WIREWAX Wows Iconic Brands with Interactive Shoppable Videos

I first learned about WIREWAX at the Imaging Minds event during London Technology Week where Founder Steve Callanan demonstrated to the crowd the endless potential of interactive videos in digital advertising. You’ve heard it before – videos drive engagements and engagements drive revenue. Callanan shares how WIREWAX came to develop the award-winning video technology and how small start-ups can land big clients.

How did WIREWAX get started?

I ran a production company for many years; initially creating TV shows, shortly after; commercials, trailers, music videos and branded, short-form content for brands and publishers. The latter was mainly female lifestyle content featuring hair and cosmetic products. The obvious problem was that viewers couldn’t buy them unless they searched for them themselves and found a place to buy. Making those products in the video a touchpoint too would mean that viewers could act on impulse and buy - directly from the video. That was the problem I wanted to solve and how WIREWAX was born.

How would you describe your business in 5 words or less?

Interactive video, done properly.

What are the top highlights for WIREWAX in 2015?

We launched our powerful new tool meaning anyone can create beautiful and elegant interactive videos in minutes. We also won multiple awards and international acclaim for our technology and the projects we helped some of our clients deliver. We saw a sharp rise in brand adoption and the number of self-serve users over the first part of this year and that trend continues.

A WIREWAX video is super data driven, how does your team deal with sorting through all the consumer-generated data and how do you use these data points to better serve your clients?

We capture 150 data points every second of every viewing from thousands of videos and millions of viewers every day. Managing that firehose of data that comes back to our servers is extremely challenging and we had to develop our own methods and systems for recording, storing and processing it. The wealth of data we have about users interacting with video is unparalleled and something we regularly use to our advantage. We know what works best, what type of tags perform better than others and how audiences respond. We can educate users on the best practices and even allow them to make adjustments to the creative side to refine the user experience to squeeze even more performance out of their videos. The BBC did this recently where they were able to measure the interaction rate of different tag designs, in real time, and optimise the experience while the campaign was still live.

How can WIREWAX help advertisers navigate the tricky landscape of mobile videos?

We believe distributing your video to an end user on any device shouldn’t be a tricky endeavour and so we’ve always strived to ensure the user experience is optimised for your device - eliminating any concerns for the client or WIREWAX user. Whether that means larger buttons and text on smaller screens or ensuring you don’t have to download an app to experience it - we’re constantly streamlining that guarantee. Last year, 25% of all WIREWAX viewings were coming from mobile, this year it’s over half - that sharp rise in mobile viewing means that we have an obligation to assure quality at all times.

Since WIREWAX works with iconic brands such as Coach, Sony, etc. do you have any recommendations for how start-ups can land big brands?

We were first to market with our tools and services which meant we made waves early on with some of the more adventurous brands. Nike was one of our first users who wanted to make a series of shoppable videos very quickly. We were able to help them and ensure the experience traveled well across all the distribution channels and audience devices - this in-turn alerted Adidas who were quick to follow suit. We also caught the attention of the BBC who wanted to experiment with an interactive news piece. Shortly after, NBCU, TBS and Time Inc. in the US wanted more of the same. We now work with some 300 international brands, most of them household names. We were quick to monopolize on our position and make sure we always delivered above and beyond expectations. Clients keep coming back to us because we deliver on time and on budget. So I would recommend if you want to match that success then build a product that grabs the attention of the brands and then make sure you deliver the best you possibly can, every time.

What's making you happy today?

Many things make me happy right now. We’ve built a world-leading product from nothing with an incredibly enthusiastic and phenomenally talented team. Every day we’re releasing significant updates, new features or streamlining the tools whilst gaining international recognition for the interactive videos we help the brands create. We’re talking with the right people now, which means we’re getting even closer to WIREWAX being a major part of everyday video too. It could not be a more exciting time and I don’t think I could be enjoying it much more than I am right now.

Special thanks to CEO and Co-founder of Wirewax, Steve Callanan