Seven questions, seven answers. Munich Startup in conversation with Marie and Maximilian von TargetVideo.
1. Who are you? Please briefly introduce yourself and your startup!
We are Marie Rechberg and Maximilian Gall, and we founded TargetVideo about 1.5 years ago. Marie worked for many years as a TV and film producer, and Maximilian most recently worked at ProSiebenSat.1 Digital. With our startup, we create video content that can be used on a wide variety of online and mobile platforms. We are already one of the leading video publishers in Germany.
2. What service do you want to use to change the world?
We know that high-quality editorial video content is in high demand in the online publishing sector. In addition to the good marketing opportunities, this is also due to the fact that videos are ideal for increasing the reach and dwell time of websites and attracting new users. With TargetVideo, we have developed a model for producing, licensing, and distributing editorially prepared video content for online channels. Our clips cover a wide variety of infotainment topics: from tutorials and hacks to listicles (The 7 best tips for...) and explanatory pieces. These range from "How to get more juice from lemons" to "These 7 signs that your boyfriend is your true love." The content is aimed particularly at the mobile & social media generation, who prefer to use their smartphones and social networks for digital activities. The videos are therefore short and concise and often work without sound.
3. But that's been around for a long time!
Of course, there are many video producers who also offer online videos. However, most work as agencies or contract producers. TargetVideo, on the other hand, has a constantly growing video catalog with currently over 500 videos and grants licenses for individual clips. This allows us to offer website operators high-quality video content at a very reasonable price. Our unique feature is the combination of editorial expertise, efficient production, and online marketing – therefore, we know better than others what topics users are searching for or what they click and share on Facebook.
4. What are the three main ingredients for your recipe for success?
Conciseness, relevance, and entertainment. Our videos are aimed at the social media and mobile generation: They get straight to the point and are often understandable without sound, making them easy to watch and share on the go on your smartphone. We always check the content for thematic relevance and prepare it to inform and entertain at the same time.
5. Let’s get down to business: How is business going?
So far, we're very satisfied! We're already working with leading media companies like ProSiebenSat1 Digital, Ströer, Hubert Burda Media, and RTLinteractive, and we already have over 500 finished videos in our catalog. With fem.com, we operate one of the leading women's magazines. We've been able to significantly increase video usage there. Our videos generated over 20 million views last year. TargetVideo also received over €0.5 million in its seed financing round. This enabled us to further expand our video production and develop our own video magazines.
6. What does Munich mean to you?
Munich is a great location for us as a young digital media company. We naturally benefit greatly from our proximity to many of our clients in the TV and publishing sectors. As a true Munich native, Maximilian also has close personal ties to Munich. However, we believe that the local startup scene could sometimes be a bit more proactive and network more effectively. Then Munich would be perceived even more as a "startup city" beyond the city limits.
7. Isar or English Garden?
Definitely the English Garden – our office is only 3 minutes away, so the TargetVideo team can often be found there.
