Business Objects is the world's leading business intelligence software company, transforming the way the world works through intelligent information. The company helps illuminate understanding and decision-making at more than 43,000 organizations around the globe.
In May 2007, the company launched a new brand identity and online community site - Insight - a site dedicated to using the power of a community collaborating on data analysis and visualization and using the results in a meaningful way to help companies, individuals, nonprofit organizations and anyone with a really interesting problem (and the data to back it up) find a solution. "We wanted an innovative way to communicate how we are working with our community to make the world more intelligent, while creating a closer bond with our customers and partners worldwide," stated Franz Aman, vice-president of marketing, Business Objects.
To drive awareness to Insight, Business Objects wanted to deliver a continuously streaming video event for 24 hours. Titled "24 Hours of Light", the online event would combine the reach of online execution with the engagement of social networking and Web 2.0. Not previously done by an enterprise software company, Business Objects turned to the leader in streaming video, ON24, Inc., to host and stream the video content to a global audience. Business Objects' interactive agency, Eleven Inc., provided the graphical elements, while ON24 developed the customer interface and custom functionality for the "24 Hours of Light" event.
"No one else in the market had ON24's experience working with Global 2000 companies for global, live streaming video events. This gave us the peace of mind that ON24 could handle our requirements," explained Aman.
The 24 Hours of Light video event consisted of eight one-hour segments running three times during a 24-hour period on May 15, 2007. ON24 provided the following solutions:
- ON24 Webcast Center: By streaming all of the one hour video segments from ON24's scalable and reliable platform, Business Objects could time the eight-part series to three regions globally: Europe, Americas and Asia-Pacific.
- Real-Time Reporting: ON24's webcasting platform incorporates real-time reporting, providing information on attendees, questions asked, and amount of time viewed, providing Business Objects valuable information for lead generation purposes.
- Bannercast On-Demand and Rich Media Webcast: To increase visibility with Business Objects' key audiences, the company used a Bannercast On-Demand (an in-banner streaming video) and rich media webcast from ON24 for an outreach campaign.
- Customization & Brandability: ON24 created a customized event console with Business Objects' look and feel.
"Once we started working with ON24, we realized that they could provide us with more than the platform to host and stream this event. In addition to creating a customized look and feel for the video event, we also leveraged their rich media webcast and Bannercast On-Demand solutions to drive awareness."
- Franz Aman, vice-president of marketing
