more channels will have to be added before Joost is really ready for the mainstream. However, it is still in beta, and so a little patience is warranted at this point. And there are many things worth watching - last night I was trying to work on this review, and I found myself distracted for almost an hour. Between Top 10 music videos, Indy car racing and professional organic cooking shows, there’s really something here for most of the average TV viewing audience.

Due to the Viacom deal, more content should be added in the future. According to Playback Mag, the deal should add shows like Laguna Beach, Beavis & Butthead, Real World and Punk’d, along with full-length episodes from Comedy Central, Nickelodeon, CMT, Logo and Spike TV.

Here are a few of the channels you can find on Joost so far:

• National Geographic
• IndyCar Series
• MTV Staying Alive
• Live @ Much
• Lime (”Healthy living with a Twist”)
• Other Channels such as: Bridezillas, Lassie, Explora & Docs on Demand

For Marketers

If content is really King, then Joost may be the dais.

Joost offers higher quality TV, professionally produced, relatively fast to download and available for free. It’s on-demand, and the commercials aren’t excessive. The content is streamed and distributed peer-to-peer so there’s less piracy liability and strain on servers. I am assuming that each viewer’s habits and likes can be recorded for better targeting.

There are already advertisers active in Joost, and ads seem to be tailored somewhat to the content. I saw an ad for Garnier during a Sarah McLaughlin video, and ads for T-Mobile during a Lime cooking show. You can’t skip or fast forward through the commercials.

Whenever I look at a new product or platform and want to know if it’s going to resonate with the average consumer, I show it to my Mother. If she can understand it at all, it’s got a shot. I showed it to her, and she thought it was “neat” but couldn’t see herself sitting around the monitor in the evenings. So if Joost is to succeed, it may be wise to start with younger audiences… as it does indeed seem to be doing.

It’s too early to say if Joost is the “next big thing”, but if I personally had relevant video ads to run, I wouldn’t be waiting too long to get them on Joost.

Finally…

We appreciate you reading to the end of our blog posts! That’s why those of you who made it this far get the following reward: According to their official blog, the last day to sign up for the beta program is late midnight (GMT), Thurs March 22/07. Those of you who apply before that time should receive your invite within “the next couple of weeks”. Sign up here, and Have Fun!